Indian bowlers impress

By Vijay Lokapally

MUTARE, MAY 30. Blue sky and bright sunshine greeted the cricketers after rain and poor light prevented play on Tuesday. It was vital practice for the visiting team as the bowlers made good use of the conditions and the team management was pleased with the overall performance of the team from this drawn tour opener against Zimbabwe `A' at the Malica Oval here on Wednesday.

There might have been a few grey areas for the Indians to worry about, the openers' failure for sure, but there was enough for the bowlers to draw satisfaction from this match. Striking an early rhythm was an important step for the bowlers who had reason to feel happy, especially Ashish Nehra, who bowled exceedingly well.

``Nehra bowled very well I thought. Overall I thought the bowlers stuck to a good line. They looked like picking wickets everytime,'' said skipper Sourav Ganguly, as he reflected upon the day's play with a smile. A striking feature of the bowling was its disciplined line and length as the home team collapsed to 175. The Indians chose to ignore the follow-on and rightly allowed the batsmen time for practice.

Coach John Wright was happy with the performance. ``A pity we lost the whole second day's play but it was good to see the batsmen settle down to play some knocks in the first innings. We're still settling down. The bowlers looked steady and I think the next game would be more important. Basically, it's been a process to get the feel of everything.''

Zimbabwe `A' resumed on its Monday's score of 34 for one and lost Hamilton Masakadza early-caught low down at third slip by Rahul David of the impressive Nehra. The Indians had to then wait long for another breakthrough as Dion Ibrahim and Craig Wishart put together a fine 96-run partnership in contrasting styles.

Wishart, an underachiever

Ibrahim was understandably more circumspect, wanting to make an impact on the selectors, while Wishart displayed a dominating mood. There were enough glimpses in Wishart's batting to suggest he indeeed has been an underachiever, failing to live up to his potential. Wishart was severe on Ganguly. His penchant for the backfoot play saw him pounce on anything short even though he drove well during his fine half century.

Just when it appeared the Indians had lost their focus, left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan struck two quick blows to leave the Zimbabweans struggling. Ibrahim (46 off 119 balls with six fours) was the first to leave, driving away from his body for Tendulkar to gleefully accept the offering at first slip. The next ball, Craig Evans was foxed by a yorker as the ball swung in at a rapid pace.

Harbhajan Singh, meanwhile, had created pressure with his accuracy at the other end and looked impressive right through. Wishart swung the off-spinner over long-on for a superb six but Harbhajan did not lose heart and continued to bowl a probing off stump line which paid off when he trapped Dirk Viljoen in front as the batsman attempted to sweep.

Wishart lost his concentration and hung out his bat to a Zaheer outswinger to be caught behind for a well-made 68 off 85 balls with 13 fours and a six. Harbhajan then removed the promising Titende Taibu caught bat-pad at the stroke of lunch. It had been a fruitful first session for the Indians.

Harbhajan continued with his craft in the second session and produced a classic off-spinner's dismissal-bowling Travis Friend through the gate. Harbhajan, who came in for praise from John Wright, generated a fair amount of bounce and turn on a placid track, a good sign for the tour ahead.

Nehra now held the centrestage and picked two wickets to finish with an impressive tally. The Delhi seamer struck a decent line, worked up good pace and kept the ball up. The Indian catching was also impressive today.

In the second innings, the Indian openers failed to make use of the situation. Shiv Sunder Das, stretching well forward, was distinctly unlucky to be adjudged leg-before while Ramesh snicked to third slip to finish with a poor match.

Ganguly was not worried over the failure of the openers in this match. ``It's too early to make a judgement. They're Test openers and I would like them to perform on that stage. Test cricket is that matters and I'm not unduly concerned with their failures here,'' he said.

Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman played a few rousing strokes before they got out, trying to force the pace. Tendulkar (33 with seven fours) drove uppishly to covers while Laxman (33 with five fours) perished in the slips. Ganguly concentrated on some practice and seemed to have done well before umpire Allen Walsh adjudged him leg-before. The batsman, clearly disgusted, showed his bat, indicating a touch and seemed to have lost his way as walked towards the umpire instead of the dressing room. His frustration was understandable but not his conduct.

The game dragged on, an Indian collapse providing the locals some excitement. They had every reason to celebrate, having matched the Indians in every department.

The scores:

Indians-1st innings: 336 for nine decl.

Zimbabwe `A'-1st innings: Dion Ibrahim c Tendulkar b Khan 46, Gavin Rennie c Dighe b Mohanty 1, Hamilton Masakadza c Dravid b Nehra 8, Craig Wishart c Dighe b Khan 68, Caig Evans b Khan 0, Dirk Viljoen lbw b Harbhajan 5, Titende Taibu c Das b Harbhajan 1, Travis Friend b Harbhajan 4, Brian Murphy (not out) 9, Bryan Strang c Tendulkar b Nehra 0, David Mutendera c Tendulkar b Nehra 9, Extras (lb-6, nb-14) 20, Total 175.

Fall of wickets : 1-10, 2-38, 3-134, 4-134, 5-139, 6- 139, 7-143, 8-150, 9-150.

Indians bowling: Zaheer Khan 15-3-41-3, Debasis Mohanty 12-3-35- 1, Ashish Nehra 12.3-1-43-3, Harbhajan Singh 11-4-24-3, Sourav Ganguly 4-0-26-0.

India-2nd innings: S.S. Das lbw b Strang 12, S. Ramesh c Ibrahim b Friend 6, V. V. S. Laxman c Wishart b Mutendera 33, Sachin Tendulkar c Viljoen b Mutendera 33, Sourav Ganguly lbw b Friend 17, Sameer Dighe b Friend 10, Zaheer Khan (run out) 1, Harbhajan Singh (not out) 25, Ashish Nehra (not out) 5, Extras (nb-8), Total (for seven wkts) 150.

Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-22, 3-80, 4-91, 5-117, 6-118, 7-118.

Zimbabwe `A' bowling: Bryan Strang 6-2- 20-1, Travis Friend 12-4- 30-3, David Mutendera 9-2-31-2, Brian Murphy 14-2-58-0, Craig Evans 2-0-8-0, Craig Wishart 1-0-3-0.

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