Sport
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Cricket
England surrenders meekly
By Vijay Lokapally
MOHALI, DEC. 6. The task, in conditions most conducive, was accomplished in style by the Indians as England played poorly and crumbled against the sustained spell of Anil Kumble, who was not at his best but still carried enough ammunition to sweep the opposition off its feet and add one more `Man of the match' trophy to his collection.
The triumph of the Indians by a whopping margin of ten wickets in the first Test kept the great tradition of the home team being a formidable force at home. To the credit of Kumble, the ace leg-spinner exploited the situation well to finish with his 17th five-wicket haul in a Test innings.
To rub salt into the wounds, Iqbal Siddiqui trooped out to knock off the winning runs and took just two balls to make five. Even as Deep Dasgupta grabbed a stump to carry home a prized souvenir from this match, the affable Maharashtra seamer shook a few hands and coolly walked back to the dressing room. Making the winning hit was a great privilege and Siddiqui was basking in its glory, enjoying every moment of it.
The victory did not come as a surprise. Neither did the English debacle on a pitch which certainly was not unplayable. The English woes were self-inflicted and barring Graham Thorpe none showed the skills and inclination to stay at the crease. Lack of footwork meant the Englishmen invited trouble from the time they took guard.
Kumble's forte has always been his accuracy and he did struggle to keep the pressure on initially. He was even clouted in his first spell on the first day of the match but he brought his experience into use to make it a memorable day for himself.
There was no doubt that the batsmen read too much into the situation and discipline too was conspicuous by its absence. Some of the shots the early batsmen played would have come in for scathing criticism from any coach but then this England team was hardly expected to put up much resistance. It lacked the character to fight and nothing signified it more than the reckless dismissals of the top three batsmen-Mark Butcher, Marcus Trescothick and Nasser Hussain.
When England resumed this morning, much was expected by its supporters since the openers had given indications of having seen off the early threat. The Indian seamers were assigned a specific job to attack the stumps and the young Tinu Yohannan did not disappoint his captain, feeding the batsmen and luring them into the trap.
Instead of pulling the team out of the hole, the English top order pushed the side into a corner from where defence was a very onerous task. When Butcher and Trescothick perished to ill-timed pulls, the latter to a fine catch at fine leg, Hussain was faced with a challenge which required him to play the role of a leader.
Sadly, he fell short of the responsibility and succumbed to a stroke which reflected the troubled mind of the batsman. Hussain dragged Kumble on to the stumps and it was just the kind of break that the leg-spinner needed.
Kumble appeared to have discovered his rhythm. The batsmen were apprehensive, playing him from stance position, and this shaky approach spelt doom once he broke the Thorpe- Ramprakash partnership.
Thorpe showed the right technique, played the ball on merit and also inspired Ramprakash to move his feet well. Their stand grew and the Indian bowlers became restless, trying a little too hard and in the process giving the batsmen the escape route.
Kumble attacked the stumps relentlessly now even as Ramprakash and Thorpe faced him with a lot of resolve. Runs kept flowing before Ramprakash was beaten for pace by Kumble and was trapped in front.
Hussain and Ramprakash, good players of spin, had been accounted for and England now looked up to Thorpe. The left- hander may have lost the desire to fight when he watched the procession from his end.
The burly Andrew Flintoff smashed the first ball but defended the next poorly, presenting a catch to silly mid-off. The writing was on the wall. The English tail had begun even though Craig White showed the mood to fight. He whipped the ball around but nicked Harbhajan, who got extra bounce on this occasion. James Foster ended up with a poor match, falling to an ungainly sweep from middle-stump.
It was now only a matter of time. James Ormond had no clue to a faster one and then Thorpe drove the ball back to Kumble. England had caved in meekly. Tea was extended and Kumble signed off by scalping Richard Dawson, his sixth victim of the day.
Given his long lay off from international cricket and his struggle with himself in South Africa, this was welcome return to form for Kumble, the smiling assassin from Bangalore. His eight-wicket haul was a significant gain for the Indian camp, which could also look at Deep Dasgupta as an investment for the future.
``Great to be back among wickets. Enjoyed bowling along with Harbhajan,'' said Kumble, who also stressed that he was not worried about criticism. ``It depends on how I feel within,'' he said.
``We lost the match on the first day itself,'' admitted Hussain.
The margin of India's victory was the difference between the teams and a sign of things to come at Ahmbedabad and Bangalore.
It was an emphatic victory for India but let the celebrations will have to be tempered. Every time they win at home, the Indians will do well to remember their last outings in South Africa and the assignments next year in the West Indies and England.
``We have that in mind and are preparing for those overseas series. But a win is a win and I feel happy for the boys who have been getting some undue stick for sometime,'' said Sourav Ganguly.
Srinath back in team
MOHALI, DEC. 6. Javagal Srinath returns to the Indian team in place of an injured Sanjay Bangar in the team announced for the second Test starting at Ahmedabad from December 11.
Srinath declared himself fit and the muscle pull injury of Bangar made the task easy for the selectors. Bangar has been advised rest for a minimum of two weeks.
Virender Sehwag, expectedly, returns to the 14, replacing Jacob Martin.
The team: Sourav Ganguly (captain), S.S. Das, Deep Dasgupta, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, J. Srinath, Iqbal Siddiqui, Tinu Yohannan, Sarandeep Singh and Connor Williams.
Anil Kumble gladly accepts the return catch offered by Graham Thorpe, ending what was perhaps England's last resistance. - Photo: V.V. Krishnan
Scoreboard
ENGLAND - 1st innings: 238
INDIA - 1st innings: 469
ENGLAND - 2nd innings:
Mark Butcher c (sub) Martin
b Yohannan 18
(127m, 90b, 2x4)
Marcus Trescothick c Siddiqui
b Yohannan 46
(136m, 95b, 9x4)
Nasser Hussain b Kumble 12
(32m, 19b, 2x4)
Graham Thorpe c and b Kumble 62
(175m, 121b, 8x4)
Mark Ramprakash lbw b Kumble 28
(81m, 61b, 3x4)
Andrew Flintoff c Ganguly b Kumble 4
(1m, 2b, 1x4)
Craig White c Dasgupta
b Harbhajan 22
(37m, 33b, 3x4)
James Foster lbw b Harbhajan 5
(16m, 20b, 1x4)
James Ormond b Kumble 0
(1m, 1b)
Richard Dawson b Kumble 11
(21m, 23b, 1x4)
Matthew Hoggard (not out) 0
(5m, 4b)
Extras (b-10, lb-13, nb-3, w-1) 27
---
Total (all out in 77.4 overs) 235
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Fall of wickets: 1-68 (Butcher), 2-82 (Trescothick), 3-87
(Hussain), 4-159 (Ramprakash), 5-163 (Flintoff), 6-196
(White), 7-206 (Foster), 8-207 (Ormond), 9-224 (Thorpe).
India bowling: Tinu Yohannan 17-3-56-2 (nb-3, w-1),
Iqbal Siddiqui 8-3-16-0, Anil Kumble 28.4-6-81-6,
Harbhajan Singh 24-9-59- 2.
INDIA - 2nd innings:
Iqbal Siddiqui (not out) 5
(1m, 2b, 1x4)
Deep Dasgupta (not out) 0
(1m, 0b)
---
Total (for no loss) 5
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England bowling: Hoggard 0.2-0-5-0.
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