Sport
-
Cricket
Test submerges in rain
By S. Dinakar
BANGALORE, DEC. 22. Hardworking groundstaff running in with those huge covers, super soppers sucking in buckets of water, cricketers going through fitness drills rather than parading their skills on the field... The game took the back seat again.
A Test match pregnant with possibilities has been ravaged by inclement weather. And unless England, 0-1 behind in the three-Test series, makes an extremely bold declaration somewhere around lunch on Sunday, assuming that the dark clouds clear by then, the last day of the series will only be of academic interest.
On a day when only 15.4 overs were possible with as many as 344 minutes lost, England was 33 for no loss when yet another spell of rain at 3.51 p.m. sent the players scurrying off the ground... For the final time.
Earlier, on the fourth day of the third Test at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, here, on Saturday, England dismissed India for 238, gaining a first innings lead of 98, young paceman Matthew Hoggard and Andrew Flintoff claiming four wickets each.
In all there were three inspections by the umpires (11 a.m., 12 noon and 1 p.m.) before play, greeted by a roar from the small but patient crowd, commenced at 2.15 p.m. In the event, the spectators saw just 76 minutes of action at the end of which English openers Mark Butcher and Marcus Trescothick remained unbeaten with 23 and nine, respectively.
On a surface where Flintoff and Hoggard had got the ball to seam and bounce, it made a sorry sight to watch Javagal Srinath thundering in with only Sourav Ganguly's friendly medium pace for support.
We talk about possessing a promising crop of young pacemen, yet invariably take the easy option in a home series. However, in this series, India did get it right by including the incisive Tinu Yohannan for the first Test, and thus, it becomes even more baffling, if not painful, why the think-tank opted to leave the Kerala paceman out of the eleven for a Test match played on a newly-laid pitch. The balance in the attack was the biggest casualty in the process.
When England began a second time around, Butcher made his intentions clear, square-cutting Srinath to the fence, even as the Karnataka paceman pitched one a wee bit short from round the wicket.
The match continued amid a slight drizzle and with Ganguly not being able to maintain the pressure, the onus was on Srinath to pick wickets. And when Harbhajan came on to bowl replacing the skipper, after just seven overs on this pitch, in these conditions, it certainly sent the wrong signals about the balance of the attack. The off-spinner sent down just one ball, after which the players were off again.
Hoggard, Flintoff sparkle
Earlier, Harbhajan set the ball rolling for India by flicking Matthew Hoggard for a brace when the play resumed under lights. However, Anil Kumble had a slice of luck in the same over when substitute Martyn Ball at first slip was unable to latch on to a low catch when a peach of a delivery from Hoggard, that seamed away from the off-stump, opened up the batsman to find the edge. Kumble had not yet added to his overnight score of 10.
Thankfully, Flintoff bowled a more positive line from the BPL end, hovering around the off-stump, but then Tendulkar was not around this time. The huge paceman came desperately close to scalping Harbhajan but Hoggard running in from fine-leg, put down a relatively straightforward catch when the Sardar essayed a strange pull with a vertical bat, picking the short ball from outside the off-stump.
Flintoff, sporting enough to applaud Hoggard's modest attempt, picked up a wicket with the very next delivery, snaring Kumble (14) with a well-directed away-seamer that kissed the edge for Trescothick to do the rest at the second slip. The English seamers had not taken long to find their rhythm against the Indian tail.
Soon Hoggard made amends for his fielding lapse when Harbhajan (8) spooned a catch while essaying a drive for skipper Nasser Hussain to produce a good diving effort at covers.
Both Hoggard and Flintoff had scalped four batsmen each and it was interesting to see who would end with up with a five-wicket haul with last man Srinath walking in.
In the event, both failed, with a brilliant piece of fielding by Michael Vaughan ending the innings. Sarandeep (4) pushed Hoggard towards short cover and set off for a single only to watch Vaughan swooping on the ball and scoring a direct hit at the non-striker's in one fluid motion, with the Sardar well short of his ground. The Indian innings had lasted just 38 minutes after resumption with the team adding 20 more runs losing three wickets in the process.
Hoggard (four for 80) and Flintoff (four for 50) led their side back to the pavilion even as their team-mates applauded and it must be said that the two have come on well on this tour when there was enormous responsibility on them in the absence of England's premier pacemen Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick, opting out for differing reasons.
Both, Hoggard and Flintoff are different. While Hoggard is more of a classical seamer zeroing in on the `corridor', Flintoff loves to hustle the batsmen with his speed and bounce. However, this big-built lad from Lancashire has also shown the ability to move the ball appreciably like when he castled V.V.S. Laxman in the first innings here with a delivery that jagged back into the right hander.
The decision to have Flintoff firing with the new ball has been a well-thought one by the English team-management, yet witnessing him bowl down the leg-side on occasions has not been a pleasing sight, for he is by instinct an attacking bowler. However, he may have to decide soon whether he wants to a be a genuine all-rounder or a bowler who can bat, much like Gough.
Hoggard and Flintoff had their moments on a gloomy day... But the weather gods had the final say.
The match is slated to begin at 9.30 a.m. on Sunday.
ENGLAND - 1st innings: 336
INDIA - 1st innings:
S.S. Das b Flintoff 28
(151m, 105b, 4x4)
D. Dasgupta c Trescothick b Flintoff 0
(14m, 7b)
V.V.S. Laxman b Flintoff 12
(22m, 18b, 2x4)
S. Tendulkar st. Foster b Giles 90
(263m, 198b, 13x4)
R. Dravid c Foster b Hoggard 3
(73m, 61b)
S. Ganguly c Butcher b Hoggard 0
(7m, 3b)
V. Sehwag c Foster b Hoggard 66
(123m, 88b, 13x4)
A. Kumble c Trescothick b Flintoff 14
(77m, 42b, 2x4)
Harbhajan Singh c Hussain b Hoggard 8
(36m, 27b)
Sarandeep Singh (run out) 4
(21m, 16b)
Javagal Srinath (not out) 2
(8m, 5b)
Extras (b-4, lb-4, nb-3) 11
---
Total 238
---
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Dasgupta), 2-22 (Laxman), 3-88 (Das), 4-121 (Dravid) 5-121 (Ganguly), 6-173 (Tendulkar), 7-218 (Sehwag), 8-228 (Kumble), 9-238 (Harbhajan).
England bowling: Hoggard 24.3-7-80-4; Flintoff 28-9- 50-4 (nb-2); Giles 34-18-74-1; White 8-2-26-0 (nb-1).
ENGLAND - 2nd innings:
Mark Butcher (batting) 23
(38m, 25b, 2x4)
Marcus Trescothick (batting) 9
(38m, 18b)
Extras (b-1) 1
---
Total (for no loss) 33
---
India bowling: Srinath 4-0-19-0; Ganguly 3-0-12-0; Harbhajan 0.1-0-1-0.
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Sport
|
