The Hindu : Andy Flower revels in his familiar role again

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 17, 2002

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Andy Flower revels in his familiar role again
By Sanjay Rajan

SWEEPING SUCCESS: Andy Flower, who had a rollicking time when the Zimbabweans toured here last, seems to have got into the groove immediately. Here, he sweeps Sarandeep Singh en route to an unbeaten 89 on the second day of the tour match against Board President's XI at Vijayawada on Saturday. - Photo: N. Balaji

VIJAYAWADA, FEB. 16. Rahul Dravid's decision to declare the Board President's XI's first innings at the overnight score of 361 for three might have hurt the sentiments of the host city, which was keen to see its lad Y. Venugopala Rao, scheduled to bat next, take on the Zimbabwe attack.

But the skipper's choice was probably made with a larger perspective in mind. It can be argued that the decision could have been delayed to give Maharashtra's Abhijit Kale, a sound player who was batting on 40, the time to make a big knock and still give enough opportunity for the bowlers to have a go at the Zimbabweans.

Tour openers have more to them than merely being the first match. The tourists use it as an opportunity to settle down, judge the conditions and make the necessary adjustments before the Test series while the host country tests its young hopefuls and border-line players who utilise the chance to stake a claim in the National squad on the strength of their performances. A case in point would be young Gautam Gambhir, who made that amazing double century on the opening day.

More importantly, the match provides the host an opportunity to go one-up on the psychological front. Cricket, as we know, is a mind game. And confidence plays a big part in it. The clever teams put the pressure on the visiting side from the very first match, the way Mumbai did to Mark Taylor's Australia some years ago. One assumes that Dravid's decision was based on this.

It was obvious today that the Board President's XI bowling lacked the firepower, which a Zaheer Khan, in the mood that he is in now, would have provided.

This attack too had its highs, though. Like when it had the visitor at 169 for five - a commendable feat on this pitch which offered some assistance to the spinners as the day wore on.

But Andy Flower (89 batting, 12x4) and Travis Friend (52), with their sixth-wicket stand of 110, saw the side reach 292 for six at close on the second day of the three-day encounter at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium here on Saturday.

In the morning, Tinu Yohannan gave too much width to the openers and Trevor Gripper, who made a fluent 52, punished him for that. Left-armer Ashish Nehra, angling the ball away from the right-hander, had Gripper fishing outside the off-stump a couple of times, but failed to find the edge.

The other opener, skipper Stuart Carlisle, survived a close caught-behind shout off Nehra while driving away from his body. Off-spinner Sarandeep Singh was introduced into the attack in the 12th over while leg-spinner Amit Mishra was brought on a couple of overs later. The openers had put on 47 when Carlisle was caught behind off Sarandeep with a delivery that turned quite a bit to take the inside edge even as the batsman pushed forward.

Ruthless Rennie

In walked left-hander Gavin Rennie who settled down quickly. He went on to make a half-century and was ruthless whenever the two spinners erred in length.

Mishra posed a few problems to Gripper. He has a nice loop and googly, but bowled too many loose balls to get the treatment today. The left-right combination turned the heat on as Zimbabwe raced to 100 for one by lunch.

The session between lunch and tea saw Board President's XI pick up four wickets. Nehra bowled a fine spell while Yohannan displayed better control. Gripper got to his half- century with a cover drive to the fence off Sarandeep, but fell to the off-spinner a while later, driving straight into the hands of mid-on. He and Rennie had put on 75 for the second wicket.

Andy Flower made a statement with the bat that rang loud and clear. The poor tour of Sri Lanka recently seems to have made him ravenously hungry for runs. He was in complete command today, sweeping Sarandeep at will, playing Mishra with ease and handling the fast bowlers, who took the second new ball in the 88th over, with absolute comfort.

Rennie was dismissed when he mistimed a sweep off Mishra while Tatenda Taibu and Heath Streak were consumed by the same bowler in quick succession. It was here that Andy and Friend, who survived a close call early in his innings off Sarandeep, got into the act.

The scores:

Board President's XI - 1st innings: 361 for three decl.

Zimbabwe - 1st innings: Stuart Carlisle c Prasad b Sarandeep 20, Trevor Gripper c Yohannan b Sarandeep 52, Gavin Rennie c Mullick b Mishra 52, Andy Flower (batting) 89, Tatenda Taibu c Kale b Mishra 2, Heath Streak c Khoda b Mishra 0, Travis Friend c Gambhir b Yohannan 52, Alistair Campbell (batting) 2; Extras (b-6, lb-2, nb-15) 23; Total (for six wkts.) 292.

Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-122, 3-165, 4- 169, 5-169, 6-279.

Board President's XI bowling: Nehra 20-5-50-0, Yohannan 17-7-59-1, Sarandeep 32-6-68-2, Mishra 25-3- 87-3, Venugopala Rao 4-0-20-0.

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