Sport

India on the threshold of victory

— Photo: S. Subramanium

IN THE THICK OF THINGS: Sourav Ganguly followed up a good bowling performance with a competent unbeaten knock to put Pakistan on the mat.

New Delhi: A spark of inspiration led to a decisive momentum shift on a foggy Sunday morning. When Anil Kumble asked for the second new ball during the 83rd over, neither Zaheer Khan nor Munaf Patel was operating.

Sourav ‘McGrath’ Ganguly, as some of his teammates have begun calling him now, held the bright red sphere. The audience was shocked; so were the Pakistani batsmen in the middle.

From a technical perspective, Kumble was denying the batsmen pace, relying on Ganguly’s accuracy, off-stump line and handy movement. From a psychological viewpoint, he was taunting the Pakistani batsmen.

His pride offended, the otherwise circumspect Misbah-ul-Haq heaved. The miscued hit was pouched at mid-wicket. Mohammed Sami, who can be dogged, threw caution to the winds in the same over. He was soon walking back.

Given how well Misbah and Sami had combined in the first innings, a potential target of 250 plus had shrunk to just over 200.

Chasing 203 to be precise, India was on the brink of victory in the first Test at 171 for three when bad light ended play at Ferozeshah Kotla. The host should complete the formalities early on Monday for a 1-0 lead in the three-Test IndianOil series.

Ganguly (48 batting, 61b, 8x4) followed up his bowling heroics with a breezy knock. The left-hander batted with a fair measure of courage, hooking Shoaib Akhtar, pulling Sami and slashing Sohail Tanvir.

This was good thinking since positive cricket can ease pressure in a tense situation. Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria attempted to exploit the foot-marks outside the left-hander’s off stump, but Ganguly used the crease well to respond with strokes square of the wicket.

Once again used in bursts, Akhtar generated pace. He beat Rahul Dravid (34) for speed with a furious delivery angling into the right-hander to provide Pakistan a sliver of hope.

However, he was undone by the right-left combination of Tendulkar (32 batting, 86b, 5x4). Akhtar attempted going round the wicket to Ganguly but the left-hander played him with the tide. Pakistan leaked runs.

Apart from an occasional lapse in concentration, Tendulkar was balance and poise. During his unbeaten innings, he crossed Allan Border’s tally of 11,174 Test runs. Only Brian Lara aggregates more than Tendulkar in Tests.

Earlier, Dinesh Karthik played away from the body to be snared by Akhtar but his opening partner, Wasim Jaffer, impressed. He picked the length early, appeared to have more time to play on either side.

Before Jaffer’s (53, 81b, 8x4) pull off Akhtar was smartly caught by Salman Butt at square-leg, he had constructed an 82-run partnership of vital significance with Dravid.

Though Karthik was removed early, the Pakistanis could not make further inroads with the new ball.

Dravid looked good in the middle, middling the ball and moving his feet well. He promises more in the series.

Just when Pakistan might have had a sniff, Tendulkar and Ganguly took the match away adding 78 unbeaten runs in 21.3 overs.

Kaneria could not make the intended impact with the Indians using their feet capably. And Akhtar lacked support at the other end.

On a sluggish pitch, the slips should have stood closer to the batsmen, some of the edges did not carry

With the game on razor edge, Kumble’s move to begin the day’s proceedings with himself and Zaheer Khan was spot on. Test match bowling is much about variety and questions from either end.

Kamran Akmal, fatally, launched into an ill-advised cut off a short of a good length delivery from Zaheer early on.

Pakistan added just 35 runs in 17.2 overs.

Kumble made all the right moves.

SCOREBOARD

 Pakistan — 1st innings: 231.

India — 1st innings: 276.

Pakistan — 2nd innings: S. Butt c Dravid b Kumble 67, Y. Hameed c Laxman b Kumble 36, Younis Khan lbw b Kumble 23, M. Yousuf c & b Harbhajan 18, S. Malik b Harbhajan 11, K. Akmal c sub b Zaheer 21, Misbah c Karthik b Ganguly 45, S. Tanvir c Harbhajan b Zaheer 13, M. Sami c Jaffer b Ganguly 5, S. Akhtar (not out) 0, D. Kaneria (run out) 0; Extras (lb-6, nb-2): 8. Total (in 83.1 overs): 247.

Fall of wickets: 1-71 (Hameed), 2-114 (Younis), 3-149 (Yousuf), 4-155 (Butt), 5-161 (Malik), 6-213 (Akmal), 7-229 (Tanvir), 8-243 (Misbah-ul-Haq), 9-247 (Sami).

India bowling: Zaheer 18-4-45-2, Munaf 10-2-48-0, Kumble 27.1-8-68-3, Ganguly 9-2-20-2, Harbhajan 17-4-56-2, Tendulkar 2-0-4-0.

India — 2nd innings: D. Karthik c Akmal b Akhtar 1, W. Jaffer c Butt b Akhtar 53, R. Dravid b Akhtar 34, S. Tendulkar (batting) 32, S. Ganguly (batting) 48; Extras (lb-3): 3. Total (for 3 wkts, 54.5 overs): 171.

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Karthik), 2-84 (Jaffer), 3-93 (Dravid).

Pakistan bowling: Akhtar 15-4-41-3, Tanvir 12-4-26-0, Kaneria 15-2-45-0, Sami 12.5-1-56-0.

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