Date:13/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/13/stories/2007121359012300.htm

Sport

Bad light comes to Pakistan’s rescue

S. Dinakar

Kumble takes five wickets in the final session; rare feat eludes Ganguly

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

Class Act: Sourav Ganguly capped a remarkable Test series against Pakistan, winning both the Man of the Match and the Player of the Series awards. The left-hander, who scored 239 and 91 in the third Test at Bangalore, became the first Indian batsman to cross 1,000 Test runs in 2007. India took the series 1-0 after bad light ended play on Wednesday, with the home side three wickets short of an unlikely win.

Bangalore: This really was the sub-continental cauldron...a pitch of inconsistent bounce, a champion leg-spinner on the rampage, an outrageously attacking field and a boisterous home crowd.

Minutes seemed hours and every delivery threatened but Pakistan survived. Chasing an improbable 374 in 48 overs, Pakistan was 162 for seven with 12 overs remaining before it was rescued by a dense cloud cover. Poor light ended the third IndianOil Test.

Even as the crowd began to melt, Anil Kumble walked up to pick a stump. Soon his teammates joined him and the skipper, blowing away the disappointment of the moment, smiled.

— Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

VOCIFEROUS APPEAL: Pakistan survived many anxious moments in the final session of the fifth day to avert a defeat in Bangalore.

India had triumphed in a home Test series against Pakistan after 27 years with a 1-0 verdict in the three-Test IndianOil series.

Sourav Ganguly put his arm around Kumble. The left-hander has eased past 1,000 runs in Tests for the year and missed his second three-figure effort here in a moment of carelessness. Nevertheless, Dada collected his Man-of-the-Match and Man-of-the-Series awards. He has been a winner and a team-man.

Late declaration

Questions will be asked about skipper Kumble’s late declaration; perhaps, he could have done so at least half an hour earlier. But then, India was on the threshold of a home Test series win and the captain had strong reasons for batting Pakistan out of the Test.

The playing conditions for the series — the use of artificial light was not permitted — proved a road-block for India.

Looking back, what really hurt India’s chances of nailing the Test was some ordinary bowling during Pakistan’s first innings. Apart from a couple of spells, the bowling lacked discipline on a dual-paced pitch where control and precision presented the greatest danger to the batsmen.

Apart from Kumble’s heroics and Yuvraj Singh’s occasional left-arm spin, the Indian bowlers disappointed again on Wednesday. Couple of dropped catches before tea did not help matters either.

Seamers disappoint

Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma should have done better. Ishant, his memory short, strove for pace and provided the batsmen width while Pathan should have bowled around the wicket on this pitch. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh needed to rip the ball through harder.

Kumble comprehended the surface. He attacked the stumps with subtle variations from the BEML end. Yasir Hameed was beaten by a quicker delivery. Kumble then held back his pace and the in-form Younis Khan played early to knock one back.

The champion leg-spinner required support from the other end. He replaced Harbhajan with Ishant and the paceman pitched short and wide. Faisal Iqbal freed his arms and the previous over’s pressure had disappeared. Bowlers work in combinations and Kumble was forced to try out Yuvraj. Birthday boy Yuvraj was at the receiving end of a wrong decision in the afternoon when he was adjudged caught behind. He struck back...with the ball.

Yuvarj is not a big spinner but possesses an arm-ball. He removed a confident Misbah-ul-Haq (37, 40b, 7x4) with a delivery that came in with the arm. Moments later Yasser Arfat fell to a ball that hardly bounced.

At the other end, Kumble was in the midst of a tremendous spell. The stump-to-stump ploy worked as dangerman Kamran Akmal was beaten and bowled by a fastish leg-break. The wristy and entertaining Faisal (51, 54b, 8x4) was not quite provided the length by Kumble to essay the fatal pull. Kumble scalped five, looked good for more.

Earlier in the day, V.V.S. Laxman received a painful blow on his left-elbow when an Akhtar lifter did not climb. He left the field in pain but an x-ray revealed no broken bone. Dinesh Karthik made an efficient half-century of cuts, pulls, drives and sweeps and then took a sharp catch when Salman Butt nicked Kumble. Pathan enjoyed wading into the bowling again. Ganguly has entered what most batsmen call ‘the zone.’ There were indications during Rahul Dravid’s sound 42 that this batsman with purity in technique is only a step away from form.