The Hindu : India wins a humdinger

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 14, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

India wins a humdinger

By S. Dinakar

Karachi, March 13. In an astonishing match, that swung one way, then the other, there were several winners. Rahul Dravid and Inzamam-ul-Haq for their marvellous batsmanship, Zaheer Khan and Aashish Nehra, for their nerveless bowling at the death, the sporting Karachi crowd for its impeccable behaviour, India, for delivering at the crunch in a big game, and above all, cricket, whose spirit shone the brightest at the National Stadium, here, on Saturday.

In a gripping finish, India, defending a mammoth 349, overcame Pakistan by five runs in the first ODI of the five-match Samsung series. Pakitsan required six runs off the final delivery from left-arm paceman Nehra, but Moin Khan needing to do a `Javed Miandad in Sharjah,' could not quite manage to put away a full toss, holing out at mid-off.

Pakistan needed 17 off the last two overs. However Zaheer sent down a terrific penultimate over, during which he consumed Shoaib Malik, dramatically caught by Mohammed Kaif. And when Nehra began the final over, Pakistan needed nine more. The target eventually proved elusive.

`Man of the Match' Inzamam's heroic knock ended when he edged left-arm spinner Murali Kartik into Rahul Dravid's gloves; by then his 102-ball 122 had given Pakistan a real chance of pulling off an impossible-looking world record victory.

It was a day when the Indian bowling stood exposed for most part on a pitch offering runs aplenty, but Ganguly's men deserve credit for holding firm, when it mattered the most, amidst mounting pressure. It was the team-spirit, manifested in the now famous huddle, that carried the day for India.

The Pakistani chase was just gathering when L. Balaji castled Yasir Hameed with an incoming delivery that crashed through the gate and not much later the left-handed Imran Farhat was caught at the wicket off Zaheer Khan.

Then, Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana, who cleared the fence with ease, took centre-stage, mixing caution with aggression in the initial stages and then carting the bowling to all corners of the field.

It was their 135-run partnership, that consumed only 120 balls, which kept Pakistan in the hunt. Inzamam had a slice of luck too early on when Yuveraj Singh at deep point could not quite latch on to a difficult catch off Balaji.

After Youhana perished trying to strike Virender Sehwag's off-spin over long-off, the smooth-stroking Younis Khan and the hard-hitting Abdul Razzaq threatened to take the game away from India, but when Razzaq was bowled by Zaheer, the match was very much in the balance.

Crowd cheers Dravid

The Indian batting had sparkled earlier in the day. The match comprised some great moments none more memorable than the crowd chanting `Dravid, Dravid' when the Indian vice-captain was on 99. Cricket can so easily cut across barriers. And when Dravid played on to Shoaib Akhtar at the same score, he was accorded a standing ovation.

Inzamam-ul-Haq's decision to field first must have been influenced by the fact that it is generally not easy, in the day games, to defend on the batsmen oriented sub-continental pitches. He might have also desired the turbo-charged pace duo of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Sami to make use of any early life in the wicket. But it was also a rather defensive decision.

With his lightning pace, Akhtar has been the subject of much focus before the start of the series, but this was a day when the ball did not quite roll in his favour.

First, the Rawalpindi Express saw Shoaib Malik put down a sitter at covers before Sehwag had opened his account, and then saw Tendulkar flicking one straight into the square-leg's hands off a no-ball.

But Akhtar, in striving for pace, also provided the batsmen with width. The pacy Mohammed Sami's bowling also lacked discipline, which meant, on this surface, there were always going to be deliveries to be put away.

There has been much hype about Tendulkar facing off against Akhtar, and on this occasion the Pakistani got the Indian maestro - this wan a morning when Tendulkar's footwork was tentative and timing not quite right — slicing one into the backward point's hands. Interestingly, Pakistan legend Imran Khan had advised Akhtar before the series that he should have a deep point for Tendulkar rather than a gully or a regular point since he has a tendency to open the face of his blade.

Cracking start

With their 69-run stand off only 60 balls, Tendulkar and Sehwag had got India off to a cracking start, and this was a day when the Indians maintained the momentum, to register their highest score against Pakistan in the ODIs.

Sehwag, with an amalgam of hand-eye coordination and power set the tone, Ganguly cutting and pulling defiantly sizzled while he lasted, Mohammed Kaif placed the ball well and ran hard, while Rahul Dravid was at his stylish best, his two straight drives off Razzaq, and an imperious cover drive at the expense of Akhtar in his second spell bearing the stamp of class.

The Indians built partnerships. After the opening stand, Sehwag and Ganguly whipped up 73 runs in 40 balls, the captain and Dravid raised 72 in 75 and Dravid and Kaif gathered 118 from an equal number of deliveries.

The Pakistan bowling was wayward — there was as many as 30 no balls and wides in the innings — the fielding ragged, and to make the matters worse, Inzamam appeared to let things drift when the situation demanded that he shuffle his bowlers to halt the Indian surge.

Akhtar and Sami went for 31 and 51 in their five and six over spells, this meant the Indians had, not just stayed but flourished during a stage when Pakistan could have made serious inroads into the line-up.

Support paceman Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who only played because Shabbir Ahmed could not recover in time from an injured finger, castled Sehwag and had Yuveraj taken in the covers with clever changes of pace, apart from having Ganguly miscuing a pull off a long hop. Shoaib Malik was steady with his off-spin, but Razzaq was expensive.

The name of V.V.S. Laxman was missing from the Indian eleven with the wristy Indian batsman rested due to a painful left knee.

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