The Hindu : Sport : The run feast continues

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Monday, Jan 16, 2006

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The run feast continues

S. Dinakar

HURRICANE IS BACK: Virender Sehwag finds the Pakistani bowlers to his liking as he once again came up with a scintillating knock on Sunday. — Photo: S. Subramanium

Lahore: It's remarkable that in a Test where a barrage of shots have sent the ball disappearing to all corners of the ground, the most gripping piece of action stemmed from a defensive stroke in the fading moments of the second day.

The fast and furious Shoaib Akhtar kicked up astonishing bounce from a docile pitch and Rahul Dravid, leaping high, his body behind the line and loosening the grip on the handle, managed to keep the beast of the delivery, that would have consumed most batsmen, down. Velocity and lift on one side, technical excellence on the other... in terms of a contest between the ball and the bat, this has been the high point of the first Allianz Test so far.

Only 15 overs were possible on day three at the Gaddafi Stadium, owing to poor light. India, resuming at 65 without loss in reply to Pakistan's imposing 679 for seven declared, was in a strong position at 145 for no loss.

Virender Sehwag, rediscovering form, was on a combative and entertaining 96 (89b, 20x4) and Dravid on 37 (84b, 5x4). The Test is heading for a draw, with the forecast for the next two days not very encouraging.

Docile pitch

On a pitch that offered little, the Indian bowlers suffered. Four Pakistanis made hundreds — Younis Khan (199), Mohammad Yousuf (173), Shahid Afridi (103), and Kamran Akmal (102 not out).

Dravid opened the innings with Sehwag. It was a courageous decision by the Indian captain, in a pressure situation. The move made sense for two reasons. Dravid, an accomplished No. 3 batsmen, was technically well equipped to cope with the new ball and he just needed to bat a slot higher.

The captain was also giving Sourav Ganguly, fighting for a settled place in the side, a better chance of succeeding by retaining him in the middle-order.

"Dravid made a strong statement, both to his team and the opposition," said coach Greg Chappell. Pakistan coach Woolmer admitted to being `surprised' by Dravid surfacing as an opener. "He took the initiative himself," he said in acknowledgment.

Solid Dravid

Dravid, his visage oozing determination, was rock-solid, while Sehwag's strokes on the off-side — the square-cut or the drive through the covers — were invariably brilliant. The Pakistani pacemen, Akhtar, Rana Naved, and Mohammed Sami, tested him with probing short-pitched bowling, but the gutsy Delhi opener was equal to the task.

"Certain players have a liking for certain attacks, and he likes our bowling," said Woolmer. There is a feeling that Pakistan, with its superior pace attack, was not playing to its strength, by preparing a docile pitch. Said Woolmer, "the cold weather has come in the way of the curator making the kind of wicket we wanted. We should see livelier tracks in Faisalabad and Karachi."

In the Pakistan innings, Younis missed a double century by a whisker after he set off for a single, but was turned back by Afridi, blocked unintentionally by bowler Kumble. Younis (199, 336b, 26x4), was done in by Harbhajan's throw.

Exquisite strokes

Earlier, Mohammad Yousuf (173, 199b, 21x4, 2x6) had reached his 15th Test hundred, the feature of his innings being the expansive cover drives, that were not just exquisitely timed, but stroked through the gaps. A rush of blood signalled the end of Yousuf's wonderfully positive innings — he was stumped off a Kumble leg-break. The third wicket pair raised a mammoth 319.

Kumble, with a delivery that went through straight, soon won a leg-before decision against Inzamam-ul-Haq as Pakistan suffered a mini-collapse.

Afridi on the rampage

But Afridi, who bats with the spirit of an adventurer, struck clean blows with decisive stroke-play. He made room to crash Kumble inside out over covers, and then struck Harbhjan for four successive sixes, the best among them being a straight hit; the off-spinner went for 27 runs, the second most expensive over in Tests.

Akmal, a quick-footed, fast-thinking batsman, who can create and innovate, carved the Indian bowling that lacked both the discipline and the extra speed in the air, to conquer the conditions. In a rollicking sixth wicket stand, Afridi and Akmal added 170 in only 139 balls as the Indians chased leather.

The second day also witnessed Ganguly holding a spectacular leaping one-handed catch at deep mid-off to dismiss Rana Naved. And the former captain deserved to celebrate the way he did.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan: — 1st innings: S. Malik c Harbhajan b Pathan 59, S. Butt (run out) 6, Y. Khan (run out) 199, M. Yousuf st. Dhoni b Kumble 173, I. Haq lbw b Kumble 1, S. Afridi c Harbhajan b Agarkar 103, K. Akmal (not out) 102, Rana Naved c Ganguly b Agarkar 9, M. Sami (not out) 1. Extras (b-4, lb-12, w-2, nb-8): 26. Total (for seven wkts. decl.): 679.

Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Butt), 2-136 (Malik), 3-455 (Youhana), 4-456

(Inzamam), 5-477 (Younis), 6-647 (Afridi), 7-668 (Rana).

India bowling: Pathan 32-4-133-1 (nb-2); Agarkar 24-3-122-2 (w-2); Ganguly 6-1-14-0 (nb-3); Harbhajan 34-5-176-0; Kumble 39.3-2-178-2 (nb-3); Sehwag 6-0-24-0; Tendulkar 2-0-16-0.

India: 1st innings: V. Sehwag (batting) 96; R. Dravid (batting) 37. Extras: (lb-5, w-2, nb-5): 12. Total (for no loss): 145.

Pakistan bowling: Akhtar 10-4-34-0 (nb-2, w-1); Rana Naved 9-0-54-0 (w-1); Afridi 2-0-12-0 (nb-1); Sami 5-0-33-0 (nb-1); Kaneria 2-0-7-0 (nb-1).

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