GOTCHA: M.S. Dhoni was beaten in the air by Danish Kaneria and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal did his bit to end a dashing innings. — Photo: S. Subramanium.

Faisalabad: The pitch has been the hitch in the Allianz Test series so far. It has rained runs for the batsmen but the bowlers are experiencing a severe drought. Unless a turnaround of the most dramatic kind unfolds, the second Test on the placid Iqbal Stadium wicket will end in a draw.

With hefty contributions from Mahendra Singh Dhoni (148, 152b, 19x4, 4x6) and Irfan Pathan (90, 171b, 9x4, 2x6), and helped by some sting in the tail, the Indian innings concluded at 603 — a 15-run lead over Pakistan. Dhoni and Pathan added 210 for the sixth wicket in 277 balls.

And the host was 152 for one in its second innings at stumps on day four with Kamran Akmal (59 batting, 122b, 10x4) and vice-captain Younis Khan (64 batting, 102b, 11x4) putting together 100 runs in 188 balls for the second wicket.

Akmal, thrust into the opener's role with Shoaib Malik tending to his ailing father, stroked fluently on both sides of the wicket; he is a quick-footed, quick-thinking player. And Younis, who simply relishes the Indian attack, once again pierced the off-side field repeatedly. But his best moments surfaced against Anil Kumble. He cut the leg-spinner and then whipped him past mid-wicket dancing down the track.

Desperately unlucky

Pathan bowled his best spell of the tour — 5-1-15-0 — with the new ball. He operated at a better pace, did not err in line, and there was some movement in the air for him as well. He was desperately unlucky when V.V.S. Laxman, at second slip, made a hash of a regulation offering after Salman Butt (on two then) edged the left-armer. R.P. Singh was lively from the other end.

Kumble consumed Butt (24) with a clever change of pace. The left-hander drove the slower ball into Sachin Tendulkar's hands at mid-wicket. The leg-spinner strove hard during the Akmal-Younis association.

There was a rough just outside the right-hander's leg-stump from the press box end and the leg-spinner clearly attempted to land the ball there with a short-leg and a leg-slip in place.

Kumble could have, despite the prospect of the right-handers indulging in pad play, tried bowling from round the wicket. Harbhajan Singh, searching for rhythm, stuck to basic off-spin and was much the better bowler.

Interestingly, Zaheer Khan bowled round the wicket for most part of his five-over spell from the pavilion end to create the required change of angle in the absence of a right-arm paceman. The left-armer's tactics reflected the team-management's strategy to find variety caused by the sameness of the all left-arm pace attack; perhaps it was also a ploy to create a bigger rough for Kumble.

Missing out

Earlier, Pathan missed a hundred when an Abdul Razzaq delivery held its line after pitching in line. This was a fighting effort from the southpaw. Pathan has a secure defence and a still head and gets firmly behind the line of the ball. His straight driving was pleasing, but his best stroke was the scorching cover-drive off paceman Mohammad Asif.

Dhoni continued his psychological dominance over Akhtar. When the Pakistani spearhead pitched short, he unleashed the pull. When Akhtar bowled a fuller length, he drove him down the ground. When Dhoni was given some width, he flashed the fiery paceman through covers. He also employed the cheeky upper-cut shot over slips.

After being smashed for three fours Akhtar sent down a beamer in the same over only to see the ball disappearing past the boundary on the leg-side; he was losing the mental duel. He was promptly removed from the attack.

In the early moments of Dhoni's stay, Akhtar, charging down the pitch, had attempted to bully the wicket-keeper batsman. Dhoni's response reflected his courage. His was high-quality innings. Dhoni was decisive in his stroke-production against the pacemen, off either foot. Against the spinners, he was impressive in the manner he created room to crash them through the off-side field, or got his front leg out of the way while dismissing them to the far corners on the leg-side.

Danish Kaneria bowled better on Tuesday since he was willing to give the ball more air. The Pakistani had Dhoni stumped after the batsman gave charge to a flighted leg-spinner.

But then, Kaneria is walking on thin ice on the behavioural front. On Monday he flung the ball shoulder high to Akmal with Dhoni at the striker's end after which the belligerent wicket-keeper batsman promptly dumped him over mid-wicket for two successive sixes. On Tuesday, he threw the ball hard into the ground, in a baffling display of aggression, when Kumble played a defensive stroke to the first ball he faced. And all this after match referee Ranjan Madugalle had told the two captains, after summoning them, to cool things down in the middle.

India, eventually, managed to cross Pakistan's 588, with Harbhajan biffing a breezy 38 and Kumble and Zaheer coming up with useful efforts. It marked a victory of sorts for the visitors in a Test that seems destined to end in a draw.

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