The Hindu : Sport : Massive victory for Pakistan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 02, 2006

Sport

Sport

Massive victory for Pakistan

S. Dinakar

— Photo: S. Subramanium

ONE MORE TO THE KITTY: Abdul Razzaq is delighted after snaring Irfan Pathan.

Karachi: A much-celebrated batting line-up lay in tatters at the National Stadium after a performance bereft of character. The Indians were up against a superior pace attack but then these highly rated batsmen were expected to stand up and be counted in the cauldron, under the pressure.

They disappointed. Yuvraj Singh boomed with a defiant hundred, but India, as a team, went down without a fight; the match not entering the fifth day. The side that needed to bat out 164 overs to save the third Alliaz Test lasted just 58.4 overs.

Pakistan outplayed India by a whopping 341 runs to triumph in the three-match series 1-0. Set an impossible target of 607, India was dismissed for 265 with Yuvraj alone offering resistance with a brave 122 (144b, 19x4, 1x6).

The Test that began with an Irfan Pathan hat-trick and an Indian celebration, concluded with the Pakistanis jumping for joy and the crowd breaking into loud cheers. Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has transformed a group of talented individuals into a well-knit unit that can conquer adversity.

The Pakistani pace pack of Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Asif, and Abdul Razzaq made deep inroads into the Indian line-up and Danish Kaneria chipped in with his leg-breaks and googlies. That the Pakistani pacemen were able to extract a lot more from the pitch should put the effort of their Indian counterparts under proper perspective. India needs to take a serious re-look at its pace combination.

Change of fortunes

In a bizarre change of fortunes, Pakistan roared after being reduced to 39 for six before lunch on day one. Kamran Akmal, who orchestrated that turnaround with a brilliant 113 on a seaming wicket, was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Younis Khan, prolific and influential, was named the Man of the Series. In the absence of skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq here, he led the side with passion and commitment, and did make the right moves on the decisive Wednesday. He is a chirpy character who brings with him a truckload of positive energy. By fielding at silly point himself, he was sending the right message to his men, even if he did not latch on to a couple of half chances.

It was critical for Pakistan to strike with the new ball and India to survive the early phase. As the Kukkuburra ball loses its hardness, it does not provide the pacemen much in terms of either seam movement or swing. In the event, Pakistan jolted the Indian top and middle-order.

Akhtar generating extreme pace in his opening burst, snared Rahul Dravid in the corridor with an away going delivery to open the sluice gate; the Indian skipper received a faint nick. Then the promising Mohammad Asif took out Virender Sehwag's middle-stump with a sharp off-cutter; the opener's tardy footwork contributed to his dismissal.

The Indian innings plunged into a deeper mess on resumption after lunch with Asif, bowling with the wind this time, hitting the middle-stump again, his next victim being V.V.S. Laxman. The fact that Asif was delivering his off-cutters from close to the stumps, which is otherwise the ideal releasing point for the away going ball, made it difficult for the batsmen to pick him. Their tentativeness manifested in their footwork.

Asif dented the Indian hopes further by removing Sachin Tendulkar, shaping up well, with a delivery that kept a trifle low and knocked back the off-stump. India was reeling at 74 for four and the 23-year-old Sheikhpura lad's second spell of 8-1-32-2 had virtually settled the issue.

Brief recovery

India recovered, briefly, through the punishing Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly, who once again batted with resolve and solidity. Yuvraj, displaying a wonderfully straight blade, thumped the pacemen down the ground. The left-hander also sent the ball darting past the gap between point and cover and unleashed the pull stroke.

Ganguly donned a supporting role to Yuvraj in a 103-run fifth wicket association in 120 balls. He fell immediately after tea to Razzaq, playing across to a delivery that held its line to be trapped in front.

Razzaq's spell of 11.4-0-43-4 from the University Road End — all the eight wickets that fell to the pacemen were picked when they operated with the wind behind their back — snuffed out all Indian hopes.

Razzaq is a wily bowler with deceptive pace and movement. He combined with Imran Farhat in the off-side cordon to prise out Dhoni, and consumed Irfan Pathan with a well-directed short-pitched delivery which the southpaw could not manage to keep down.

Meanwhile, Yuvraj, who survived on 77 when Faisal Iqbal dropped a sitter at square-leg after the Punjab southpaw top-edged a pull off Razzaq, could not be denied his second Test hundred made under trying circumstances. He was the final man to depart, pouched by Akmal off Razzaq, but at least he had offered some resistance.

Earlier, Pakistan had declared at 599 for seven, adding 88 runs in 13.1 overs. Faisal Iqbal (139, 220b, 16x4, 1x6) essayed a few delightfully wristy shots off Rudra Pratap Singh and Sachin Tendulkar.

And Abdul Razzaq (90, 141b, 5x4, 4x6) smashed Kumble and Pathan for sixes over long-on before falling to the former in his bid to clear the fence.

As it turned out, Pakistan did not need as many runs to defend.

Scoreboard>/b>

Pakistan — 1st innings: 245.

India — 1st innings: 238.

Pakistan — 2nd innings: S. Butt lbw b Ganguly 53, I. Farhat c Tendulkar b Pathan 57, Y. Khan lbw b Kumble 77, Md. Yousuf lbw b Kumble 97, F. Iqbal c Tendulkar b Zaheer 139, S. Afridi c Tendulkar b R.P. Singh 60, A. Razzaq c Yuvraj b Kumble 90, K. Akmal (not out) 0; Extras (b-7, lb-7, nb-11, w-1) 26; Total (for seven wickets decl. in 140.1 overs) 599.

Fall of wickets: 1-109, 2-122, 3-280, 4-318, 5-402, 6-598, 7-599.

India bowling: Pathan 25-3-106-1, Zaheer 28-4-103-1, R.P. Singh 24-1-115-1, Kumble 37.1-3-151-3, Ganguly 16-1-68-1, Sehwag 1-0-2-0, Tendulkar 9-0-40-0.

India — 2nd innings: V. Sehwag b Asif 4, R. Dravid c Akmal b Akhtar 2, V.V.S. Laxman b Asif 21, S. Tendulkar b Asif 26, S. Ganguly lbw b Razzaq 37, Y. Singh c Akmal b Razzaq 122, M.S. Dhoni c Farhat b Razzaq 18, I. Pathan c Iqbal b Razzaq 4, A. Kumble c Farhat b Kaneria 5, Z. Khan b Kaneria 10, R.P. Singh (not out) 0; Extras (b-7, nb-4, w-5) 16; Total (in 58.4 overs) 265. Fall of wickets: 1/8 2/8 3/63 4/74 5/177 6/208 7/216 8/231 9/251.

Pakistan bowling: Akhtar 8-1-37-1, Asif 12-1-48-3, Razzaq 18.4-0-88-4, Kaneria 18-0-75-2, Afridi 2-0-10-0.

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