The Hindu : Sport : Rain and Gayle steal Tendulkar's thunder

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 15, 2006
ePaper

Sport

Sport

Rain and Gayle steal Tendulkar's thunder

S. Ram Mahesh

West Indies's bold reply leaves it winner by the Duckworth-Lewis method

— PHOTO: S. SUBRAMANIUM

... BUT DUCKWORTH AND LEWIS PREVAIL: Man of the Match Sachin Tendulkar plays a square-cut during his unbeaten 141 as an opening batsman against West Indies on Thursday in the DLF Cup cricket tri-series in Kuala Lumpur. Tendulkar's 40th One Day International hundred enabled India reach 309 for five in 50 overs. However, West Indies, which was 141 for two in 20 overs when rain intervened, emerged the winner after the Duckworth and Lewis method was employed.

Kuala Lumpur: India suffered a cruel fate at the Kinrara Oval on Thursday.

Sport, however, is a cruel business: a fact borne out by India losing the second ODI of the DLF Cup by the Duckworth-Lewis method by 29 runs.

Pursuing India's 309, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Brian Lara took West Indies to a frenetic 141 for two in 20 overs when rain intervened. Almost an hour and 40 minutes later, the umpires called off the match.

One ball less, and it wouldn't have counted. Thus was Sachin Tendulkar's thunder stolen by Chris Gayle's 35-ball 45, and the efforts of Sarwan and Lara.

Work of art

Silhouetted in the mist, the amorphous lines of tree-laden hills, the crisper contours of red-bricked roofs, and the flashing lights of cars on the highway provided the ideal backdrop for a work of art. And Tendulkar obliged.

He began with a stroke seasoned Tendulkar-watchers immediately identified: the glide to third-man that looks edged, but is, in fact, "at least three-quarters intentional," as Richie Benaud once said.

Great composers have alluded to how their best is marked by a lack of the struggle and the tension that shapes their other works. The innings, viewed in its entirety, had its struggles, its moments of doubt, even a moment of near termination when wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh leapt in front of first slip, and finger-tipped it onto the knee of Gayle, who stood waiting.

Stroke of luck

Tendulkar had been on five then; the unlucky bowler was Fidel Edwards. But, these were merely teething troubles in an innings that progressed from the trademark whip-off-the-legs through the vintage elbow-led straight drive to a stage during the slog when blithe drives inside-out over the cover boundary were de rigueur.

Three of Tendulkar's five sixes were obtained in this manner: even hard-bitten journalists, many of whom have asked if his powers have been withered by injury and weathered by age, allowed themselves an admiring gasp.

— Photo: S. Subramanium

THANKING PROVIDENCE: Sachin Tendulkar returned from an injury lay-off with a flamboyant innings that must have put to rest any talk of his `waning prowess'.

The unbeaten 148-ball 141 (13x4, 5x6) — the only other instance of Tendulkar carrying his bat is the undefeated 186 against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999 — was paced like many of the great man's previous 39 hundreds. There was the initial burst, during which he threw a couple of upper cuts, and even top-edged a hook. Then came consolidation as he passed his 50 in 67 balls: a phase devoted to the dink to third-man for one, the work with the wrists for two.

Solid support

Irfan Pathan, who has batted at three in five of his last 10 ODIs, was crucial to India's cause during this period. Where Tendulkar downshifted, Pathan upped the ante. The pair shared a 164-run partnership against Sri Lanka at Nagpur in October 2005, when Tendulkar had returned from injury previously. Here, Pathan carved and smote his way to 64 off 68 balls, outscoring his senior partner in the 125-run alliance.

The third phase of Tendulkar's knock was batting's equivalent of the long-distance runner's hammer finish. India made 59 runs in the final five overs, owing in part to Suresh Raina's delightful cameo, and to Tendulkar's shifting of attention to Dwayne Bravo. The 33-year-old's effort was thrown into relief by the Kinrara Oval track.

Bowlers from the Pavillion End got some deliveries to creep along turf — Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, and M.S. Dhoni were done in by unplayable shooters — and others to leap off a length.

Dodgy pitch

Any bowler who cared to land it on the seam achieved deviation. Tendulkar himself copped one on the glove; so did Dravid. That these two were hit despite having the finest defensive technique illustrated just how dodgy the wicket was. Most curious then that India ran up 309, and West Indies — during its turn — replied in kind.

In the end, it came down to the weather and the most sophisticated rain rule in limited-overs history. If Dhoni had responded adequately when Harbhajan Singh, thinking on his feet, fired it past Lara's advanced legs, perhaps things may have been different. Perhaps not.

SCOREBOARD

India: R. Dravid lbw b Smith 26, S. Tendulkar (not out) 141, I. Pathan b Gayle 64, V. Sehwag b Taylor 9, M.S . Dhoni b Taylor 2, S. Raina c Smith b Taylor 34, Mohd. Kaif (not out) 1; Extras (lb-18, nb-5, w-9): 32; Total (for five wkts. in 50 overs) 309.

Fall of wickets: 1-75 (Dravid), 2-200 (Pathan), 3-223 (Sehwag), 4-227 (Dhoni), 5-295 (Raina).

West Indies bowling: Taylor 10-1-64-3, Edwards 6-0-40-0, Bradshaw 10-0-44-0, Smith 7-0-43-1, Gayle 10-0-46-1, Bravo 7-0-54-0.

PP1 (1-10): 62/0, PP2 (11-15): 17/1, PP3 (16-20): 28/0.

West Indies: C. Gayle c Dhoni b Munaf 45, S. Chanderpaul c Munaf b R.P. Singh 6, R. Sarwan (not out) 37, B. Lara (not out) 27; Extras (lb-8, nb-4, w-14): 26; Total (for two wkts. in 20 overs) 141.

Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Chanderpaul), 2-98 (Gayle).

India bowling: Pathan 2-0-22-0, Agarkar 5-0-24-0, R.P. Singh 4-0-39-1, Munaf 5-0-18-1, Harbhajan 4-0-30-0.

PP1 (1-10): 78/1, PP2 (11-15): 32/1, PP3 (16-20): 31/0.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport