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India manages to sneak through

S. Dinakar

Dravid and Co. clinch the humdinger by nine runs; Chawla, Powar impress

Bristol: Attacking cricket and aggressive captaincy were rewarded at the Gloucester County cricket ground on Friday night.

India’s decision to pick two spinners on a small ground, in the days of the Power Play overs, was a brave one. In Rahul Dravid’s words, “It was a bit of a gamble.”

It, indeed, was a massive gamble.

Had the ploy failed, the team-management, the skipper in particular, would have been in the line of fire. The spinners, however, emerged winners, so did Dravid.

India clinched a humdinger by nine runs — benefiting immensely from some sloppy fielding and catching England finished just two strokes short of 329 — to level the NatWest series 1-1 with five matches remaining.

Earlier, in the late afternoon and evening, Dravid played a destructive innings of great charm, slicing open the bowling and splitting the field with sure footwork, deft touch and immaculate timing rather than savage power. Few realised he had conjured an unbeaten 92 off just 63 deliveries. It was a blinder. “It was one of those days...”, said Dravid with typical modesty.

Then, he led the side brilliantly.

Middle overs

The key, as Dravid pointed out, was to pick wickets in the middle overs, which India failed to accomplish at the Rose Bowl.

Here, Piyush Chawla tossing the ball from hand to hand, bounded in to castle the influential and well-set Kevin Pietersen, who played for the turn and saw a delightfully flighted delivery sneaking through the gap to disturb the woodwork. The Indians converged in a heap — the significance of the strike was not lost on them.

Then, Chawla tricked Paul Collingwood, who came down the track, with a googly. Backed by the captain, he was giving the ball air. “He has a great attitude,” Dravid would say later.

Deeper into the night and the innings, Chawla would get Ian Bell, whose 96-ball 64 did not exactly suit the team’s needs while pursuing 330, caught in the deep.

There were occasions when the young leg-spinner went for runs — the boundaries were not hard to achieve on a small ground and a fast outfield once the gap was found or a fielder beaten — but he grabbed key wickets.

“We had to keep taking wickets. It was hard to contain runs on this ground,” said Dravid. Crucially, India played five specialist bowlers.

Precision and craft

Off-spinner Ramesh Powar — it was a great sight to see him operate in tandem with Chawla — bowled with precision and craft, flighting the ball and daring the men facing him. He does have an old-fashioned approach to spin bowling, smiling at the batsman who goes after him and flighting the ball even more, even in one-day cricket. The off-spinner uses the crease well and varies his trajectory and line cleverly.

Andrew Flintoff, his spirit lifted by a five-for and egged on by the crowd, fell into the trap laid for him by Dravid and Powar. The square-leg boundary seemed vacant, but there was a man waiting, between the third man and the square-leg fence, close to the crowd and almost hidden in the night. Flintoff did not spot the fielder.

Munaf Patel was expensive in his comeback game, but there were enough indications in his eight overs, including the wickets of the free-stroking openers in one over, that he was gradually rediscovering rhythm, control and pace. The ball with which he consumed the in-form Alastair Cook, it darted away from the left-hander’s off-stump, was a peach of delivery.

The late blitz by Dimitri Mascarenhas — he smashed 52 off only 39 balls with five fours and a six — and some bold blows by Stuart Broad brought England close to an improbable win.

Ajit Agarkar again went for runs even if he bowled an improved second spell. “He bowled well in Belfast, you cannot write him off like that,” said Dravid. Left-armer R.P. Singh sent down more deliveries in the right areas and snared Mascarenhas at the Death.

The Indian catching, as Dravid admitted, left much to be desired. Matthew Piror was dropped by Ganguly in the slips on eight (the openers gathered a hectic 76 in 10.5 overs), Bell was put down by Powar at third man, Dhoni floored Peitersen off Ganguly, who soon grassed a return catch from the same batsman.

India got away...but only just.

SCOREBOARD

India: S. Ganguly c Collingwood b Flintoff 39, S. Tendulkar c Prior b Flintoff 99, Yuvraj c Collingwood b Broad 49, R. Dravid (not out 92), M. S. Dhoni c Tremlett b Anderson 21, D. Karthik lbw b Flintoff 1, A. Agarkar c Prior b Flintoff 1, R. Powar c Prior b Flintoff 1, P. Chawla (not out); 1 Extras (lb-8, w-9, nb-8) 25. Total (for seven wkts., 50 overs) 329.

Fall of wickets: 1-113, 2-180, 3-243, 4-302, 5-310, 6-324, 7-326.

England bowling: Broad 9-0-54-1, Anderson 10-1-56-1, Flintoff 10-0-56-5, Tremlett 9-0-73-0, Mascarenhas 4-0-31-0, Collingwood 4-0-24-0, Bopara 4-0-27-0.

England: A. Cook c Dhoni b Munaf 36, M. Prior c Dravid b Munaf 33, I. Bell c Munaf b Chawla 64, K. Pietersen b Chawla 25, P. Collingwood b Chawla 27, A. Flintoff c Agarkar b Powar 9, R. Bopara lbw b Munaf 17, D. Mascarenhas c Agarkar b R.P. Singh 52, S. Broad (not out) 29, C. Tremlett (not out) 0; Extras (b-1, lb-6, w-15, nb-6) 28. Total (for eight wkts., 50 overs) 320.

Fall of wickets: 1-76, 2-76, 3-134, 4-176, 5-185, 6-220, 7-240, 8-299.

India bowling: Agarkar 9-1-67-0, R.P. Singh 10-0-56-1, Munaf 8-0-70-3, Ganguly 3-0-17-0, Chawla 10-0-60-3, Powar 10-0-43-1.

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