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India give Eng a scare post-tea, even as test ends in draw |
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Written by Akshay
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Sunday, 05 March 2006 |
England after having a good fourth day, where they had taken a lead of 367 runs, declared on their overnight score. The set India a target of 368 to win in a minimum of 90 overs, at the same time a tricky task of batting out the last day on a pitch which everyone felt would be worn out by day 5. Things started nicely for England, with Sehwag again falling cheaply to Mathew Hoggard. He looked out of sorts from the begining of proceedings and finally got bowled to a delivery that swung back in to him.
Jaffer and Dravid, as in the first innings stabilised the innings and dug in to prevent England getting an opening. Jaffer looked in very good touch, showing a classy display of strokes off his legs and straight down the ground. Dravid as usual held a masterclass in concentration and patience. The pitch though admittedly did not wear out as much as everyone had thought it would. Both of them took India to 131/1 at tea.It looked as if the game was headed for a dull draw.
However after tea both came out looking more positive and there seemed a change in plans. Dravid started trying to quicken the pace by sweeping and reverse sweeping the spinners. He got out playing a late cut off Panesar, missing the line of the ball and getting bowled. Then came the suprise move : The crowd cheered in anticipation of the arrival of India's regular no.4, Sachin Tendulkar but Pathan ran out onto the field instead. At this stage India needed about 200 runs off 25 overs and Pathan started taking on the bowlers from the word go. He first took on the left arm spinner Panesar hitting him over the in-field a couple of times. Flintoff seemingly got rattled by this sudden move and the fielders started disappearing to the boundary lines and the spinners were taken off. Jaffer meanwhile got to his maiden test century, nudging and pushing the singles. Pathan on the other hand smashed Flintoff for a boundary through the covers and then hit him for six straight down the ground. Clearly India had decided to have and go and see what happens. Jaffer after completing his century felt compelled to join in the onslaught but he's not that kind of a player. He was caught at cover trying to hit one over the infield off Flintoff. Then came another move that made India's intentions clear. M S Dhoni walked in to join Pathan. He started rotating the strike faster than Jaffer and the boundaries continued to flow from Pathan's willow. The game seemed to have suddenly opened up and the English fielders felt the heat as there were a few misfields and wild throws. Pathan then hauled out to midwicket going for a wild slog. Now came Sachin and the game was getting interesting as eevrybody was left guessing whether now that Pathan was gone India would buckle down and play out for a draw. Not to be as the challenge of scoring 8 an over seemed to have infused aggression into the little master and he started getting his experience into play. Sweeps, flicks and well placed lofted shots followed as Sachin rang the alarm bells in the English camp. At the last drinks break India need about 120 from the last 15 overs, not impossible considering potentially two of the most explosive players were at the crease. Sachin and Dhoni had fielders scattering all over the place but then Dhoni hit one straight into long off's hands off Harmisson. India still was not willing to let go as they sent in Harbhajan Singh. He hit a couple of lusty blows before being dismissed by a Harmisson yorker. The light had faded alot by now and when Laxman walked in to join Tendulkar the umpires offered the light to the batsmen and they took it. At this stage India were 260/6 and it seemed pretty unlikely that they would get to the target but atleast they managed to flutter a few English feathers.
Mathew Hoggard bagged the man of the match award for his magnificent efforts in the first innings.
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