MOHALI, 12 March 2005 — The writing was always on the wall from the very first day of the first Test here after Pakistan’s batting failed to impress as did their fielding when they dropped catches to let India have the freedom of the proceedings.
In the fourth day’s play India as predicted took a sizable first innings lead of 204 runs before being all out for 516 before lunch adding 69 more runs to their overnight 447 for 6.
Under pressure Pakistan then once again showed, in their present tour with an unbalanced side, that they could take a heavy toll by the time the tour is over. At close of play on the fourth day Pakistan had managed to make 257 for 6 in their second innings for a lead of just 53 runs.
Barring any divine intervention, they are perilously close to an inevitable defeat that could come at any time after lunch on the final day. They were lucky to survive the fourth day however after having lost three frontline batsmen with only ten runs scored.
If not for Inzamam ul-Haq’s 86 and his third-wicket partnership with Yousuf Youhana, who made 68, and later a gutsy 48 by Asim Kamal they might have perished perhaps on the fourth evening. After bowling India out within an hour and 20 minutes of the morning, Pakistan again started disastrously with opener Taufiq Umar gone for 4, Younis Khan without scoring and Salman Butt for 5.
Taufiq was caught and bowled by Laxmipathy Balaji, their first innings destroyer, Younis shouldered arms to a ripping Balaji delivery and saw the off stump knocked back and Salman Butt while ducking into a lifting delivery from Irfan Pathan failed to keep his bat down and was caught by wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik.
At lunch with the score reading 52 for 3, Pakistan’s plight seemed perilous. But Inzamam and Youhana defended stubbornly to share 139 for the fourth wicket and give the innings some kind of sanity. Inzamam in sight of a hundred was then leg before for 86 for the second time in the match. Perhaps an unlucky dismissal as he played forward outside the off stump. He struck ten fours and a six off Anil Kumble in the 105 balls that he faced.
Not much later Youhana reached his fifty with nine fours and Asim Kamal, the next man in, struck Kumble for four successive boundaries on the off side. Youhana and Asim put on 44 runs for the fifth wicket when Kumble ended their stand. Youhana playing defensively forward failed to stop the ball as it rolled back on to his stumps. This was a fine innings and was studded with 12 fours but that was not enough for Pakistan.
Kamal’s defiance also was curtailed minutes later as Balaji picked his third wicket of the day after Kamal had made 48 runs following his 91 in the first innings. He hit six fours and a six. Abdul Razzaq and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal saw the day off. Earlier India added 69 more runs to their overnight total before being all out. Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria had captured 6 for 150 with sustained accuracy.
Pathan was stumped off him for 13, Balaji was caught at the wicket playing forward after a 36-ball 31. V.V.S. laxman, who had reached his fifty with eight fours, played on to one of Kaneria’s delivery when 58 and the last man Zaheer Khan drove uppishly to be caught by the bowler Kaneria. But not before India had put themselves in a position from where they could dictate the proceedings for the rest of the match. Kaneria, meanwhile, said bowling to Sachin Tendulkar brought out the best in him. “He is a world class batsman and everyone knows that,” said the Karachi-born bowler, who did not count Tendulkar among his victims. “I tried to raise myself when I was bowling to him. I wanted to show my class too.” Kaneria was particularly happy because India’s batsmen are excellent players of the leg spinner’s stock delivery that spins into the pads of right-handers. “I found in this game that most Indian batsmen had trouble reading my googly,” he said.
India, meanwhile, have retained their 14-member squad for the second Test against Pakistan starting at Calcutta’s Eden Gardens on March 16.
Squad: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh.
