NOTTINGHAM, England, 30 July 2007 — Sachin Tendulkar missed out on a hundred but he helped bat India into a commanding position against England on the third day of the second Test at Trent Bridge here yesterday.
Tendulkar’s 91 was one of five half-centuries made by India’s top six in a total of 481 that gave them a first innings lead of 283.
At stumps England, in their second innings, were 43 without loss — still needing a further 240 runs just to make India bat again with two days left.
Andrew Strauss (21 not out) and Alastair Cook (17 not out) survived a potentially tricky 16 overs to the close.
India, after tea, saw VVS Laxman (54) follow Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly (79), Dinesh Karthik (77) and Wasim Jaffer (62) in making a fifty. Chris Tremlett, who led England’s pace attack with a commendable three for 80 in 40 overs, finally ended Laxman’s innings when the batsman, run less for his final 24 balls, edged to wicketkeeper Matt Prior on 54.
It was fine effort from the 6ft 7in Tremlett, in only his second Test after making his debut at Lord’s in the drawn opener of this three-match series.
Zaheer Khan, off the mark with a streaky four, then took exception to a comment made to him by one of England’s close fielders. The umpires moved in to calm the situation and spoke to Strauss, captaining England with Michael Vaughan off the field.
India’s tail, a brisk 30 from Anil Kumble apart, fell cheaply with left-arm spinner Monty Panesar ending the innings when last man Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was lbw for two to finish with figures of four for 101 in 33.5 overs. Left-arm quick Ryan Sidebottom, despite the blue skies overhead, swung the ball consistently and was unlucky to take just the one wicket.
His performance suggested India’s left-arm pace bowlers, who’d starred as England were bowled out for a lowly first innings 198, albeit in conditions aiding swing bowling, would continue to pose problems.
Tendulkar, who during his innings had become only the third batsman in history to score 11,000 Test runs, went to within nine of extending his world record of Test hundreds to 38 when, in the first over after lunch, he uppercut Paul Collingwood for four. But medium-pacer Collingwood had Tendulkar lbw padding up outside off-stump to his sixth ball which looked as if it might miss the stumps. Australia’s Simon Taufel, the three-time ICC Umpire of the Year, pondered his decision before raising the finger and a disbelieving Tendulkar laid himself open to a dissent charge by lingering in his crease for several seconds before walking off.
He batted for more than four hours, facing 197 balls with a dozen boundaries and put on 96 in 31 overs with Ganguly, who also exited when eyeing a hundred.
Shaping to leg-glance James Anderson, the left-hander was caught by a diving Prior off what appeared a thin deflection at best.
Bangladesh Dissolve Board,
Appoint Interim Committee
In Dhaka, the Bangladesh Cricket Board was dissolved yesterday and a 12-member interim committee headed by Maj. Gen. Sina Ibn Jamali has been appointed.
“The board has been dissolved as most members have resigned voluntarily,” the sports ministry said in a statement.
“It is hoped that the interim committee will soon take up charges and will take steps to organize a permanent committee.” Jamali, chief of general staff of the Bangladesh Army, will head an interim committee that includes Fahim Munaim, principal press secretary of Fakhruddin Ahmed who is head of the army-backed interim government.
Industrialist Salman Ispahani, a leading sports organizer, is the only member of the dissolved 31-member board to be included on the interim committee.
Seventeen board members, including general secretary Mahbub Anam and vice-president Gazi Golam Dastagir, resigned last week following the interim government’s plans to depoliticize the governing body.
The authorities had criticized most board members for being linked to major political parties, which they said jeopardized the normal running of the game. Abdul Aziz, a government bureaucrat and president of the dissolved board, was excluded from the interim committee having recommended that the vacant posts should be filled.
