Tendulkar puts India in command

It took two change of bats for Sachin Tendulkar to post his 28th Test century, at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground, in Nagpur, and get India a lead of 150 runs on a deteriorating pitch, assisting spin.

Tendulkar's unbeaten 137 on day three of the first Test against Zimbabwe got India to a position from where it can dictate terms and push for a win.

Ending the day at 437/5, India had scored 228 runs off the allotted 90 overs, at a rate of 2.66, losing three wickets.

Indian innings:

Last evening, Tendulkar walked out to face the last four balls of day two at the fall of Shiv Sundar Das's wicket. When asked by a commentator why he opted to take guard instead of a night watchman, he replied, "I'm not going to let anyone else get out there before me."

A brave decision, though it wasn’t the first time that the master batsman was in that situation. The last occasion was against the Australians, last year at home, when Nayan Mongia retired hurt and Tendulkar walked out to brave the storm in the final overs of the day.

Crowds thronged the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground for the weekend extravaganza, with Tendulkar at the wicket. Zimbabwe’s only chance of not letting India seize the initiative lay in scalping his wicket and that of a stubborn Rahul Dravid, who looked set to convert his fifty into three figures, on a wicket which was disconcerting and lacking in bounce and pace.

Tendulkar played and missed a couple of times in Ray Price's first over of the morning, but broke even, dispatching the tweaker to the fence with a back-foot cover-drive.

Grant Flower, bowling his teasing tweakers from the other end, almost had Dravid with one that kept low. Surprisingly, Zimbabwean skipper Stuart Carlisle opted for the new ball when spin seemed to be teasing the Indian batters. A mere 10 runs were scored off the six overs bowled by the tweakers.

The move misfired as Tendulkar tore into Travis Friend, clobbering the new ball to the cover fence, and then flicking the same bowler for two boundary in his next over.

Five overs with the new ball fetched 20 runs, and Tendulkar pushed the Zimbabwe attack on the backfoot.

Meanwhile, Dravid, with a half century against his name, at the other end, was unable to pierce the field and managed a mere eight runs (all singles) in over an hour of play in the morning. His misery ended when, in an attempt to break through the shackles, he played away from his body and dragged the ball on to his stumps. He made 65 runs off 179 balls.

India skipper Sourav Ganguly joined Tendulkar with India at 247 for 3, still 40 runs short of overhauling Zimbabwe's total. Hoping to spend some quality time in the middle, Ganguly made sure he played with caution, and a mere 11 runs came in nine overs, with the left-hander offering his pads to the tweakers.

Tendulkar finally shifted gears and found the fence. Ganguly followed suit against the spinners as India went to lunch at 274 for 3.

A total of 65 runs came in the morning session for the loss of a single wicket (Dravid), at the rate of 2.26 an over.

Tendulkar, as he had done on umpteen occasions before, had the largest piece of the Indian total’s pie (76 per cent of the total) as another half-century was stalled by the lunch break.

Post Lunch Session

43 runs came in the first hour after lunch even as Zimbabwe skipper Carlisle tried everything possible to stem the flow of runs by placing sweepers at mid-wicket and deep cover and having his bowlers bowl wide outside off-stump. But none seemed to work as runs flowed from both the ends.

Tendulkar got to his 31st Test fifty with a patent extra-cover drive off 111 balls, which had eight fours.

A tenacious Ganguly exhibited his class with some glorious off-side strokes, using the fast outfield, to run-up a tall Test score. A delicate touch by him down to the third man fence for four, off a delivery wide of off-stump, was the highlight of his innings. Riding on the confidence of that stroke, he pushed the next one through extra cover for another four.

Tendulkar, with his precision, didn’t once fail to punish a bad delivery, milking the bowlers and attacking in the all-important post lunch session.

The two were cruising towards their 100-run partnership, when Ray Price's introduction into the attack got Zimbabwe the breakthrough.

Having smashed Price over his head for a boundary earlier in the same over, Ganguly went after the left-armer again when he bowled it a touch wide. But this time he flashed to Grant Flower at widish mid-on and was out for 38.

Ganguly seemed at ease at the crease, and after a sedate start played his strokes without any pressure. Yet again, as in the last four Tests, the Indian skipper got into the 30s-40s and then failed to translate them into big scores.

VVS Laxman strode out to join Tendulkar, who seemed unfazed by the disconcerting pitch, and timed the ball well as he always does.

In the last over before tea, Tendulkar latched on to Friend’s delivery from outside off-stump and guided it through to the mid-wicket fence for four. A flick on the on-side got him his 28th Test ton. In the process, he surpassed Australians Allan Border and Steve Waugh's 27 Test centuries.

It was an exquisite, if not his finest, Test century, with some awesome drives and silken glides, against a toothless bowling attack on a slow wicket.

Looking at the assistance the pitch provided to Ray Price and Grant Flower, the tweaker duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh should prove decisive in India finding a result to this match.

76 runs ahead, India went into tea at 363/4.

Post Tea Session:

Zimbabwe finally found some reason to cheer when Price flighted one up to Laxman, who pushed, got the ball on the shoulder blade, and silly point fielder Gavin Rennie grabbed a sharp chance.

Laxman (13) seemed rather uncomfortable and unsure right from the start of his innings, taking forever to get off the mark. His dumping from the ODI team has made him more circumspect about his place in the Test side, and it is evident in his body language and the limited ration of strokes he displays.

Umpire Venkataraghavan barred medium pacer Travis Friend from bowling for the rest of the first innings after he bowled a beamer head high to Tendulkar. Zimbabwe skipper Carlisle alongwith the bowler suggested that the incident was more a slip than a concerted effort to injure the batsman, but to no avail.

Friend was warned on day two for bowling a beamer to opener Das. The decision only compounded skipper Carlisle’s problems as he tried to run through the Indian batting line-up.

The post-tea session saw a completely subdued Tendulkar, who scored just ten runs in the hour after tea. Laxman was dismissed with the Indians 89 runs ahead and only the lower order to follow, forcing Tendulkar to weigh his options – to attack or play out time.

The Indian innings seemed to have hit a trough with rare glimpses of aggression from Tendulkar while Sanjay Bangar seemed to have shut shop an hour before the end of the day's play.

The Indian innings contained 793 dot balls, which translate into 43 maiden overs against a side like Zimbabwe. Last year India scored at a much faster rate against Australia at home, which boasted a much better attack comprising Glen McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne

Scoreboard