India face uphill task to save Test
Faisal Shariff
Twice in two days, Sachin Tendulkar failed to bail India out as the Indian supporter climbed down a few clouds after the NatWest series elation two weeks ago.
India ended the fourth day on 232 for 6, still 336 runs in arrears of England's target of 568, with VVS Laxman and Ajit Agarkar at the wicket after a 62-run partnership -- the highest of the innings so far.
Matthew Hoggard's wickets of Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, in two balls, broke the Indian resistance.
Morning session
India were set a target of 568, a total never chased before in the history of the game, with five sessions to traverse.
England, riding on the back of centuries from Michael Vaughan and John Crawley, declared at 301 for 6 and tested the Indian openers with 15 agonising minutes to lunch.
Wasim Jaffer and Virendra Sehwag saw India safely to lunch with 12 on the board.
Vaughan, misjudging the pace of a ball from Ashish Nehra, slashed and got an edge to Ratra, who dived forward and came up celebrating with the ball. Third umpire Peter Willey failed to get a clear view and gave Vaughan the benefit of the doubt.
Crawley took advantage of a short, wide delivery from Nehra and square-cut it crisply for a four to bring up the England 200.
Five overs into the morning and Anil Kumble was introduced into the attack. Skipper Sourav Ganguly, strangely decided to have an attacking field, when common sense suggested that India slow down the scoring rate and cast doubts into the English dressing room about the timing of their declaration.
Vaughan's hundred was the highlight of the morning, especially the manner in which he went about getting there. Surviving an LBW decision of the first ball from Kumble -- which seemed pretty clear -- Vaughan danced down the wicket off the next ball and sent it flying high over the bowler’s head for four. Trying to repeat the same shot, the Yorkshireman mistimed the ball high in the direction of long-on before it fell in no-man’s land. He, however, found enough time to come back for three and register his second century of the season at Lord's. With that hundred, off a 140 balls, Vaughan also became only the second Englishman to get a duck and a hundred in the same Test against India. Chris Lewis was the first to do so at Chennai in 1992-93.
In the very next over, Vaughan slashed at Nehra and gave Jaffer a catch at backward point and was out for exactly 100.
Andy Flintoff was sent ahead of Alec Stewart, but he failed to get the momentum going, holing out to Tendulkar at deep square leg for 7, off Nehra.
Crawley's fifth boundary through mid-wicket amplified the England lead past the 500 mark.
Stewart came out and stroked his way to a quickfire 33. Dancing down the wicket to Kumble, he missed the ball before Ratra whipped the bails off. He added 59 for the sixth wicket with Crawley, as England totalled 287 for 6.
The England captain delayed the declaration to allow Crawley to get his fourth Test century. He pushed Agarkar into the covers for a couple as England declared on 301 for 6, asking the Indians to bat 15 minutes before lunch, chasing 568 to win.
Jaffer got a snorter of a delivery from Matthew Hoggard in the very first over of India’s second innings. The ball reared up and ballooned in the air after hitting the handle of the bat towards point. Giles made a valiant effort but failed to get his fingers under the ball as the Indian dressing room exhaled in relief.
With the dual-nature of the pitch, the Indian openers will just need to see the new ball off for the rest of the script to unfold for the game.
India went into lunch at 12 without loss.
Post Lunch session
The huge target that England set was of academic interest even as the Indian openers got off to a screaming start after lunch.
The English seamers were cover-driven to distraction by Jaffer and Sehwag as Hussain took forever, reshuffling his field. Jaffer, in particular, was the chief aggressor, having scored 30 off the 43 runs on the board after nine overs.
After Sehwag edged Flintoff, and Hussain at third slip grassed an easy chance, the batsman seized his luck and tore into Flintoff, playing a fluent four past mid-on. In the next over, he caressed Flintoff past point for another four. The shot brought up the Indian 50 in the tenth over. With the adrenalin gushing through his veins, Sehwag ended the over with another booming off-drive. The Indian riposte was rolling, at least for the moment, as they scored 48 runs in the six overs after lunch.
Hussain quickly took Flintoff and Hoggard out of the attack and rang in a double change, bringing in Craig White and Simon Jones.
Sheer pace got England the breakthrough, as Sehwag got an inside edge to a delivery from Jones which smashed his off-stump out of the ground. The delivery, devoid of any lateral movement, just forced its way through Sehwag as India lost its first wicket for 61.
Sehwag had scored a chancy 27, off 42 balls, playing and missing at deliveries regularly.
Dravid walked out to the middle and got off the mark with a straight drive to long off for a three. A sumptuous straight drive past the bowler, White, got Dravid his first four. Jaffer, at the other end, played the shot of the innings -- a plush drive through the covers off Jones.
A short delivery from Jones saw Jaffer pivot on the backfoot and pull through mid-wicket for four. He brought up his third Test half-century off 63 balls with a single off Giles and then sauntered through for another single as India crossed the 100-run mark. The Mumbai opener mixed flair with fortune before part-timer off-spinner Michael Vaughan brought about his downfall.
Failing to recognise the drifter, he pushed at a delivery that continued straight on after pitching. The ball took an edge of the bat and was safely grasped by skipper Hussain at first slip.
Jaffer’s 125-minute vigil at the crease was terminated, and with it the second-wicket partnership fell one run short of the fifty-run mark.
Sachin Tendulkar played a darting drive dead straight, down the ground, off Jones as India went into tea at 121 for 2.
Post Tea session
Two deliveries from Matthew Hoggard, in his third spell of the day, after tea and the Indian resistance was a crumbling cookie. Tendulkar, having struck two boundaries in his innings of 12, shaped up for a drive and saw an inswinger hit his pad en route to disturbing the wickets. He had missed the line of the ball and his chance of redemption after a shoddy display the pervious afternoon in the first innings.
Off the next delivery, skipper Ganguly returned to the pavilion after finding himself on the wrong side of the umpire's decision.
Hoggard pitched one outside leg-stump and Ganguly was wrapped on the pads. The path-tracing device -- Hawk-eye – confirmed that the ball had pitched 6.7 centimeters outside the leg-stump and Rudi Koertzen’s dubious decision had cost India two wickets in two balls.
From 140 for 2, India had slumped to 140 for 4, facing a huge margin of defeat.
he Indian dressing room was stunned into silence, as Laxman took longer than usual to make his way out to the middle -- presumably surprised by the rapid fall of wickets -- and exhaled only after Laxman left the hat-trick ball untouched.
Dravid flicked a full toss from White past Hussain at mid-wicket for four to get to his half-century, off 93 balls. The Indian vice-captain was unforgiving to the loose balls as he finished the over cracking yet another half volley to the cover fence.
But soon after, he inside-edged Ashley Giles onto his stumps for an accomplished 63.
The last recognised pair was broken up and India stared a huge defeat. (165-5)
When an England wicket fell, it seemed to be the first for a while; when an Indian wicket fell, it was the first of many. Ajay Ratra got a leading edge off Hoggard to Mark Butcher, who snapped up a razor-sharp catch at gully. (170-6)
VVS Laxman, for the second time in the Test, was abandoned with the tail. But he continued fighting a lost cause, hoping the rain-gods might intervene on the fifth day and help salvage a draw.
Ajit Agarkar, with a Test average of seven, joined Laxman and batted out the last hour of the day. Laxman plundered 13 runs from a Giles over and the pair reached a fifty-run partnership when Agarkar played three flowing droves either side of the wicket off Giles.
The 62-run partnership between Agarkar and Laxman, in 17 overs, was the highest of the innings, dispelling all thoughts of any ghosts in the wicket.
