2nd Test: India v England at Ahmedabad, 11-15 Dec 2001 CricInfo Live Report

2nd Test: India v England at Ahmedabad, 11-15 Dec 2001
Ralph Dellor

England 2nd innings: Indian bowlers on top, England on top, Hundred partnership for England, Wickets fall before declaration, England bat on,
India 2nd innings: India need 357 to win,
Live Reports from previous days

INDIA NEED 357 MORE TO WIN AHMEDABAD TEST ON LAST DAY

England captain Nasser Hussain had the decision as to when to declare taken out of his hands when his side were bowled out for 257 in the second innings. It meant that India had to score 374 to win in a minimum of 97 overs. By the close, they had reached 17 without loss leaving another 357 to secure what would be an unlikely victory.

A flurry of wickets went down as England's later batsmen went in search of quick runs. Although Michael Vaughan was far from either prime health or form, he remained to be 31 not out at the end while other batsmen lost their wickets mainly to catches in the outfield as they attempted big hits.

Harbhajan Singh, kept out of the attack for so long earlier in the day, was the main beneficiary, finishing with 5 for 71. Anil Kumble completed a ten-wicket match haul with three in the second innings.

The Indian openers, Shiv Sunder Das and Deep Dasgupta cannot have relished the idea of seven overs at the end of the day, but they negotiated them without undue alarm and will be there to begin again on the fifth and final morning of a match that has already had a wealth of intriguing cricket to enjoy.

ENGLAND PRESS ON TOWARDS DECLARATION

After the flurry of wickets and runs just before tea, the tempo of the game dropped dramatically after the interval. Craig White and Michael Vaughan were held in a tight grip by Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh as the England batsmen settled for occupying the crease as well as extending their lead as it crept above the 300-mark.

After adding six runs to that lead immediately after tea, there was a period of stalemate as the Indian spinners wheeled away for three maiden overs in succession. The spell was only broken by a no ball from Harbhajan Singh but it was 30 balls before a run came off the bat.

Bearing in mind that it appeared in India's favour to slow things down, it seemed that Kumble erred when he elected to go round the wicket to the right handers. While there was a chance of unpredictable bounce out of the rough, but the change of angle lifted the pressure on the batsmen who got the scoreboard moving again.

It was one of those periods in any game of this nature when the two sides jockey for position. It is a sort of phoney war when the bowling side have to go through the motions while the batsmen get into range of the equation that the captain has in mind.

That equation could have been influenced by the way Harbhajan Singh got a ball to turn and bounce and go through everything for four byes. Whatever affect it had on the captain sitting in the pavilion, it galvanised the batsmen into action.

The change of policy had an undesirable effect on Virender Sehwag. As Vaughan swept Harbhajan Singh, short-leg took a sickening blow on the helmet. He went off to recover and two balls later White was run out for a somewhat laborious 18 to leave the score at 225 for six – a lead of 341 with 17 overs left in the day.

WICKETS FALL, BUT ENGLAND EYE DECLARATION

At tea on the fourth day of the second Test at Ahmedabad, England had batted themselves into a strong if not impregnable position at 183 for 5. For this lead of 299 they owed much a second wicket partnership of 112 between Mark Butcher and Nasser Hussain. Despite losing four wickets in the afternoon session, the odds would still favour England but any result is still possible.

When the second wicket partnership was broken, Ramprakash came in to join Butcher with the obvious intent of pushing up the scoring rate. He had two runs to his name when he lifted the sixth ball he faced, from Anil Kumble, over the mid-wicket boundary for six. With a man posted on the boundary there, Ramprakash then deposited a ball from the same bowler over long-on.

It was Harbhajan Singh who eventually brought Ramprakash's breezy innings to a close. Sweeping, the ball took the back of the bat and lobbed to short fine leg where Sachin Tendulkar took the catch. Ramprakash had scored 19 from 27 balls.

Andrew Flintoff came in to hit one four before playing on to Kumble, who might well have had Craig White out as well when the centurion from the first innings edged a ball into his pads and up to slip. A loud appeal was turned down as umpire Ian Robinson got yet another decision wrong.

However, just two balls before tea, India got the wicket they wanted. Butcher had been battling not only against the bowling but also against a stomach upset. He was in sight of both the interval and his century when he got a ball from Harbhajan Singh that was short enough to cut, but it bounced more than usual. From the edge of the bat, it went to Laxman at slip and Butcher was out for 92.

India are still not out of this match. Should they manage to roll over the rest of the England order cheaply, they will have time enough to reach their eventual target without taking undue risks. Nevertheless, another fifty or so runs from England could make them firm favourites once again.

HUNDRED PARTNERSHIP FOR ENGLAND'S SECOND WICKET CEMENTS POSITION

It was not necessarily straightforward for England's batsmen, Mark Butcher and Nasser Hussain, but they shared a century partnership for the second wicket to ensure that their side remained in the driving seat after lunch on the fourth day of the second Test in Ahmedabad.

The start of any session is a vital period, and this one was no different. If India could take wickets, they could have clawed their way back into a position to win the game. Conversely, England knew that an extended lead without losing wickets would open the opportunity to square the series.

It was England who got their way. Butcher was in obvious discomfort with his health, but went on bravely answering all the questions posed of him by the Indian spinners bowling in tandem. He went to his fifty off 114 balls with six fours, and shortly afterwards brought up the hundred partnership – the first for the second wicket in Test cricket on this ground.

Hussain had a stroke of luck when attempting to lift Harbhajan Singh to the mid-wicket boundary. Instead, he sent the ball in the air high towards Sourav Ganguly. The Indian captain never got into a good position and scarcely laid a hand on the ball as it went over his shoulder.

Next ball, the bowler very nearly got a delivery through Butcher's defences and then saw Deep Dasgupta put down a fairly simple chance. The bowler's reaction was not for those of a nervous disposition, even if it was totally understandable.

Hussain went to his fifty off 116 balls with three fours and a six off Anil Kumble, but three balls later he pushed firmly at a ball from Harbhajan Singh, it took the shoulder of the bat before going into Virender Sehwag's hands at short leg.

The bowler, in a good rhythm now, deserved his wicket, but it possibly came a little late in the day to change the course of the match.

BUTCHER AND HUSSAIN PUT ENGLAND IN DOMINANT POSITION

After an uncertain start when the Indian bowlers curtailed the England batsmen's attacking intentions, Mark Butcher and Nasser Hussain reasserted England's control in the period up until lunch. A partnership, which has, so far, realised 76 runs for the second wicket, has extended England's lead to 213 with 9 wickets and still five sessions to go in the match. There is no doubt that England are in pole position.

When Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble were in tandem, they exerted a stranglehold on the batsmen. Hussain in particular appeared a little over-anxious to get the board moving. He was taking chances by running the ball down to third man but, despite a few alarms, he found this to be a profitable area.

Butcher, not in the best of health, was more restrained, but both batsmen took the opportunity to attack when the pressure was released by a bowling change. Instead of turning to Harbhajan Singh, Sourav Ganguly opted to introduce Tino Yohannan. Figures of 4-0-25-0 at lunch tell the story.

With the pressure released from one end, the batsmen eased into a much more comfortable existence and runs began to flow freely. While bad balls were hit to the fence, a feature of the partnership was the running between wickets. Alert to singles and running the first one quickly, Butcher and Hussain found runs where, in different circumstances, they might have gone begging.

Hussain had a generous slice of good fortune just before lunch when he padded up to a ball from Kumble that pitched outside off stump. Whether he had not spotted the googly or whether it turned more than expected was not certain, but the end result was that it came back sharply to strike him on the back leg right in front. Umpire Robinson did not see it that way and turned down the appeal, having sent Hussain to the pavilion in the first innings with much less reason.

Hussain will claim that it was some sort of justice after his first innings dismissal; Kumble will see it as a gross injustice. And not without reason.

INDIAN BOWLERS CHECK ENGLAND'S PROGRESS AT START OF FOURTH DAY

A fascinating first hour's play on the fourth morning of the second Test saw England trying to advance their overnight lead of 131, but being denied the opportunity to do so by the excellence of the Indian bowling. The first nine overs produced just nine runs and the wicket of Marcus Trescothick, which was very much against the England plan and entirely what India would have wanted, before Mark Butcher and Nasser Hussain restored England's momentum.

Sourav Ganguly started the day with Harbhajan Singh who began with a maiden. It was not until the last ball of the next over, bowled by Javagal Srinath, that England managed to get the score moving with a single. Anil Kumble replaced Harbhajan Singh and, with the two senior bowlers in action, England found it difficult to make progress despite attacking intent.

As often happens in such circumstances, Trescothick thought he saw a chance for a pull when facing the first ball of Srinath's second over. It turned out to be a little fuller than he expected and the ball in the air, quickly, but within reach of Shiv Sunder Das at mid-wicket who got both hands to the chance. Trescothick out for 12 and the lift to the Indian mood was obvious.

With scarcely a loose ball to be had, new batsman Hussain struggled to get off the mark. The discipline in the bowling was a joy to behold, and Hussain resorted to opening the face to run the ball towards third man as one of the few scoring opportunities available.

Such a policy is fraught with danger, and twice the fielders got excited when the ball fell just short of first Deep Dasgupta, the wicket-keeper, and then just short of Rahul Dravid at slip. Both were off Srinath, and it was no surprise when Hussain got off the mark with a boundary to third man off the 17th ball he had faced.

Both Butcher and Hussain were still looking for runs, and as they warmed to their task, they did begin to find opportunities to extend their lead. It was not without risk, but as the runs started to come, the momentum switched back to England as they tried to wrest the control back from India.