Ralph Dellor
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3rd Test: India v England at Bangalore, 19-23 Dec 2001 Ralph Dellor |
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Pre-game:
England 1st innings: |
Vaughan and Ramprakash were going along so smoothly. Sachin Tendulkar, who had been given one over before tea, continued after the interval. He did find the edge of Vaughan's bat, but the ball fell short of slip. Vaughan countered with a flowing cover drive to the boundary next ball.
Ramprakash lifted Sarandeep Singh over mid-wicket for four to bring up the 200 and then glanced Javagal Srinath off his hip for his fourth four to bring up his own fifty. It was not rapid, coming off 125 balls, but was invaluable for his team's cause.
Then, quite suddenly, it all went wrong for England.
Sarandeep Singh started a new over to Vaughan who was batting quite beautifully. Vaughan went to play his favourite sweep shot but was struck on the pad. The ball looped up into the air, got tangled up with body, bat and gloves, and as it fell to the ground, Vaughan, still on one knee, inexplicably picked the ball up and tossed it away.
It was not going onto the stumps. It was not going to be caught. However, the law is clear and leaves no room for doubt if there is an appeal. It came, slightly belatedly, and Vaughan was out handled ball.
Flintoff has a dreadful record against the Indian spinners, and it took just four balls for Sarandeep Singh to float one up that Flintoff obligingly clipped to Tendulkar at mid-wicket. It was as weak a dismissal as could be imagined in the circumstances.
To make matters worse, the score had only moved on to 219 when Ramprakash was given out caught by Rahul Dravid at slip off bat and wicket-keeper. A number of slow-motion replays showed that there was some doubt about the validity of the catch, but the umpire had no recourse to such technology and could not be blamed for what was undoubtedly an honest mistake.
It was left to Craig White and James Foster to see if they could repeat their heroics of Ahmedabad.
It was a fascinating phase of play. The pitch appeared to be one where the batsmen could never be sure of a comfortable stay at the crease. The spinners were getting enough turn to cause concern for the batsmen, while the variable pace and bounce from the seam bowlers caused questions to be asked of the wisdom of the Indian selectors' decision to go into the match with a single specialist pace bowler. Certainly the England seam trio will not mind operating last on this newly laid surface.
Ramprakash in particular did not look totally at ease. Never quite on top of the bowling, he nevertheless survived and gave excellent support to the more assertive Vaughan, especially when it came to running between wickets. With the field set a little deep, this pair ran well to keep the score ticking along at a healthy rate even when there were not too many boundaries to be had.
It was with a well-taken single that Vaughan brought up his fifty from 93 balls with seven fours. After his troubles earlier on the tour, the Yorkshireman was enjoying the opportunity to make a substantial contribution. Sound defence and some flowing strokes, especially the sweep, did much to make up for lost time – for him personally and for the team after the fall of three wickets earlier in the day.
It was the thirteenth ball after lunch that proved to be unlucky for the England captain. In fact, it was an excellent piece of bowling rather than superstitious misfortune that befell Hussain.
Srinath might not have the pace of old, but he does maintain superb control. He delivered a ball just outside the off stump at which Hussain nibbled to be undone by a little extra bounce. The ball carried comfortably through to Deep Dasgupta and England were 93 for 3 with Hussain out for 43 from 64 balls with five fours and a six.
Ramprakash was fortunate to survive a sharp chance to VVS Laxman at silly mid-off off the bowling of Anil Kumble. Ramprakash had not got used to the variable pace of the pitch when he went back to try to force the ball on the off side. It did not come on as he expected and he prodded the ball upishly towards Laxman who was taking evasive action in anticipation of a more powerful shot.
From then on, Ramprakash settled in with Vaughan, taking advantage of the number of singles available from the field setting. They clawed back the position for England while the Indian bowlers knew that another wicket would tilt the balance back towards them.
The fifty came up in the 14th over of the innings, prompting a double bowling change from Sourav Ganguly. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh came into the attack, with Hussain greeting the off-spinner by advancing down the wicket to try to drive his first ball over the top.
He did the same thing a couple of balls later, this time connecting and picking up four to the long-on boundary, forcing a change in the field to cover that area. The England captain was not shy of handing out the same treatment to Kumble, but without the same assurance.
Twice he went down on is knees after playing a ball that kept low – worryingly low on the first morning of a Test match. With some obvious turn as well, thoughts inevitably moved forward to the later stages of the game.
It was ironic that the second wicket to fall was not the result of good bowling or any effect of the pitch. Butcher drove into the off side and wanted a single. Seeing Kumble run across the line of the ball, Hussain tried to send the advancing Butcher back. By the time Butcher had got the message, Rahul Dravid had got round to field from mid-off to have the ball in Deep Dasgupta's gloves with the batsman stranded well out of his ground.
Until that point, England's running between wickets had been assured and positive, but Hussain looked determined to maintain his attacking mode. By lunch he had reached 41 from 58 balls and, in company with Michael Vaughan, had taken his side to 82 for 2 from the 26 overs bowled.
The start was delayed because of the prevailing conditions at the ground, and the floodlights were on from the very outset. There was also some drizzle in the air and doubts about the lasting qualities of a pitch that has been newly laid. England played an unchanged side from that which had drawn the last Test in Ahmedabad, while India brought in an extra spinner, Sarandeep Singh, in place of Tinu Yohannan.
That meant that Sourav Ganguly had to open the bowling with Srinath. Without any great pace, the Indian captain did manage to get some movement off the pitch to keep the batsmen on their guard. The problems, however, were not confined to the batsmen. Ganguly was spoken to and then given an official warning for running into the danger area.
Srinath induced inside and outside edges from Trescothick, who played a glorious off-drive to the boundary when Srinath over-pitched at the start of the fourth over. The same bowler was soon to get his reward.
He had just illustrated that there was some life in the pitch with a good bouncer, when he angled a ball across the left-hander. It too bounced a little more than Trescothick expected and from the edge the ball flew to VVS Laxman at second slip. With Trescothick out for 8, England were 21 for 1.
Two balls later Ganguly embarked on an elaborate claim for an lbw against Mark Butcher when he padded up to a ball that would probably have gone over and might well have been angled too far across from wide of the stumps.
Hussain announced himself with a single and then a mighty six over square leg pulled off the front foot when Srinath dropped short. The batsmen appeared unperturbed by the occasional false shot that produced runs rather than wickets as the score continued to mount.
Hussain fielded the same team that played at Motera, Ahmedabad, opting to retain a combination that held the upper hand for much of that Test.
His opposing number, Sourav Ganguly, decided to make one change. Dropping Tinu Yohannan, who has actually done little wrong, Ganguly selected a third spinner in Sarandeep Singh. An off-spinner, Sarandeep's successes in domestic cricket have almost forced his way into the national side.
The teams:
England: Nasser Hussain (captain), Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Mark Ramprakash, Michael Vaughan, Craig White, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Richard Dawson, James Foster (wicket-keeper), Matthew Hoggard
India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Deep Dasgupta (wicket-keeper), Shiv Sunder Das, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Sarandeep Singh
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Date-stamped : 19 Dec2001 - 14:38