After Virender Sehwag sowed the seeds with a searing knock, Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh took charge to steer India to victory in a record run-chase. By Kunal Diwan.
The first Test of the RBS Series between India and England is likely to be remembered as a contest where Sachin Tendulkar scored a decisive hundred in pursuit of the fourth-highest winning target in Test history. Often accused of not having played enough ‘match-winning’ knocks, Tendulkar scripted — if one discounts his maiden, match-saving century at Old Trafford in 1990 — his most priceless last-innings contribution with an unconquered 103. His 163 -run collaboration with Yuvraj Singh for the fifth wicket took India to victory after Virender Sehwag had sowed its seeds with a searing 83 the previous evening.
For Tendulkar, the win against England would also have put to rest the demons of that fateful encounter against Pakistan at the same ground in 1999, when the maestro’s fall led to an embarrassing collapse of the Indian line-up. On this occasion, Tendulkar weighed his approach and took baby-steps towards the total. Both the century and the win, he said later, were “right on top” of his achievements in the game.
Earlier, as the match took off amidst air-tight security, Pietersen did his team a huge favour by winning the toss and electing to bat on a wicket that, like most of its brethren across this dusty land of ours, held promise of disintegrating. Times have changed, but have done little to alter the inherited mindset of the modern cricketer who still swears by the apocryphal adage of sound toss advice: “Bat if you win the toss. If the wicket has juice, consider sending the opposition in, but bat anyway.”
So after prolonged moments of embarrassment earlier on tour, England, for once, began on the right foot. Andrew Strauss, eager to put a horrendous 2007 season behind him, dug in deep, and in the company of Alastair Cook, rustled up a 100-run opening stand. Strauss put his faith in footwork, jumping like the proverbial cat on a hot tin roof, and stepping out or staying back to convert deliveries into a length he was comfortable playing.
A mini collapse, effected in part by Zaheer Khan’s vicious in-swingers, followed by a moderate wagging of the English tail, stretched the visitor’s first innings effort to a modest 316. Walking out to start the Indian innings, Sehwag and Gambhir may well have been victims of their own recent success. Sehwag, who had scored more runs single-handedly in the last Test played at Chepauk against South Africa than the entire English first innings score, departed soon as he stayed rooted to the ground and chopped an Anderson in-swinger lazily on to the stumps. A flurry of wickets and the now-taken-for-granted damage control measures by skipper M. S. Dhoni kept India afloat for a while, before the innings folded up with a 75-run deficit.
Deep into the third day as England plodded along to supplement its lead, a reedy voice chimed in one corner of the Press Box. “If England gets a lead of 250, then I would put the game at even money for either side,” said former England skipper-turned sports broadcaster Michael Atherton. Atherton’s views were obviously based on his own experience of how last day events usually play out. The visitors, then, were still going strong thanks to Strauss and Collingwood, each getting a hundred on the fourth day. Strauss, incidentally, became the first Englishman to score a century in each innings of a Test match in India. But once the pair departed, the rest of the batsmen failed to organise the required thrust. Unable to find the men for the hatchet job, Pietersen declared at 311 for nine, setting the hosts a target of 387.
Barely a month ago, as it gathered the skeletal remains of a battered self-belief, England would have given its right hand to be in the position it found itself in at tea on Day Four of the match: a confidence-boosting, near-400-run lead and the mouth-watering prospect of a crumbling last day wicket to bowl on.
Only the most hopeful of clairvoyants would have envisioned such a drastic turn of fortunes for a side that was not allowed even a customary, face-saving game in the One-Day series, and was playing real man’s cricket (read Test matches) after a gap of almost five months.
England, it appeared, had everything under control. But Pietersen’s plan of action had one glaring omission: a specific antidote for the phenomenon called Virender Sehwag. That evening, with the match poised on knife’s edge, Sehwag tore apart English hopes of a victory in 20-odd overs. He began like an atomic explosion, clubbing his way to a fiery 83 on a pitch the ‘difficult’ nature of which had been the subject of discussion throughout the match. More of an influence in the way he got his runs rather than in the actual number that he scored, Sehwag’s rampage enabled India to end the fourth day just 256 runs adrift of England’s score with nine wickets in hand and blunted whatever little edge the English bowlers presumed to possess. The match, and all followers of the game, awaited an intriguing fifth day contest.
The final day dawned with all four results appearing to be a theoretical possibility. Flintoff bowled with venom; indeed, he was the only bowler who threatened, momentarily, to run through the Indian line-up. Swann flattered to deceive when it really mattered, Panesar continued to be a victim of his bad run, and the Great and the Good of Indian cricket — Tendulkar and Yuvraj — put their heads together to ensure that a result in India’s favour was achieved without fuss. Yuvraj ended with an unbeaten 85, a signal, perhaps, that his day as a player to reckon with in the longest version of the game had come.
THE SCORESSecond Test, M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai, December 11-15. India won by six wickets.
England 1st innings: A. J. Strauss c & b Mishra 123; A. N. Cook c Khan b Harbhajan Singh 52; I. R. Bell lbw b Khan 17; K. P. Pietersen c & b Khan 4; P. D. Collingwood c Gambhir b Harbhajan Singh 9; A. Flintoff c Gambhir b Mishra 18; J. M. Anderson c Yuvraj Singh b Mishra 19; M. J. Prior (not out) 53; G. P. Swann c Dravid b Harbhajan Singh 1; S. J. Harmison c Dhoni b Yuvraj Singh 6; M. S. Panesar lbw b Sharma 6; Extras (lb 7, nb 1) 8; Total 316.
Fall of wickets: 1-118, 2-164, 3-180, 4-195, 5-221, 6-229, 7-271, 8-277, 9-304.
India bowling: Zaheer 21-9-41-2; Ishant Sharma 19.4-4-32-1; Harbhajan Singh 38-2-96-3; Mishra 34-6-99-3; Yuvraj Singh 15-2-33-1; Sehwag 1-0-8-0.
India 1st innings: G. Gambhir lbw b Swann 19; V. Sehwag b Anderson 9; R. Dravid lbw b Swann 3; S. R. Tendulkar c & b Flintoff 37; V. V. S. Laxman c & b Panesar 24; Yuvraj Singh c Flintoff b Harmison 14; M. S. Dhoni c Pietersen b Panesar 53; Harbhajan Singh c Bell b Panesar 40; Zaheer Khan lbw b Flintoff 1; A. Mishra b Flintoff 12; I. Sharma not out 8; Extras (b 4, lb 11, nb 6) 21; Total 241.
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-34, 3-37, 4-98, 5-102, 6-137, 7-212, 8-217, 9-219.
England bowling: Harmison 11-1-42-1; Anderson 11-3-28-1; Flintoff 18.4-2-49-3; Swann 10-0-42-2; Panesar 19-4-65-3.
England 2nd innings: A. J. Strauss c Laxman b Harbhajan Singh 108; A. N. Cook c Dhoni b Sharma 9; I. R. Bell c Gambhir b Mishra 7; K. P. Pietersen lbw b Yuvraj Singh 1; P. D. Collingwood lbw b Khan 108; A. Flintoff c Dhoni b Sharma 4; M. J. Prior c Sehwag b Sharma 33; G. P. Swann b Khan 7; S. J. Harmison b Khan 1; J. M. Anderson (not out) 1; Extras (b 10, lb 13, w 2, nb 7) 32; Total (for nine declared) 311.
Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-42, 3-43, 4-257, 5-262, 6-277, 7-297, 8-301, 9-311.
India bowling: Zaheer Khan 27-7-40-3; Ishant Sharma 22.5-1-57-3; Mishra 17-1-66-1; Yuvraj Singh 3-1-12-1; Harbhajan Singh 30-3-91-1; Sehwag 6-0-22-0.
India 2nd innings: G. Gambhir c Collingwood b Anderson 66; V. Sehwag lbw b Swann 83; R. Dravid c Prior b Flintoff 4; S. R. Tendulkar (not out) 103; V. V. S. Laxman c Bell b Swann 26; Yuvraj Singh (not out) 85; Extras (b 5, lb 11, nb 4) 20; Total (for four wkts.) 387.
Fall of wickets: 1-117, 2-141, 3-183, 4-224.England bowling: Harmison 10-0-48-0; Anderson 11-1-51-1; Panesar 27-4-105-0; Flintoff 22-1-64-1; Swann 28.3-2-103-2.
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