Virender Sehwag's explosive counter-attack on Sunday threw the first Test between India and England wide open with the hosts needing 256 more runs on a tricky last day track to pull off a dramatic win.Set a stiff target of 387 for victory, the dashing Sehwag launched a blistering assault to score a quickfire 83 off just 68 balls and steer India to a comfortable 131 for one at close on a pulsating fourth day's play.
Sehwag set the MA Chidambaram stadium ablaze with a display of stunning stroke-play to suddenly raise hopes of an Indian victory which looked unlikely when England declared their second innings at 311 for nine shortly after the tea break.Gautam Gambhir (41) and Rahul Dravid (2) were at the crease at stumps on a day which saw fortune fluctuating from one team to the other till the very end.With a rollicking 117-run start provided by Sehwag and Gambhir, the other top order batsmen need to play positively to get the remaining 256 runs to win the Test which seemed headed for a nail-biting finish.
Earlier, Andrew Strauss became only the second Englishman to score a century in each innings against India as he crafted a patient 108 and was involved in a record 214-run fourth wicket partnership with Paul Collingwood (108).Collingwood notched up his seventh Test century and his second against India but after his departure, none of the other batsmen could hang around for long as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals in the post-lunch session.
Only three teams have successfully chased a target of over 387 in the fourth innings in Test history.While West Indies have the record of the highest run chase of 418-7 against Australia at St. Johns in 2003, India are second in the list for successfully chasing 406 against the West Indies at Port of Spain in 1976.
The only other team to have scored more than 400 runs in the fourth innings is Australia who scored 404-3 against England at Leeds in 1948.Resuming on their overnight score of 172 for three, Strauss and Collingwood continued the good work as the duo frustrated the Indians to take the score to 244 without being separated.
In the pre-lunch session, England added 72 runs in 26 overs stretching the lead from an achievable to a difficult task for the Indians.Strauss, who scored 123 in the first innings, not only became the tenth batsman to score a century in each innings but also brought about the highest-ever partnership for the fourth wicket in Test matches held in Chennai by a visiting team in the company of Collingwood.
The duo bettered the earlier best of Dean Jones and Allan Border who had a partnership of 178 in the famous tied Test (second in the history of cricket) here in 1987.
The post lunch session turned out to be more productive for the Indians as five wickets fell in the session with strike bowler Zaheer Khan doing the bulk of the damage.The visitors lost some of the momentum as they not only lost a few quick wickets but could manage to add just 57 runs in 22.5 overs in the session.
The Indian bowlers, who could not take a single wicket in the morning session, had to toil for 72 overs before Harbhajan Singh started the England collapse by removing the milestone man Strauss for 108.Zaheer then removed another England centurion Paul Collingwood (108), Steve Harmison (1) and Graeme Swann (7) while Ishant scalped the wicket of dangerous Andrew Flintoff (4).
After the hard grind without success till lunch, Indian bowlers bowled in the right areas and the England batsmen too started going for shots.Strauss, Flintoff and Collingwood paid the penalty for their poor shot selection, and three England wickets fell in just 8.5 overs adding only 20 runs.
Harbhajan started tossing the ball luring the batsmen to play forward and in one such occasion, Strauss came out to drive but seemed to have checked himself and offered a straightforward catch to VVS Laxman at short cover.Strauss, who witnessed a Collingwood glance for a single to reach his deserving century only in the previous delivery, failed to restrain himself going for a loose shot and shook his head in disappointment.
But before that he became the second England batsman to score a century in each innings against India after Graham Gooch (333+123) at Lord's in 1990 and tenth overall England player to achieve the feat against any team.
Collingwood showed his tenacity of achieving his second hundred in his six matches against India and seventh overall since debut in 2003 against Sri Lanka in Galle. His hundred came in 324 minutes, from 227 balls and had nine fours.A tired-looking Collingwood was then trapped plumb in front of the wicket to Zaheer missing the line of an incoming ball. He had stayed for 374 minutes at the crease facing 250 balls and had reached the fence on nine occasions.
Graeme Swann, who came in at the fall of Collingwood, was dropped by Gautam Gambhir of the bowling of Harbhajan but the batsman did not survive long as he was clean bowled by Zaheer in the very next over.England declared their second innings at 311 for nine about 15 minutes after the tea break. The declaration came after Zaheer castled Steve Harmison.
Sehwag set the MA Chidambaram stadium ablaze with a display of stunning stroke-play to suddenly raise hopes of an Indian victory which looked unlikely when England declared their second innings at 311 for nine shortly after the tea break.Gautam Gambhir (41) and Rahul Dravid (2) were at the crease at stumps on a day which saw fortune fluctuating from one team to the other till the very end.With a rollicking 117-run start provided by Sehwag and Gambhir, the other top order batsmen need to play positively to get the remaining 256 runs to win the Test which seemed headed for a nail-biting finish.
Earlier, Andrew Strauss became only the second Englishman to score a century in each innings against India as he crafted a patient 108 and was involved in a record 214-run fourth wicket partnership with Paul Collingwood (108).Collingwood notched up his seventh Test century and his second against India but after his departure, none of the other batsmen could hang around for long as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals in the post-lunch session.
Only three teams have successfully chased a target of over 387 in the fourth innings in Test history.While West Indies have the record of the highest run chase of 418-7 against Australia at St. Johns in 2003, India are second in the list for successfully chasing 406 against the West Indies at Port of Spain in 1976.
The only other team to have scored more than 400 runs in the fourth innings is Australia who scored 404-3 against England at Leeds in 1948.Resuming on their overnight score of 172 for three, Strauss and Collingwood continued the good work as the duo frustrated the Indians to take the score to 244 without being separated.
In the pre-lunch session, England added 72 runs in 26 overs stretching the lead from an achievable to a difficult task for the Indians.Strauss, who scored 123 in the first innings, not only became the tenth batsman to score a century in each innings but also brought about the highest-ever partnership for the fourth wicket in Test matches held in Chennai by a visiting team in the company of Collingwood.
The duo bettered the earlier best of Dean Jones and Allan Border who had a partnership of 178 in the famous tied Test (second in the history of cricket) here in 1987.
The post lunch session turned out to be more productive for the Indians as five wickets fell in the session with strike bowler Zaheer Khan doing the bulk of the damage.The visitors lost some of the momentum as they not only lost a few quick wickets but could manage to add just 57 runs in 22.5 overs in the session.
The Indian bowlers, who could not take a single wicket in the morning session, had to toil for 72 overs before Harbhajan Singh started the England collapse by removing the milestone man Strauss for 108.Zaheer then removed another England centurion Paul Collingwood (108), Steve Harmison (1) and Graeme Swann (7) while Ishant scalped the wicket of dangerous Andrew Flintoff (4).
After the hard grind without success till lunch, Indian bowlers bowled in the right areas and the England batsmen too started going for shots.Strauss, Flintoff and Collingwood paid the penalty for their poor shot selection, and three England wickets fell in just 8.5 overs adding only 20 runs.
Harbhajan started tossing the ball luring the batsmen to play forward and in one such occasion, Strauss came out to drive but seemed to have checked himself and offered a straightforward catch to VVS Laxman at short cover.Strauss, who witnessed a Collingwood glance for a single to reach his deserving century only in the previous delivery, failed to restrain himself going for a loose shot and shook his head in disappointment.
But before that he became the second England batsman to score a century in each innings against India after Graham Gooch (333+123) at Lord's in 1990 and tenth overall England player to achieve the feat against any team.
Collingwood showed his tenacity of achieving his second hundred in his six matches against India and seventh overall since debut in 2003 against Sri Lanka in Galle. His hundred came in 324 minutes, from 227 balls and had nine fours.A tired-looking Collingwood was then trapped plumb in front of the wicket to Zaheer missing the line of an incoming ball. He had stayed for 374 minutes at the crease facing 250 balls and had reached the fence on nine occasions.
Graeme Swann, who came in at the fall of Collingwood, was dropped by Gautam Gambhir of the bowling of Harbhajan but the batsman did not survive long as he was clean bowled by Zaheer in the very next over.England declared their second innings at 311 for nine about 15 minutes after the tea break. The declaration came after Zaheer castled Steve Harmison.
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