India lost a few quick wickets but recovered sufficiently to put themselves in a position to push for an improbable victory on the fifth day though a draw appears to be the likely result in the second and final cricket Test against England here on Monday.
After bundling out England for 302 in the first innings, the hosts were 44 for three at one stage but accelerated the pace of scoring late in the day to reach 134 for four at close on the penultimate day, taking an overall lead of 285 runs.
Opener Gautam Gambhir (44) and Yuvraj Singh (39) were at the crease at stumps on a day which saw England's victory hopes being completely shattered.
With just one day left in the match, a draw or an Indian victory appear to be the only two results possible but the hosts have to show more urgency to force a result.
With fog expected to delay the start of the game on Tuesday too, India may not get the required time to force a result and it remains to be seen what target captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will give the visitors who are trailing the two-match series 0-1.
As his 39-ball 40, including five fours and a six would suggest, Yuvraj looked the only Indian at ease with the England attack which put up a disciplined performance. Gambhir's was a patient 155-ball knock that included just three fours.
Considering the attacking cricket that has of late been their trademark, India's star-studded top order cut a sorry figure against the likes of Stuart Broad and James Anderson who did everything to make life difficult for the hosts.
The English seamers completely straitjacketed the Indians in the post-lunch session, which yielded just 47 runs in 23 overs, which cost India the wickets of Virender Sehwag (17), Rahul Dravid (0) and Sachin Tendulkar (5).
Early signs, however, looked positive. Gambhir looked his fluent self, hitting Anderson for two boundaries in the first over of the innings. Sehwag, however, didn't look convincing and the right-hander scored his first run through a streaky lemon cut.
Two boundaries off Anderson promised a lot before an agile Ian Bell cut short Sehwag's stay. The opener had hit it hard back at bowler Stuart Broad, who only managed to deflect the ball, prompting Sehwag to set off for a risky single.
From short extra-cover Bell darted, picked up the ball and dived straight into the stumps with Sehwag way short of the ground.
The long-awaited century in the first innings was expected to do world of good to Dravid's confidence but he seemed back to square one again, looking thoroughly unconvincing before Broad squeezed one through his gate to rattle his stumps for a 19-ball duck.
No comments:
Post a Comment