England have the last laugh after an Ajit joke

Neither the unbeaten 109 by Agarkar nor the fact that India were able to post the highest fourth innings total at Lord’s cricket ground was enough to change the course of the match but it was certainly a minor consolation for the team which had collapsed to 170 for six yesterday while chasing a mammoth target of 568.

It was the 126-run seventh wicket partnership between Agarkar and VVS Laxman, the two overnight batsmen, which set the momentum for the dogged resistance by the Indians. Laxman, who made an impressive 74, was dismissed nearly half an hour before lunch but the defiance had become infectious and Anil Kumble (15), Zaheer Khan (7) and Nehra hung in long enough to enable Agarkar reach his century.

Agarkar himself showed immense character for a man who had been ridiculed for a long time as the ’Bombay duck’ for his world record sequence of no-scores against Australia in the 2000-01 series.

Today Agarkar played like an accomplished batsman, doing full justice to the potential he was always said to have possessed but never really displayed.

He matched the stylish Laxman stroke for stroke and participated like an equal partner in a stand that produced maximum runs for the Indians in either innings.

When India closed out day four yesterday at 232 for six, nobody had expected them to last more than the first hour this morning. But the Indians did not just do that, they scored at a very healthy rate with some delightful strokes on both sides of the wicket.

Laxman, who was not out on 38 yesterday, began the day by playing out a maiden from Simon Jones but was soon driving and pulling and picked the gaps with ease. He reached his half century with a pulled boundary, his fifth, to midwicket against Ashley Giles.

Agarkar also hit a couple of fours, all with perfect cricketing shots, to quickly move from his overnight 28 into the forties and improve upon his previous best Test score of 41 which came against South Africa in Mumbai two years ago.

England took the new ball as soon as it was due but the Indian duo negotiated that also quite well. Laxman lofted Giles straight over the head for his sixth four that brought up the 100-run partnership and soon Agarkar reached his fifty with a four against Mathew Hoggard, the most successful of English bowlers with a four-wicket haul.

Laxman, who was batting serenly, was finally out when he drove Jones uppishly to give a simple catch to Michael Vaughan at point. Laxman’s three-hour knock was studded with seven fours. The dismissal of Laxman had the Englishmen thinking that it was all over and they would not have to look beyond lunch for their victory. But they were sadly mistaken.

Kumble and Zaheer Khan also showed fighting abilities and when both were out, about 10 minutes before lunch, Nehra went out to compensate for his dismal show in the first innings when he failed in his job as a night-watchman.

It said a lot about Nehra’s character that without being shielded, he was able to hang in long enough for Agarkar to move from 67 to 109. The last wicket partnership yielded 63 runs for India.

Lunch was taken with India tottering at 353 for nine with Agarkar stranded on 80. Agarkar hit a couple of fours to quickly move into the nineties and then reached his moment of glory in an over from Jones.

He slashed Jones over point for a four to move to 99 and then hit another shot in the same area to run two and complete his century. Agarkar, who got a standing ovation from his teammates in the pavilion, thrashed the next ball through the covers for another boundary to celebrate the occassion.

At the other end, Nehra did not want to miss on making his own impression and pulled a short delivery from Andrew Flintoff for a mighty six over mid-wicket.

The end came about five minutes before the drinks interval of the second session, when Nehra played forward to Craig White, coming round the wicket, only to edge the delivery to give Graham Thorpe a low catch at second slip.