Flower blooms to deprive India of win

Much has been written about the pitch, which the Indian captain had said was "not to his expectations." It may be cited again as the factor which thwarted the Indian skipper’s goal of winning the series 2-0. Ganguly has said time and again that his is one of the best bowling attacks in the world, although he may not dare reiterate it given his experience at Nagpur, until Anil Kumble stages a comeback to the team.

Much has been written so far on the state of the VCA pitch, but most seem to have overlooked the fact that it did have some assistance to offer to the bowlers, one of them being the left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi, and the other Sarandeep Singh. But it would be unpardonable to put the onus entirely on those two: they were just two of the eleven who were content enough with a win in the first Test. Apart from the lack of ambition, the team seemed to compound its problems with fielding errors, in turn causing additional damage to the spinners’ already-affected morale.

Early on Wednesday, Zimbabwe resumed its rescue act with Andy Flower and Alister Campbell unbeaten in the 80s. India opened the bowling with Sarandeep Singh, with Joshi looping it from the other end.

In the second over, Andy began amassing runs with two elegant shots to the fence. In the same over he reached his second ton of the series with a single to mid-on.

Realizing the need to keep the scoreboard moving fast, Campbell also geared up. His target: Javagal Srinath. The new ball bowler was hit beyond the ropes thrice in the same over by Campbell on his way to his first-ever Test century. With much of the pressure off after the 100-mark, Campbell dared a rising Zaheer Khan with a hook shot that landed straight in Sunil Joshi’s hands. But before that, the pair had put on a record partnership of 209 runs for any wicket for Zimbabwe.

Coming in next, Grant Flower sounded an alert with a four. He punished Joshi and Srinath as well. One of his lofty hits was almost caught by Sarandeep with a brilliant effort, but he survived. But Grant did not survive for long. Pushing forward to a Joshi delivery, he edged delicately to Ganguly at first slip.

The next batsman Viljoen braved a temporary storm surviving some chances. He went on to support Andy’s untiring efforts and contributed to the Zimbabwe’s cause with a valuable 38. More importantly, he stayed in the middle for 158 minutes before he was caught off a Joshi turner by Ganguly at slips.

As India continued to bowl with little success, Andy Flower surpassed the 200-mark square-cutting Sharandeep Singh to the boundary. His 200 came off 392 balls in 486 minutes (27×4, 2×6).

Flower who scored two centuries and two half centuries in the series won the man-of-the-series, and man-of-the-match award as well.

Later speaking to the press, a seemingly disappointed coach John Wright said: "We had a chance when they (Zimbabwe) were 61 for three on the fourth day but this was a very good batting wicket with a little bit of turn, but Andy Flower played a brilliant innings to save the match for Zimbabwe."

Wright said India’s fielding and bowling was not upto the mark. "Our bowling did not match the standard of Zimbabwe’s batting. It will take some time to improve," he said.

Ganguly blamed the wicket. ‘We can play another five-day Test on this wicket. The wicket could have been a bit more spinner-friendly," he added. Complimenting Andy Flower he said: "I’m around for over five years. I haven’t seen any visiting batsmen batting like Andy. He played an outstanding knock. And when some one plays so well it becomes difficult to unsettle him. He hardly mistimed anything,” he said.

Ganguly said it would be too early to comment on off-spinner Sarandeep and opener SS Das’ performance. "They have a long way to go before they make a permanent place for themselves in the squad."

"We will have to improve our catching if we have to win consistently in Tests," the skipper addedd.

Talking about the forthcoming one-day series against Zimbabwe, Ganguly said that cricket’s shorter version was a different ball game all together. " Zimbawe is a good one-day side. However, we have been playing well for the last four five months so I am confident that we will do well."

Ganguly said that the Indian team missed Anil Kumble a lot. "But his absence gave us a chance to try youngsters. With Kumble in the team, the result might have been different," the skipper said forgetting conveniently his pre-match comment that India must learn to win without Kumble."

INDIA (1st Innings): 609 for 6 decl

ZIMBABWE (1st Innings): 382.

ZIMBABWE (2nd Innings):

G Whittal c Tendulkar b S Singh 11 (31b, 38mts, 2×4)

G Rennie c Ganguly b S Singh 37 (55b, 69mts, 6×4)

S Carlisle c Tendulkar b S Singh 08 (17b, 26mts, 1×4)

A Campbell c S Joshi b Z Khan 102 (186b, 253mts, 15×4)

A Flower not out 232 (444b, 544mts, 30×4, 2×6)

G Flower c Ganguly b S Joshi 16 (25b, 33mts, 3×4)

D Viljnie c Ganguly b S Singh 38 (124b, 158mts, 4×4)

H Streak not out 29 (88b, 96mts, 9×4)

Extras: 39

TOTAL 503 for 6.

Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-60, 3-61, 4-270, 5-292, 6-205

BOWLING: Z Khan 17-5-48-1, A Agarkar 14-3-29-0, S Singh 49-10-136-4, S Joshi 41-6-153-1 S Tendulkar 11-3-19-0, J Srinath 15-5-53-0, S Ramesh 3-0-14-0, R Dravid 7-0-15-0, S Ganguly 1-0-3-0, S S Das 3-0-7-0.