Heartbreak for England, lucky for India

Even as the scenario looked as bleak as possible for India, it was Mahendra Singh Dhoni who kept up the fight. The wicketkeeper-batsman was single-handedly responsible for keeping his team in the match till bad weather and a drizzle took over proceedings.

Dhoni cracked a very patient 76, off 150 deliveries, 10 boundaries executed with extreme concentration and picked opportunities that marked the substance in him. Zaheer Khan, RP Singh and S Sreesanth remained his partners until the very end, as Dhoni played an excellent role to keep them, for as long and as much as possible, from the hungry England bowlers.

His effort, especially, to keep Sreesanth at the other end when Monty Panesar and England captain Michael Vaughan were bowling — with a short leg, a silly point, two slips and a leg-slip in place, was notable. Dhoni kept taking his chances only when the ball occasionally was pitched short, trying almost successfully all the time to reach it to the ropes. The batsman avoided singles at all cost, even two runs could’ve been possible, cutting down every single risk and the option of getting Sreesanth to face the bowlers.

Sreesanth, for his part, played out seven deliveries, four of them against Monty Panesar, every time he brought his front foot out and defended, the crowd murmuring “well played.”

“I cannot remember another innings of mine where I’ve been so patient. This is perhaps a beginning of a new episode in my career, the way I was able to match up to the situation that was demanded,” he said after the game.

Even Dravid accepted that India got lucky with the match, managing a draw, thanks to the rain. “It helped in the way that we got lucky. Our position wasn’t good no doubt, nine wickets down. But Dhoni did an exceptional job of staying there and keeping us in the game,” said Dravid.

The Indian skipper didn’t specifically comment on whether he thought it was rain that had stolen away a deserving victory for England. All he said after the match was “we were lucky.”

India had luck on their side no doubt with wickets falling like nine pins and a huge target facing them. The morning began with Sourav Ganguly and Dinesh Kaarthick walking out with huge expectations, as Dravid mentioned later, the team was “looking forward to the day with confidence.”

It all began, though, with Ganguly’s dismissal, the left-hander getting trapped leg-before by a Ryan Sidebottom delivery. Once he was gone, the rest followed in a hurry, until only Dhoni managed to stem the rot.

England captain Michael Vaughan remained disappointed no doubt for the victory that his team missed after getting that far. The weather had been fickle all throughout the five days and in the end, it got as worse as it could.

The spectators at Lord’s simply refused to leave even as the authorities kept announcing — first that the game would begin at 4.40 pm local time, then at 6.15 pm and later that the match had been abandoned. “Just one wicket, oh this is heart-breaking,” one of the groups kept shouting as sipping coffee remained the only option.

Heart-breaking it was for England no doubt, given the efforts of James Anderson’s seven wickets, Sidebottom’s six and Tremlett’s four, in the match. Kevin Pietersen’s century, the one he said is his No 1 till date, also couldn’t help England against the rain.

Scoreboard

England (1st Innings): 298

India (1st Innings): 201

England (2nd Innings): 282

India (2nd Innings):

Jaffer c P’sen b Anderson 8

Kaarthick c C’wood b A’son 60

Dravid lbw Tremlett 9

Tendulkar lbw Panesar 16

Ganguly lbw Sidebottom 40

VVS Laxman b Tremlett 39

MS Dhoni not out 76

A Kumble lbw b Sidebottom 3

Z Khan c Prior b Tremlett 0

RP Singh b Panesar 2

S Sreesanth not out 4

Extras (b13, lb5, w6, nb1) 25.

Total (for 9 wkts, 96 overs) 282

Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-55, 3-84, 4-143, 5-145, 6-231, 7-247, 8-254, 9-263

Bowling: Sidebottom 19-4-42-2, Anderson 25-4-83-2, Tremlett 21-5-52-3, Panesar 26-7-63-2, Collingwood 1-0-6-0, Vaughan 4-0-18-0.