Pathan sets the pace for India

Pathan bowled intelligently. He admitted that much of the discussion before the match had centered on what length to bowl; the fuller being preferred since the ball was expected to carry a lot more on this pitch.

There must also have been some discussion on variety; on mixing the in-swinger with the ball that went straight through. Indeed Tatenda Taibu said at the toss that they had spent some time working out how to play the in-swinger.

Taibu himself was the victim of perception. And having hit him a painful blow on the chest while on the front foot (which gives you a very good idea of Taibu’s normal elevation!), Pathan got one to move away from the right hander. Taibu got the edge and on a day on which India dropped nothing, it was an easy catch for Kaarthick.

Not so the effort to send Dion Ibrahim back. Ibrahim is the master of illusion. He promises much, he rarely delivers but today the bowler-keeper combination that got him would have got most. Zaheer induced a thin outside edge and Kaarthick, a jack-in-the-box behind the stumps, flew to his right and took it to Dravid’s left.

Dravid himself took two catches, one an excellent effort to run back 20 yards to dismiss Charles Coventry, but saw two fine catches on either side of him. Kaarthick’s was one of them, VVS Laxman took the other to send back Terence Duffin whose debut half century is already looking distant.

The bottom half again outscored the top and yet, Zimbabwe only managed 161.

Worse still, they batted a shade over three hours and indeed, apart from Taibu who is batting way too high at number four, the principle and tools of innings building are to them as indecipherable as a difficult theorem might be to a reluctant mathematics student. But there is no getting away from either.

As afternoon appeared, the pitch dried out and the ball came onto the bat quite beautifully. At any rate that was the impression batsmen and bowlers gave for boundaries were flowing like the Zambezi might a day’s drive away. Blessing Mahwire was inconsistent and Andy Blignaut once again gave the impression that he had 500 runs in the bag; his line fluctuating more wildly than Zimbabwe’s exchange rate.

And so Sehwag and Gambhir flourished with only the possibility of a poor umpiring decision likely to separate them. And in the midst of an admirable two weeks of umpiring, Sehwag got one of those.

A century was there for the taking; now it is left to his partner, five runs short at stumps. India need to be careful not to be fattened by the quality of the opposition. There will be challenges ahead, the new ball may not get any wickets, the middle order might have to come in early.

But for the moment they have to play the opposition they get even though there isn’t too much of it.

SCOREBOARD

Zimbabwe (1st Innings): B.Taylor c Dravid b Pathan 4; T.Duffin c Laxman b Pathan 12; D.Ebrahim c Kaarthick b Zaheer Khan 14; T.Taibu c Kaarthick b Pathan 0; H.Masakadza lbw Pathan 27; H.Streak c Gambhir b Harbhajan Singh 14; C.Coventry c Dravid b Harbhajan Singh 37; A.Blignaut c Kaarthick b Pathan 13; K.Dabengwa c Laxman b Pathan 18; B.Mahwire lbw Pathan 1; W.Mwayanenga not out 14; Extras (b 1, lb 3, nb 2, w 1): 7; Total: 161
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-31, 3-31, 4-31, 5-75, 6-83, 7-122, 8-136, 9-138.
Bowling: Pathan 15.2-4-59-7, Zaheer Khan 7-1-24-1, Ganguly 4-2-10-0, Kumble 7-1-19-0, Harbhajan Singh 11-3-45-2.

India (1st Innings): G.Gambhir batting 95; V.Sehwag c Taibu b Streak 44; R.Dravid batting 49; Extras (lb 2, nb 5): 7; Total (for 1 wkt): 195
Fall of wicket: 1-75
Bowling: Streak 11-3-34-1, Mahwire 10-3-40-0, Blignaut 5-0-37-0, Mwayanenga 8-1-47-0, Dabengwa 9-1-35-0