Superb start squandered as Indians grope for victory

That then, is the corridor of uncertainty that was built up over a fantastic Friday’s cricket. A day which also exposed the darker side of Calcutta with Sachin Tendulkar’s freak run-out holding up play for 46 minutes after lunch. The morning session, however — like the last three days here — was seen off smoothly by Indian openers Laxman and Ramesh before the collapse came later. From 134 for one to 190 for six and 214 at close goes the story and Pakistan’s gameplan had worked just as they wanted it to.

The first part of it involved letting the pre-lunch session through without much damage till the ball became really old for Akram, Saqlain and Akhtar to work their magic. The drawing board was prepared accordingly as Akram and Akhtar bowled just 12 overs between them before lunch with Afridi, Akhtar and Azhar Mehmood holding fort.

But there was also a slight hitch here in the sense that Indian openers Laxman and Ramesh picked up a bit more than the Pakistanis would have liked. Ramesh was as smooth as ever while Laxman seemed on a different mission with his position in the team at stake after a dismal run. Probably, it also helped that he hardly had to face Akram who has dismissed him thrice in the last two Tests. In the event, two world class shots as he built up his fifth 50 in 13 Tests in an improved effort today; one, a smashing cover drive off Saqlain and the other a superb straight drive off Afridi.

The Indian 100 was up just after lunch but, as usual, the dream was too good to last. The openers were back in seven overs before Sachin Tendulkar collided with Shoaib Akhtar while going for a third run and fell to an amazing direct hit from deep mid-wicket by substitute Nadeem Khan.

The fans stepped in to stop play for a while believing that Tendulkar had been dismissed unfairly. And the resultant break in play was long enough to mess up Dravid’s concentration and his 58-minute stay in the middle.

What followed was a thrilling contest as Pakistan switched on the second part of their gameplan. Saqlain came on to sew up one end while Akram and Akhtar started the swinging the old ball prodigiously. Keeping them at bay were a jumpy Azharuddin and a tight-lipped Saurav Ganguly.

The grim battle went on for while till Azhar’s nightmare session against Akram and Akhtar was ended by Saqlain. And, the skipper had hardly cooled down in the pavilion when Mongia joined him, thanks to a huge inswinger from Akhtar. Left in the middle were Calcutta man Ganguly and a calm Anil Kumble, who surprisingly managed to keep Akhtar and Akram out in a much more organised fashion than his captain did.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan (1st innings) 185

(shuffling across to turn a straight one which hit front foot in front of leg and middle)

Laxman c Youhana b Saqlain 67 (119b, 176m, 9×4)

(off break beat forward defence, seemed to brush gloves on way to forward short leg via pad, doubtful decision)

Dravid c Moin b Akhtar 13 (33b, 58m, 1×4)

(gloved an in-coming bouncer down leg side)

Tendulkar run out (sub, Nadeem Khan) 9 (13b, 15m, 1×4)

(direct hit from deep midwicket to bowler’s end; Tendulkar grounded bat and then it was in air as collided with Akhtar, who was backing up and ball hit stumps)

Azhar c Youhana b Saqlain 20 (46b, 65m, 3×4)

(went for front flick, ball took inside edge onto pad for sharp chance to forward short leg)

Ganguly (batting) 23 (82b, 152m, 2×4)

Mongia lbw Akhtar 1 (13b, 19m)

(caught in front of middle and leg by an inswinger)

Kumble (batting) 12 (44b, 65m)

Extras (b10, lb3, nb16) 29

Total (six wkts, 73 overs, 358m) 214

Fall Of Wickets: 1-108 (Ramesh, 32.0), 2-134 (Laxman, 39.4), 3-145 (Tendulkar, 42.3), 4-149 (Dravid, 44.1), 5-183 (Azhar, 56.4), 6-190 (Mongia, 59.5)

Bowling: Akhtar 17-4-39-2, Akram 21-3-60-0, Mehmood 6-0-23-0, Saqlain 25-5-69-3, Afridi 4-1-10-0

At lunch: India (2nd inn) 71 for no loss

At tea: India (2nd inn) 145 for 3

To win: India need 65 runs with four wickets in hand with a full day to go.