The Hindu : Laxman on song

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 17, 2002

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Laxman on song

By G. Viswanath

V.V.S. Laxman, the stand-in Indian skipper, glances Reon King to the boundary in the three-day match against West Indies `A' at Arundel on Tuesday. — Photo: N. Sridharan

Arundel July 16. The Arundel Castle Cricket Club, which was allotted the first class match between India and West Indies `A' has proved to be a good host to visiting teams in the past.

Last June the Club made a flat pitch on which Steve Waugh's Australia used the batting conditions to optimum use and routed a weak Marylebone Cricket Club. Exactly 12 months later the club's authorities were happy to receive two foreign teams for a three-day match. Teams have never refused to play at the charming ground located in the south-east of England. Like many cricketing venues it has a rustic setting with the ground surrounded by trees.

It was in such beautiful scenery that India began its first, first class match of the tour, against West Indies `A'. The three-day match was essentially meant to give an opportunity to the Indians to switch over from the one-day version to the more demanding requirements of the longer version.

It was natural that the West Indies, which has been at the receiving end in many of its recent matches, tried to put its best foot forward. The West Indians did not give any leeway to the Indian openers Wasim Jaffer and Shiv Sundar Das. But the arrival of V.V.S. Laxman, after the fall of Jaffer an hour after the first ball was bowled at 11 a.m., brought a bit of life to the match, which was proceeding at an extremely slow pace.

Jaffer made only five runs in one hour in which he did not take risks against Reon King and Marlon Black. His approach, which can at best be described as a show of stout defiance, ended when he edged Black to wicketkeeper Keith Hibbert.

The conditions at the Arundel Cricket Club Ground were ideal for a batsman willing to be patient and wait on the ball. Das concentrated hard and spent useful time in the middle before left arm-spinner Ryan Hinds won an appeal for leg before. The second wicket fell at 69, Das and Laxman putting on 59, before Hinds struck for Dinesh Mongia to make an appearance in the middle.

Laxman got his eye in and began to play some lovely shots off the medium pacers and Hinds. Laxman is a certainty for the first Test and it was important from India's point of view that he got used to the conditions and emerged with a satisfactory knock. Das spent one-and-a-half hours in the middle and Laxman three hours to make 85 with nine 4s. Three shots before teatime — a square drive, straight drive and a forcing shot off the backfoot — stood out.

Play was stopped for a while when Laxman took a yorker length delivery on his toe. He continued to bat after being given first aid treatment by physio Andrew Leipus, but he did not last long holing out in the deep to Devon Smith off Chris Gayle. Laxman struck nine 4s in his usual style, timing the ball and placing it in the gaps.

At the end of the 69th over India was 191 for four with Dinesh Mongia batting on 57. Ajay Ratra had joined Mongia at the fall of Sanjay Bangar' s wicket.

The scores:

S.S. Das lbw b Hinds 29, W. Jaffer c Hibbert b Black 5, V.V.S. Laxman c Pagon b Gayle 85, D. Mongia (batting) 57, S. Bangar c Pagon b Gayle 0, A. Ratra (batting) 5. Extras (b-4, w-2, nb-4) 10. Total (for four wkts.) 191.

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-69, 3-155, 4-161.

West Indies `A' bowling: King 20-7-43-0, Black 14-6-26-1, Lawson 13-3-51-0, Hinds 12-2-42-1, Bravo 2-0-4-0, Gayle 7-2-21-2.

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