The Hindu : Sport : Dhoni, Sachin take India to a big total

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Sport

Dhoni, Sachin take India to a big total

S. Ram Mahesh

England bowlers feel the heat second day running

— PHOTO: AP

QUICKFIRE KNOCK: Mahendra Singh Dhoni set The Oval ablaze with his stroke play on Friday.

London: India reached 559 for seven at tea on day two of the third Test here at The Oval.There were half-centuries for Sachin Tendulkar (82), V.V.S. Laxman (51) , M.S. Dhoni (92), and Anil Kumble (60 batting), as India kept the England bowlers in the field for 148 overs.For a while on Friday, the proceedings closely resembled a quest. Sachin Tendulkar, not unlike Tolkien’s Frodo, grasped for footholds, dug his toes in tiny cracks, climbing inch by slippery inch, so he could finally cast off the burden weighing his neck down. In his success seemed to lie the greater good; not the world’s, but, India’s, certainly.Tendulkar had had for company a set of disparate men: Dinesh Karthik, the young dragon-rider, a man who had tamed his steed, but then stuck a foolhardy hand in its mouth; Sourav Ganguly, the prince of thieves, utterly charming, but steel and ice beneath the dandy exterior; V.V.S. Laxman, the wizard, his magic less certain than before, but still aswondrous, and his mind still as keen.

Well-written script

Each man had stuck to the script — each had furthered the cause of the quest, each had left its plot as required. Karthik had shown Tendulkar what it was to be young again; Ganguly had offered counsel, boosted spirit, all the while knavishly eluding England’s worst designs; Laxman had temporarily borne Tendulkar’s burden, conjuring rare, beautiful magic.Laxman’s role on Friday morning was particularly crucial. Tendulkar had resumed on 48, Laxman on 20. England, knowing it had defeated South Africa here in 2003 despite conceding 484 in the first innings, looked for early wickets.With Tendulkar intent on minimalism in survival, Laxman cloaked himself with the responsibility of hitting boundaries. The strategic importance of the decision can’t be over-stated: it kept the bowlers from settling, both in tactics and in execution, and it added another dimension for Vaughan to think about. The England captain was having to back-track, for the runs were buying India time.Laxman flicked Anderson before on-driving him: both strokes owed themselves to his wrists, as sinuous lines spidered through an onside field of square-leg, backward square-leg, and mid-on. Once, he held his bat straight and firm in defence: the ball raced off its middle past the practice strips for four.Then came a moment that captured all that’s great about Test cricket. The luckless Ryan Sidebottom found Laxman’s edge, and Matt Prior, the wicketkeeper, dropped it. It was seemingly similar to Thursday, when Prior had dived and shelled Tendulkar. But, it wasn’t.Prior’s trouble stems from how late he rises from an awkward, wide-based crouch. On Thursday, he had shifted his left leg inwards in response to Sidebottom’s inswing. That had robbed him off the power step keepers need when leaping in front of first slip.

Dropped catches

On Friday, Prior took off of a steadier base; only, this time the mistake lay in the choice. The catch was first slip’s. Prior had given himself too far to cover.Sidebottom marched down to fine-leg, clearly hurting, but with his unshaven chin stuck up and his ringlets of hair bobbing at his shoulder. The crowd at the Vauxhall End gave him a standing ovation.Prior then made amends by catching Laxman off a rising Tremlett delivery outside off-stump.With the destination in sight, Tendulkar grew lighter. He cut Anderson, then punched him through cover, before unveiling his speciality, the back-drive. He had taken 166 balls to reach 60; to 80 he took just another 22. But, Anderson angled one into Tendulkar, drawing the edge to first slip, and ending his quest.Dhoni, the strong man, his club at the ready, looked ungainly settling, but put the bad ball away often enough. With Kumble, he began the process of grinding England’s hopes to dust.Earlier, on Thursday, Tendulkar and Ganguly survived a crucial period either side of tea. Anderson hunted Tendulkar’s ribs; a leg gully scavenged. When the line and length shifted, Tendulkar brought out the cover drive.Tendulkar mastered his ego, preferring to look awkward and vulnerable to risking the hook. He collected singles off his hip, tucking behind square with a merchant’s foresight. Ganguly, as ever, batted with a gambler’s incredible nerve, squirting through gully in between driving Sidebottom with the swing and lodging Panesar in the pavilion.Prior dropped Tendulkar on 20. The unlucky bowler was Sidebottom. But, England, if not Sidebottom, had a change in fortune: Ganguly was adjudged leg-before by Howell despite edging the ball onto his pad.Thus was the left-hander handed his second appalling decision in as many Tests.Ganguly’s dismissal threw England a lifebuoy. His holding partnership of 77 with Tendulkar 77 had threatened to play Michael Vaughan’s men out of the Test. The time of his exit — with the new ball imminent — gave England hope that another wicket could be had. But, Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman, who reached 5000 Test runs, saw the day through.

Scoreboard

India - 1st innings: D. Karthik c Prior b Sidebottom 91, W. Jaffer c Pietersen b Anderson 35, R. Dravid b Anderson 55, S. Tendulkar c Strauss b Anderson 82, S. Ganguly lbw b Collingwood 37, V.V.S. Laxman c Prior b Tremlett 51, M.S. Dhoni c Cook b Pietersen 92, A. Kumble (bating) 60, Zaheer Khan (batting) 7, Extras (b-29, lb-12, w-2, nb-6): 49; Total (for seven wkts, 148 overs at tea): 559.

Fall of wickets: 1-62 (Jaffer), 2-189 (Dravid), 3-199 (Karthik), 4-276 (Ganguly), 5-354 (Laxman), 6-417 (Tendulkar), 7-508 (Dhoni).

England bowling: Sidebottom 32-8-93-1; Anderson 37-5-156-3; Tremlett 36-5-120-1; Panesar 34-5-123-0; Collingwood 7-1-11-1; Pietersen 2-0-15-1

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