Flower brothers lead Zimbabwean fightback

By Vijay Lokapally

BULAWAYO, JUNE 9. Test cricket offers such intense competition, such intrigue, and pulsating moments that the game never ceases to excite. The level of the game rose this day above mediocrity, befitting the occasion, as Zimbabwe, riding on the shoulders of Andy Flower, chose to fight. And fight it did until Andy was snared by Ashish Nehra, the best Indian bowler on view.

Andy and his brother Grant gave respectability to the Zimbabwean fight to save the Test, or at least stretch it to a point which would make India strive in the winning chase. Well, Andy did his bit right, so did Grant to a large extent as Zimbabwe finished the third day of the first Test at 303 for seven, 158 runs ahead, when bad light stopped play two overs short of schedule.

Test cricket indeed offers vagaries, as one saw in Nehra being taken off the bowling for running on to the danger area. Quite an unprecedented incident and the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Dave Houghton and Navjot Singh Sidhu could not remember a similar instance from their playing days. It was unfortunate but an apt lesson for the Delhi lad, who had received two warnings, as had Zaheer Khan, for running on to the danger area.

The Indians obviously must have thanked the gods that Nehra's disqualification - under law 42 (12) stating bowler running on the protected area after delivering the ball - came after Andy's departure.

Last evening, much after play had ended, Andy was on the job, having a quiet knock in a corner. That he was planning to extend that intent to the middle was obvious. His eyes reflected a determination even in the twilight at the Queen's Sports Club and this entire day he built upon that magnificent resolve to fight.

Test cricket is not about playing shots and pleasing the galleries. It is about building an innings, blunting the opposition and staying in the middle to frustrate the bowlers. For the bowlers, it is about foxing the batsmen, sounding so simple but extremely complicated, especially when the man in front happens to be one Andy Flower.

The Indians tried their best. The seamers, and the spinners, but they all failed to shake the confidence of this man who loves to feast on the Indian attack, no matter what the surface. An ideal Test-match batsman, the left-hander from Harare gave yet another demonstration of committed batsmanship.

It requires a batsman to be highly disciplined and obviously gutsy to stand in the middle and dictate the course of the match at this level. Andy has it aplenty. His motivation to keep going can embarrass the best of batsmen on the circuit and yet this humble cricketer, grossly under-rated by the experts of the game, has no complaints, and no regrets on being denied the recognition due to him.

Whatever the state of the pitch, the task facing Andy and the rest of the Zimbabwean batsmen was gigantic. To occupy the crease and maintain a steady flow of runs was a demanding job but Andy had prepared himself well. His mental toughness matched that of the 11 Indians on the field and once he settled down and had a nice look at the bowlers, even beating his bat became a feat. Such was Andy's excellence at the crease on Saturday.

Not that the Indians were caught unawares. They too had calculated Andy was going to be a great stumbing block but the enormity of the challenge dawned on them gradually. An early breakthrough saw the Indians move about cockily but it was just the wicket of Brian Murphy. At the other end stood Stuart Carlisle, playing his shots and also defending stoutly. It was beginning to get interesting.

The Indian seamers tried hard, at times willing to break their back but ending up spraying the ball. For Zaheer Khan, it was tough after two warnings for running on to the pitch. Ashish Nehra too was warned once in the morning and that was the reason skipper Sourav Ganguly removed the Delhi seamer from the firing line. It did not count that Nehra had just removed Carlisle with a ball which rose a shade to fox the batsman, who had, until that fatal moment, lived without a blemish.

Nehra received his second warning in the last session but by then he had made his most valuable contribution - removing the dangerous Andy to a spectacular catch at gully by S. Ramesh.

The Indians had a spring in their walk when Carlisle departed. The sight of the Flower brothers in the middle was indeed discomforting but then the Indian bowlers promised so much. Harbhajan Singh was enjoying his battle with Andy even though the off-spinner could not claim to have dominated the duel.

A few reverse-sweeps from Andy put Harbhajan's guile in place and the bowler did little to enhance his reputation by once flinging the ball back at the keeper in disgust as Andy blocked in style. It was a fascinating scenario otherwise and this day Andy was the winner. He handled the offie with assurance and the Indian camp had reasons to worry as his presence was beginning to have a motivating influence on Grant. A fight was now on hand.

Harbhajan explored the `roughs' which did not exist really even though the two left-arm seamers toiled to create them on this hard track. With Javagal Srinath and Zaheer inconsistent, it was hard on Harbhajan to keep attacking. But he did with a large heart, won a few minor points and lost a few. It contributed to make the contest absorbing.

The Flower brothers added 101 runs for the sixth wicket to mock at all those who visualised a three-day finish to this Test. It did put the Indian attack in perspective, what with just Nehra looking capable of taking a wicket. Of course, credit ought to be given to some fine catching, especially by Shiv Sunder Das and Ramesh.

Andy departed but not before passing on some of his grit to his brother. Grant grew in stature in the middle, carrying the team on his shoulders with a highly disciplined innings. It was in keeping with his reputation of being a grafter and it was an effort dedicated to the cause of the Zimbabwean innings. It deserved to be treated on par with brother Andy's performance.

Skipper Heath Streak showed an inclination to fight but was trapped by an inswinger from Zaheer. If the Indians thought in terms of polishing off the tail, they were in for a rude shock. Andy Blignaut kept Grant company to take the fight to the fourth day.

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