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Pakistan tortured by the Wall

Thursday, April 15 2004

Plagued by injuries to a re-surrected Shoaib Akhtar and middle-order batsman Asim Kamal, and destroyed by a resilient and gritty performance with the bat by Parthiv Patel, a Rahul Dravid routine class act, and a typical VVS Laxman knock, Pakistan couldn't have hoped for a worse day in the crucial decider Test against India, in Rawalpindi.

Resuming from an overnight score of 23/1, India needed all the discipline with the bat that was eventually showed by Patel and Dravid. Patel had a tough act to follow, that of filling in the shoes of Akash Chopra, whom many have applauded for his approach against the new ball. However, as determined as he is, Patel couldn't have susbstituted better.

The 18-year old Patel showed tonnes of potential for a future opener, by playing one of the most crucial innings of his career so far. While any team could have faultered at a situation of 23/1, Patel along with Dravid made sure that whatever "new-ness" was left in the ball, goes unaffected. Akhtar, for the first time in the series, looked the potent danger, he can so often be. But, the grittyness of the two batsmen in the middle nullified his efforts.

Dravid looked his usual calm, composed, classy self, scoring at a slow but sure pace. His innings featured all the ingredients of his batting style that we know of - solid defence, correct shot selection and classic strokeplay.

Together, both of them helped India go to lunch without a loss of a wicket in the entire session. The only chance in the session, that could have gone Pakistan's way, was a leg before shout for Dravid off Sami, which looked very close. Patel was unbeaten on 65, his highest Test score, and Dravid on 46 at the break as India reached 119 for the loss of one wicket.

Immediately after the break however, Patel fell to Fazal-e-Akbar, edging him to keeper Kamran Akmal, who took a good catch. He scored a career-best 69 and put on 129 runs for the second wicket with Dravid. Patel may not be the long-term answer to India's opening dilemma, but for this Test, he proved to be the right option, making Ganguly's decision look a well thought tactic.

Dravid reached his 33rd Test fifty with a four through the point region, his second against Pakistan, and first in this series. With an average of only 17 for the series going into this match, he was all too determined to make a huge score.

Only a few balls later, Akhtar struck an important blow, that of Sachin Tendulkar's wicket, who made only a single run, off a short delivery, which he managed only to fend off to the keeper.

This put India in a critical situation, where the balance could have gone either way. It required Laxman to play one of his classy innings, at a brisk pace for Dravid was too slow at the other end, to swing the advantage back to India's side.

What Laxman put up was definitely that. He was the classy wristy batsman that the Aussies are so familiar with. Despite being faced with some amazing stuff from Akhtar, he stroked the ball with authority through the covers, using his wonderful hand-eye co-ordination.

India scored 84 runs in 27 overs for the loss of two wickets during the post-lunch session. At tea, they were 203 for the loss three wickets, clearly on top of their opponents.

Laxman was in top gear for the final session, scoring a flurry of boundaries, before the new ball was due. Akbar was at the receiving end of most of those boundaries. Dravid, at the other end, reached his 17th Test century - his 11th away from home, and the first against Pakistan.

While Akhtar still managed to keep the batsmen, especially Dravid on a tight leash, others were tiring too quickly to help Pakistan make a comeback.

Akhtar did manage to pick up Laxman's wicket off a full toss, which bowled him out, but was soon down injured. He fell down while following through and injured his left wrist. He did not bowl again even though he came on to field. Akhtar's injury couldn't have come at a worse time for Pakistan. With Sourav Ganguly returning after missing the first two Tests, and the ball quite new, a couple of overs from him could have made the difference.

Ganguly was allowed to settle in. He played a few shots, some cuts which looked more like edges off Danish Kaneria, but brought runs. The duo of Ganguly and Darvid were able to push the lead to 118 runs by the end of the day, with Ganguly reaching his 50 off the final ball with a boundary. Dravid ended the day at 134 not out.

Pakistan face an uphill task on Thursday, for Akhtar's status is still not known. Their batting line-up for the second innings also suffered a blow after Asim Kamal was taken to hospital for precautionary X-rays after being hit on the elbow from point-blank range. No news are available yet on the results of test.

Score Summary:

Pakistan: 224 all out (Mohammed Sami 49, L Balaji 63/4)

India: 342 for 4 (Parthiv Patel 69, Rahul Dravid 134*, VVS Laxman 71, Sourav Ganguly 53*, Shoaib Akhtar 47/3)

India lead by 118 runs

Posted by Sudeep