By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, IANS
New Delhi : India took a 45-run first innings lead on the strength of V.V.S. Laxman’s unbeaten 72 but Salman Butt’s 67 helped Pakistan come back into the game on the third day of the first Test here Saturday.
When play ended 7.1 overs early due to poor visibility at the Feroze Shah Kotla Stadium, Pakistan were 212 for five – an overall lead of 167 – thanks largely to Salman Butt’s 67 (140 balls, 11x4s).
Kamran Akmal was batting on 21 (53 balls, 3x4s) and Misbah-ul-Haq, who is still suffering from fever and sore throat, on 29 (34 balls, 1×4, 2x6s) after putting on 51 for the unbroken sixth wicket.
Earlier, replying to Pakistan’s first-innings total 231, India scored 276, with Laxman (135 balls, 8x4s) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (57) being the main scorers. Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria captured four wickets while left-arm deceptive pacer Sohail Tanvir bagged three.
With the wicket expected to assist the spinners from now on the match is interestingly poised with the spinners set to dictate terms on the last two days.
The fielders, especially those manning close-in positions, will also have an important role to play as a lot of nicks and edges are expected to come their way.
While a lot will depend on how quickly Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh can wrap up the Pakistan innings, Danish Kaneria will play a big role when India bat in the fourth innings.
India resumed at 228 for six, with Laxman at 57 and Kumble on seven. They added 34 more runs to take their seventh wicket partnership to 54 before Kaneria struck. The Karachi spinner deceived Kumble (24, 69 balls, 3x4s) with a leg-break and induced an edge to Younis Khan at first slip.
In the next over, left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir removed Harbhajan’s leg stump to make it 263 for eight. Kaneria then dismissed pacers Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel off successive balls to signal the end of India’s first innings for 276 – a first-innings lead of 45. Kaneria can complete a split hat trick if he takes a wicket with the first ball in India’s second innings.
Laxman remained unbeaten after scoring the 30th half-century in his 84th Test. It was an innings full of wristy, delicate and well timed strokes.
Like Kumble in the first innings, his counterpart Kaneria also bagged four wickets for 59 to be the most successful Pakistani bowler. Tanvir took three wickets, Shoaib Akhtar two while the other pacer Mohammed Sami went wicketless.
In Pakistan’s second innings, Salman Butt, who was one of the top scorers for his team, aggregating 252 in the one-day series, again gave a good start and put on 71 runs with Yasir Hameed for the opening wicket.
Hameed (36, 79 balls, 5x4s) played a defensive stroke off his front foot to Kumble and the ball flew off to silly point where Laxman took a good catch.
Hameed’s was the only wicket that India managed between the lunch and tea intervals while Pakistan scored 82 for a lead of 63.
Left-handed Butt, showing fine temperament and nimble footwork, stroked the ball well as he added 41 for the second wicket with Younis Khan.
Younis, who has been a thorn in India’s flesh since 2004 when the cricket relations between the two countries were restored, only managed 23 (40 balls, 4x4s) before Kumble won a leg-before-wicket decision as the ball kept low.
Mohammed Yousuf walked in next and survived the first ball with a French Cut sneaking past the stumps. But he was soon consumed by off-spinner Harbhajan, An attempted cover drive ended up as a return catch to make Pakistan 149 for three.
Butt followed Yousuf, caught at slip by Rahul Dravid, as he tried to drive a Kumble googly.
This was the 50th catch that Dravid had taken off Kumble’s bowling. They have become only the third bowler-fielder combine, excluding wicketkeepers, to achieve the feat. Only Muttiah Muralitharan – Mahela Jayawardene (63) and Shane Warne-Mark Taylor (51) duo are ahead of the Bangaloreans.
Captain Shoaib Malik’s poor run continued even in the Test series. To add to his first-innings blob, Malik could only score 11 before playing on to Harbhajan.
In-form Misbah-ul-Haq, who did not field in the entire Indian innings due to illness, came in next to join out-of-form Kamran Akmal. He started confidently but when at 10 he was dropped by Wasim Jaffer at forward short leg off Kumble.
The two have scored 51 for the sixth wicket without being separated till the close of play.
SCOREBOARD
Day Three, First Test, India vs. Pakistan, Ferozeshah
Kotla Stadium, Delhi
Pakistan (1st innings): 231
India (1st innings, overnight 228/6):
Wasim Jaffer lbw b Akhtar 32
Dinesh Karthik c Akmal b Akhtar 9
Rahul Dravid b Tanvir 38
Sachin Tendulkar run out (Akmal/Mohammad Yousuf) 1
Sourav Ganguly b Tanvir 8
V.V.S. Laxman not out 72
Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Akmal b Kaneria 57
Anil Kumble c Younis b Kaneria 24
Harbhajan Singh b Tanvir 1
Zaheer Khan c Akhtar b Kaneria 9
Munaf Patel lbw b Kaneria 0
Extras: (byes 11, leg byes 8, wide 1, no balls 5) 25
Total: (all out in 78.4 overs) 276
Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Karthik, 4.2 overs), 2-71 (Jaffer, 21.3), 3-73 (Tendulkar, 21.5), 4-88 (Ganguly, 25.2), 5-93 (Dravid, 27.5), 6-208 (Kumble, 56.2), 7-262 (Kumble, 74.2), 8-263 (Harbhajan, 75.1), 9-276 (Zaheer, 78.3)
Bowling:
Shoaib Akhtar 16 2 44 2 (1nb)
Sohail Tanvir 24 5 83 3 (3nb)
Mohammad Sami 17 1 71 0
Danish Kaneria 21.4 3 59 4 (1w)
Pakistan (2nd innings):
Salman Butt c Dravid b Kumble 67
Yasir Hameed c Laxman b Kumble 36
Younis Khan lbw b Kumble 23
Mohammad Yousuf c and b Harbhajan 18
Shoaib Malik b Harbhajan 11
Kamran Akmal batting 21
Misbah-ul-Haq batting 29
Extras: (lb 6, nb 1) 7
Total: (for five wickets in 65.5 overs) 212
Fall of wickets: 1-71 (Hameed, 25.1 overs), 2-114 (Younis, 38.4), 3-149 (Yousuf, 45.1), 4-155 (Butt, 48.6), 5-161 (Malik, 53.2)
Bowling:
Zaheer Khan 11 2 32 0 (1nb)
Munaf Patel 9 1 48 0
Anil Kumble 20.5 7 55 3
Sourav Ganguly 8 2 16 0
Harbhajan Singh 15 4 51 2
Sachin Tendulkar 2 0 4 0
Umpires: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Billy Doctrove (West Indies) Third umpire: Suresh Shastri (India)
Fourth umpire: Harnarain Singh Sekhon (India)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka)