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| December 16, 2001 | Sunday | Ramazan 30, 1422 |
India crawl to draw second Test
AHMEDABAD (India), Dec 15: India waged a determined fightback to secure a hard-earned draw in the second Test against England on Saturday to maintain a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.
Openers Shiv Sundar Das (58) and Deep Dasgupta (60) struck patient half centuries in a 119-run partnership until midway through the afternoon session on the final day to douse England’s hopes of levelling the series.
Needing to bat through an entire day on a breaking pitch after England set an improbable victory target of 374 runs, the hosts reached 198 for three wickets in their second innings when play closed.
England, who lost the first Test in Mohali by 10 wickets, had hoped to prove their critics wrong with a victory at the start of the day.
But Das and Dasgupta held firm to ensure there was no early damage to take the hosts to lunch at 92 without loss, handling both pace and spin with maturity.
The diminutive Das was run out and off-spinner Richard Dawson had a stubborn Dasgupta caught in the close cordon five runs later to reduce India to 124 for two.
But Sachin Tendulkar (26) and Rahul Dravid, 26 not out, dug in for almost 90 minutes to add 44 runs and maintain Indian calm after they had taken tea at 140 for two.
Dawson had Tendulkar caught at forward short leg failing to keep down his off-break, but there were very few overs left and skipper Saurav Ganguly (16 not out) joined Dravid until play ended.
With the host batsmen showing no inclination to attack the big target, England’s inexperienced bowling attack found few openings.
But Nasser Hussain’s side can go into the final Bangalore Test starting on Wednesday with their heads held high, having proved gloomy predictions of a 3-0 whitewash wrong.
India, resuming at 15 for none, began with their backs to the wall but both Das and Dasgupta stuck to their task by playing out the early overs before scoring steadily to add 75 runs in the morning.
Das dominated Ashley Giles, the left-arm spinner who took a career-best five for 67 to restrict India to 291 in reply to England’s first innings 407 all out, with two well-driven fours in his first over.
He then cut 21-year-old Dawson for more fours before tucking paceman Matthew Hoggard to fine leg for his seventh boundary to reach his ninth Test fifty at the stroke of lunch.
The 23-year-old was eventually run out to a throw from Giles, running in from backward square leg, as he returned for a second run off Dawson.
He hit seven fours in his 159-ball knock lasting just under 3-1/2 hours.
Dawson then had Dasgupta caught by Mark Butcher, who completed the catch on his second attempt after the batsman pushed forward in defence.
The 23-year-old, who hit 100 in the first Mohali Test to lift India to victory, showed fine temperament as an opener having taken up the job in the second Test in South Africa last month.
Dasgupta took 14 balls to progress from his lunch score of 42 — India were 92 for no loss — before reaching his second Test fifty by driving Dawson through the covers.
England skipper Nasser Hussain brought on Craig White after lunch and he kept both openers — who had raised 75 runs in the morning — quiet for a long period.
He rotated his bowlers around in search of quick wickets but the attack was thwarted by the slowness of the brown pitch.
All-rounder White, who had hit 121 for his maiden Test hundred to give England the upperhand on the second day, was named man of the match.
The third and final Test starts in Bangalore on Wednesday.
Scoreboard
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 407 (C. White 121, M.E. Trescothick 99, M.A. Butcher 51; A.R. Kumble 7-115).
INDIA (1st Innings) 291 (S.R. Tendulkar 103, V.V.S. Laxman 75; A.F. Giles 5-67).
ENGLAND (2nd Innings) 257 (M.A. Butcher 92, N. Hussain 50; Harbhajan Singh 5-71).
INDIA (2nd Innings, overnight 17-0):
S.S. Das run out 58
D. Dasgupta c Butcher b Dawson 60
R.S. Dravid not out 26
S.R. Tendulkar c Vaughan b Dawson 26
S.C. Ganguly not out 16
EXTRAS (B-12) 12
TOTAL (for three wkts,) 198
FALL OF WKTS: 1-119, 2-124, 3-168.
BOWLING: Hoggard 17-6-33-0; Giles 31-12-57-0; Dawson 32-9-72-2; Flintoff 8-4-17-0; White 9-5-7-0.
RESULT: Match drawn.
UMPIRES: A.V. Jayaprakash (India) and I.D. Robinson (Zimbabwe).
TV UMPIRE: Jasbir Singh.
MATCH REFEREE: D.T. Lindsay (South Africa).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Craig White.
FIRST TEST: Mohali, India won by 10 wickets.
THIRD TEST: Bangalore, Dec 19-23.—Reuters
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