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| August 27, 2002 | Tuesday | Jamadi-us-Saani 17,1423 |
India square series with innings victory
LEEDS (England), Aug 26: Leg-spinner Anil Kumble provided the killer blows, removing century-maker Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart, as India snuffed out England’s dream of a miracle escape by completing a series-levelling win at Headingley Monday.
Kumble’s dismissal of Hussain for 110 on the final day of the third Test sparked a collapse which saw six wickets fall for 44 as the touring side won by an innings and 46 runs on the brink of lunch.
India’s players, after dismissing the home team for 309, ended the game hugging each other in jubilation after a contest in which they totally outclassed their opponents in every department.
They will head for The Oval well placed to secure India’s first series win outside the sub-continent since 1986.
“We dominated all five days,” skipper Saurav Ganguly said.
“We just had to be patient. We knew if we got one wicket we could get two or three more.
“It’s very satisfying but it will be more satisfying if we can do as well in the next match.”
Hussain and Stewart had come together on Sunday afternoon with England, following on 355 runs adrift, stuttering on 148 for four and seemingly doomed to a quick death on a lively pitch.
They dug in, however, to put on 117 for the fifth wicket, staying together for 46 attritional overs in all.
But Hussain’s departure — he was so disappointed he did not look up as the crowd rose to him — in the seventh over of the morning and in Kumble’s first — saw the innings melt dramatically away.
One-and-a-quarter hours later, the presentations were being made to victorious Ganguly as Kumble celebrated his seven wickets in the match. He and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh shared 11 in all.
Hussain said: “You go into any day believing you can do something special and it was my intention.
“But we always knew if one wicket fell we could have problems, and we did.”
Hussain and Stewart had resumed with the score on 239 for four. The England captain soon reached his century with a leg-side flick, Hussain shaking hands with Stewart as the batsmen crossed for the second run.
His joy at his 12th Test century and fourth against India, the country of his birth, proved shortlived. Prodding at Kumble’s rearing leg-spin, he was caught high off the bat by Virender Sehwag at short leg after batting for almost four-and-a-half hours.
That made it 265 for five. In 10 more balls, three wickets were to tumble for two runs.
Big-hitting all-rounder Andrew Flintoff had everything going against him. A man with an atrocious record at Headingley and more attuned to attack than defence, he faced one no-ball and was caught next delivery at slip off the lively left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan to complete a match pair after departing first ball in the first innings.
The big Lancastrian has yet to score a run in four Test innings at the Yorkshire venue.
Any lingering thoughts of divine intervention vanished with Stewart’s departure without a run being added. He was caught by Rahul Dravid again at first slip off Kumble. He had batted for three-and-a-quarter hours for his 47.
Ashley Giles was then run out for 10 after a mix-up with Alex Tudor, who followed shortly after for 21 before Andrew Caddick was the last man out, appropriately caught by Ganguly in the gully off Kumble.
Anything but an Indian win would have been a gross injustice after Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly all made centuries in their first innings of 628 for eight declared, their highest ever total overseas.
England won the first Test and dominated the second only for India to steal a draw. That escape helped change the mood of the series. Headingley, and Kumble, transformed it, with the Indian tricolor now in the ascendancy.
Scoreboard
INDIA (1st Innings) 628-8 declared (S.R. Tendulkar 193, R.S. Dravid 148, S.C. Ganguly 128, S.B. Bangar 68).
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 273 (A.J. Stewart 78 not out, M.P. Vaughan 61).
ENGLAND (2nd Innings, overnight 239-4):
R.W.T. Key lbw b Kumble 34
M.P. Vaughan lbw b Agarkar 15
M.A. Butcher c Dravid b Bangar 42
N. Hussain c Sehwag b Kumble 110
J.P. Crawley c Sehwag b Bangar 12
A.J. Stewart c Dravid b Kumble 47
A. Flintoff c Dravid b Zaheer 0
A.J. Tudor c Sehwag b Harbhajan 21
A.F. Giles run out 10
A.R. Caddick c Ganguly b Kumble 3
M.J. Hoggard not out 1
EXTRAS (B-3, LB-5, NB-6) 14
TOTAL (all out, 110.5 overs) 309
FALL OF WKTS: 1-28, 2-76, 3-116, 4-148,
5-265, 6-267, 7-267, 8-299, 9-307.
BOWLING: Zaheer Khan 22-7-63-1 (5nb); Agarkar 18-5-59-1; Bangar 13-2-54-2; Kumble 29.5-12-66-4 (1nb); Harbhajan Singh 27-7-56-1; Sehwag 1-0-3-0.
RESULT: India won by an innings and 46 runs.
UMPIRES: E.A.R. de Silva (Sri Lanka) and D.L. Orchard (South Africa).
TV UMPIRE: P. Willey (England).
MATCH REFEREE: C.H. Lloyd (West Indies).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Rahul Dravid.
FIRST TEST: Lord’s, England won by 170 runs.
SECOND TEST: Trent Bridge, match drawn.
FOURTH TEST: The Oval, Sept 5-9.—Reuters
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