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| September 8, 2002 | Sunday | Jamadi-us-Saani29,1423 |
Dravid slams third successive century
LONDON, Sept 7:India captain Saurav Ganguly threw his wicket away as his side, leaning on Rahul Dravid’s century, reached 301 for four on the third day of the fourth and deciding Test against England on Saturday.
Dravid, who completed a third successive test match century, was 120 not out midway through the final session while Vangipurappu Laxman was on five as India chased England’s 515.
The visitors could have been in a better position but Ganguly, who had just brought up his 20th test half-century with a deft dab past slip for three off left-arm spinner Ashley Giles, was out playing a poor shot to swing bowler Dominic Cork.
Cork seemed to be wasting his energy bowling short to both Ganguly and Dravid with neither player prepared to hook.
Ganguly, however, after being pegged down by an impressive spell from Giles who was extracting turn from the pitch and the bowlers’ footmarks, finally succumbed and only succeeded in gloving the ball behind to wicketkeeper Alec Stewart.
The catch was Stewart’s 200th as a wicketkeeper. He has 36 other catches as an outfielder.
Ganguly provided the only other excitement during the first hour of the session when, in the first over after tea, he shaped to pull a short ball from Cork.
As short-leg John Crawley flinched in anticipation, the ball popped off Ganguly’s bat and fell inches short of the fielder.
During the second session, Dravid scored his third consecutive Test century. He had scored 385 runs in the series against England at an average of 77 prior to the current innings.
The right-handed Dravid flicked left-arm spinner Ashley Giles behind square for a single to reach his 13th test century.
He scored 115 in the second innings of the drawn second test at Nottingham before making 148 in India’s only innings in their third test victory at Leeds.
The 29-year-old Dravid had shared an ominous-looking 91-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar before pace bowler Andrew Caddick dismissed Tendulkar for 54 to leave India on 178 for three shortly after the lunch break.
Tendulkar, who had just brought up his 34th test half-century, was trapped lbw by a ball that hit him full on the boot.
He was at his scintillating best throughout his innings, smashing 40 of his first 50 runs in boundaries.
Earlier, Sanjay Bangar was the only wicket to fall in the morning session, caught by Mark Butcher at slip off quick bowler Matthew Hoggard for 21.
The start of play was delayed by 15 minutes due to overnight rain as India resumed at 66 for one, with Dravid on 31 and Bangar on 17.
The Test series is level at 1-1. India are seeking their first test series win outside the sub-continent since 1986.
Scoreboard
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 515 (M.P. Vaughan 195, M.E. Trescothick 57, M.A. Butcher 54, D.G. Cork 52; Harbhajan Singh 5-115).
INDIA (1st Innings, overnight 66-1):
S.B. Bangar c Butcher b Hoggard 21
V. Sehwag c Cork b Caddick 12
R.S. Dravid not out 109
S.R. Tendulkar lbw b Caddick 54
S.C. Ganguly not out 37
EXTRAS (B-8, LB-1, NB-18) 27
TOTAL (for three wkts, 76 overs) 260
FALL OF WKTS: 1-18, 2-87, 3-178.
TO BAT: V.V.S. Laxman, A.B. Agarkar, A. Ratra, Harbhajan Singh, A.R. Kumble, Zaheer Khan.
BOWLING (to-date): Hoggard 15-1-59-1 (10nb); Caddick 19-6-50-2 (2nb); Giles 18-4-47-0; Tudor 11-2-53-0 (5nb); Cork 8-3-23-0 (1nb); Vaughan 5-0-19-0.—Reuters
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