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| January 23, 2006 | Monday | Zilhaj 22, 1426 |
Solid start by India after Afridi’s blitz
FAISALABAD, Jan 22: Shahid Afridi bludgeoned his way to a second successive century as Pakistan amassed 588 in their first innings on the second day of the second cricket Test against India at Iqbal Stadium on Sunday.
Afridi followed his 80-ball 102 in the first Test at Lahore with a career-best 156 and skipper Inzamamul Haq, hampered by a back spasm, soldiered on to a third century in as many innings on this ground.
Pakistan then scalped the prized wicket of Virender Sehwag unexpectedly after he was given a lease of life on 12 by substitute Imran Farhat at second slip off Shoaib Akhtar.
Imran, however, made amends two balls into the final session when Abdul Razzaq managed to extract bounce which Sehwag steered into the slips.
But India weathered the loss of Sehwag for 31 to reach stumps 110 for one with Rahul Dravid (46) and Vangipurappu Laxman (28) holding firm in the unbroken partnership of 71.
Play ended for the day four overs short of the quota when the Indian batsmen accepted the umpires’ offer to go off for bad light.
Dravid, as usual was his calm self, yet again making sure the opposition must work extremely hard to dislodge him, especially since the pitch holds no terror for the batsmen.
The Indian captain, having twice called incorrectly at the toss, has set himself in for another back-to-the-wall contribution, a hallmark of Dravid’s batting in recent years.
India, already short of one specialist batsman, require a further 279 to guarantee Pakistan bat a second time in the match.
And with the redoubtable Sachin Tendulkar still kept waiting for his first outing at the crease, Pakistan need inspired bowling spells on Monday to restrict the Indians.
Two days of action has seen 11 wickets falling which suggests the track here is different from the one in Lahore on which batsmen thrived all through the first Test.
With two double centuries in previous three innings against Pakistan, Sehwag launched the Indian reply with boundaries off Shoaib Akhtar’s opening two deliveries. The Indian vice-captain hit six of them, 39 less than he punched during the 254 in the first Test.
But his impetuosity brought about his downfall, although Razzaq should be credited for bowling in the area of uncertainty before Sehwag had time to settle down after tea.
Shoaib Akhtar clocked more than 150kph on several occasions in the first six-over spell. However, the Indians negotiated the Rawalpindi Express without much trouble.
Danish Kaneria, the leg-spinner, is the key to Pakistan’s hopes on the crucial third day since he succeeded in deceiving Laxman with his mixture of googlies and top-spinners.
But Sunday belonged to Afridi. The 25-year-old got to his fifth century off 96 balls in 22 Tests with his fourth six, heaving Irfan Pathan over mid-wicket.
Afridi then sped to 150 in no time at all, reaching the milestone in 124 deliveries while on the way taking 20 runs in a Zaheer Khan over.
Razzaq, who had replaced Inzamam at the crease when play resumed on Sunday with Afridi batting on 85, remained a silent partner as Afridi continued to entertain a full house disdainfully.
Afridi, who scored 71 of the 88 runs added with Razzaq in 72 minutes, surpassed his previous highest score of 141 (scored against India at Chennai in the 1998-99 series) with a spanking six off Anil Kumble. Overall six sixes and 20 fours adorned Afridi’s 128-ball innings.
The focus after that breathtaking show turned to Inzamam, who struggled to fight the pain in his back and remained off the field when Indians batted. With Shoaib Malik on hand to do the running, the Pakistan captain joined Australian opener Matthew Hayden at 10th place in the list of Test century-makers.
Inzamam’s 25th century in 107 Tests was his third in a row at Iqbal Stadium since he churned out 109 and 100 not out against England in the second Test only two months back.
Shoaib Akhtar was in no mood to throw away his wicket after spending 29 scoreless minutes before lunch. He used the long handle so effectively that the next 25 deliveries fetched him a career-best 47 with five fours.
One of Shoaib’s three sixes, landed outside the ground near the amusement park. As a result the ball had to be replaced, but the bowler, Harbhajan Singh, was not smiling at all. The off-spinner, who has been carted around for 277 runs in 59 overs, is yet to take a wicket in the series.
R.P. Singh made a promising debut by picking up his fourth wicket when Razzaq followed a delivery which slanted away towards first slip.
Kumble and Zaheer shared the remaining six wickets evenly but Pathan finished wicketless.
Scoreboard
Pakistan (1st innings) (overnight 379-4):
Shoaib Malik c Dravid b Singh 19
Salman Butt c Dhoni b Zaheer 37
Younis Khan c Yuvraj b Singh 83
Mohammad Yousuf c Dhoni b Singh 65
Inzamamul Haq c Dhoni b Zaheer 119
Shahid Afridi c Yuvraj b Kumble 156
Abdul Razzaq c Dhoni b Singh 37
Kamran Akmal c Sehwag b Kumble 0
Shoaib Akhtar c Harbhajan b Zaheer 47
Mohammad Asif not out 6
Danish Kaneria b Kumble 0
Extras: (b3, lb4, w3, nb9) 19
Total (136.2 overs) 588
Fall of wkts: 1-49, 2-65, 3-207, 4-216, 5-467, 6-469, 7-509, 8-567, 9-584
Bowling: Pathan 19-4-106-0, Singh 25-3-89-4, Zaheer 32-7-135-3, Harbhajan 25-1-101-0, Kumble 35.2-5-150-3
India (1st innings):
V. Sehwag c sub (Farhat) b Razzaq 31
R. Dravid not out 46
V. Laxman not out 28
Extras: (lb1, nb4) 5
Total (for one wicket, 37 overs) 110
Fall of wkt: 1-39
Bowling: Akhtar 9-3-29-0, Asif 11-3-30-0, Razzaq 7-0-28-1, Kaneria 9-2-21-0, Afridi 1-0-1-0
Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (RSA), Simon Taufel (AUS)
TV umpire: Zameer Haider (PAK)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)
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