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| January 25, 2006 | Wednesday | Zilhaj 24, 1426 |
Second Test heads for another meaningless draw
FAISALABAD, Jan 24: The second Test between Pakistan and India was heading for a meaningless draw at the Iqbal Stadium after the tourists took a slim first-innings lead of 15 runs on Tuesday.
Pakistan then comfortably negotiated 43 overs to head into Wednesday’s last day at 152 for one in the second innings. They now lead by 137 runs.
Kamran Akmal, forced to open for the first time in a Test, did a commendable job in Shoaib Malik’s absence after keeping wickets for 12 hours and 13 minutes all told.
The right-hander braved the final 170 minutes to score a well-compiled 59 off 122 balls while striking nine boundaries in the unbroken partnership of 100 with Younis Khan.
Younis showed a great liking for India’s bowling with his second half-century of the match. He finished on 64 off 102 deliveries, hitting 10 fours.
In a match that has already yielded 1343 runs for 21 wickets, India ran up a total of 603 after resuming the day at 441 for five in response to Pakistan’s 588 as the placid pitch continued to break the bowlers’ hearts.
It was only the third time in 53-year-old history of Pakistan-India cricket that the Indians managed to pass 600 against their greatest rivals.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Irfan Pathan carried on the good work they had launched on Monday afternoon by converted their overnight sixth-wicket partnership of 160 into a record.
The two of them put on 210 off 277 balls in three hours and 29 minutes to become holders of the best stand for this wicket by three runs.
In the 1982-83 Test on the same ground, the then Pakistan captain Imran Khan and Saleem Malik added 207 against Sunil Gavaskar’s team.
The pugnacious Dhoni riled Shoaib Akhtar to such an extent that the fast bowler lost his temper during a three-over spell of 27 runs at the start of play.
Shoaib was immediately withdrawn from the attack by Younis to let him cool down in the outfield after an argument with umpire Simon Taufel.
His final over went for 18 runs, including four boundaries to Dhoni who was ultimately dismissed for a blazing 152-ball 148. Dhoni’s 229-minute innings was laced with 19 fours and four sixes.
Irfan crossed 50 for the fifth time in 20 Tests. The left-handed all-rounder then set his sights on a maiden century. But upon getting to the dreaded 90 in 269 minutes, Abdul Razzaq broke young Indian’s heart with a superb delivery to win a lbw decision.
Irfan, the second man in this innings to be out for 90 after Vangipurappu Laxman on Monday, hit 93 only last month against Sri Lanka in the Delhi Test as an opener.
His 171-ball knock included nine fours and two sixes. India were still behind Pakistan score at 529 for seven but their tail wagged away merrily to plunder a further 74 runs. Harbhajan Singh clobbered two sixes and five fours on his way to a breezy 38 off 48 deliveries.
Zaheer Khan also joined in the fun as he ended with an unbeaten 20, a contribution that carried his team past 600 runs.
Pakistan began their second innings on a bright note as Salman Butt, reprieved on two by Laxman off Pathan, and Kamran took attack to the Indians in an opening partnership of 52 in under an hour.
The two youngsters ripped into R.P. Singh and helped themselves to eight boundaries in the left-arm medium-pacer’s six-over spell that cost 33 runs. Salman was timing so well that he allowed himself to fall in the overconfident zone. After striking five boundaries in his score of 24, the left-hander pulled Kumble into Sachin Tendulkar’s at midwicket.
Scoreboard
Pakistan 1st innings 588 (S. Afridi 156, Inzamamul Haq 119, Y. Khan 83, M. Yousuf 65; R. Singh 4-89)
India 1st innings (Overnight: 441-5)
V. Sehwag c sub b Razzaq 31
R. Dravid run out 103
V. Laxman c Akmal b Kaneria 90
S. Tendulkar c Akmal b Akhtar 14
Y. Singh c Kaneria b Asif 4
M. Dhoni st Akmal b Kaneria 148
I. Pathan lbw b Razzaq 90
A. Kumble st Akmal b Kaneria 15
H. Singh lbw b Afridi 38
Z. Khan not out 20
R. Singh c&b Afridi 6
Extras (b-3 lb-15 nb-23 w-3) 44
Total (all out, 165.4 overs) 603
Fall of wkts: 1-39 2-236 3-241 4-258
5-281 6-491 7-529 8-553 9-587 10-603
Bowling S. Akhtar 25 - 7 - 100 - 1 (nb-4 w-1) M. Asif 34 - 6 - 103 - 1 (nb-3 w-1) A. Razzaq 28 - 1 - 126 - 2 (nb-13) D. Kaneria 54 - 6 - 165 - 3 (nb-3 w-1) S. Afridi 24.4 - 0 -91 - 2
Pakistan 2nd innings
S. Butt c Tendulkar b Kumble 24
K. Akmal not out 59
Y. Khan not out 64
Extras (lb-2 nb-3) 5
Total (for 1 wickets, 43 overs) 152
Fall of wkts: 1-52
To bat: Inzamamul Haq, M. Yousuf, S. Afridi, A. Razzaq, S. Malik, S. Akhtar, M. Asif, D. Kaneria
Bowling: I. Pathan 9 - 1 - 27 - 0 R. Singh 6 - 1 - 33 - 0 A. Kumble 12 - 2 - 56 -1 (nb-3) Z. Khan 7 - 3 - 12 - 0 H. Singh 8 - 2 - 16 - 0 Y. Singh 1 - 0 - 6 - 0.
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