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| March 13, 2006 | Monday | Safar 12, 1427 |
Kumble’s triple strike leave England reeling
MOHALI (India), March 12: Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble struck three quick blows to leave England facing defeat in the rain-hit second Test on Sunday.
The tourists were reduced to 112 for five in their second innings at stumps on the fourth day, only 74 ahead.
The sixth wicket pair of captain Andrew Flintoff (16) and Geraint Jones (1) were at the crease.
The 35-year-old Kumble, who grabbed five for 76 in the England first innings to go past 500 Test wickets, helped India with the bat to 338 all out at tea for a crucial 38-run lead.
He then bowled a menacing spell on a fourth-day Mohali pitch affording unpredictable bounce at one end, returning figures of three for 41 from 17 overs.
Number three Ian Bell was the only England batsman to offer any resistance before he was out for 57 as Kumble’s final victim of the day.
Earlier, Indian captain Rahul Dravid was out for 95, missing out on his 23rd Test hundred, but adding 76 runs for the sixth wicket with Irfan Pathan (52).
All-rounder Flintoff removed both batsmen in a sustained display of fast bowling to claim four for 96 after top-scoring with 70 in England’s first innings 300 all out.
But Kumble (32) and Harbhajan Singh (36) added 53 runs for the eighth wicket to help India nose ahead of their injury-depleted rivals.
The battle was even after rain and bad light made only 65 overs possible in the first two days, until Kumble typically marked a dramatic turnaround on a helpful pitch.
Debutant fast bowler Munaf Patel capped his sustained pace, almost clocking 90 mph, to have Alastair Cook (2) caught behind edging a delivery which seamed away late.
Opener Andrew Strauss and Bell were toiling for runs when Kumble struck after the left-handed batsman attempted a desperate sweep.
The ball ballooned off Strauss’s boot and pad to be caught by wicket-keeper Mahendra Dhoni and the batsman was adjudged out by the television umpire.
The aggressive Kevin Pietersen (4) was unlucky after attempting a sweep against off-spinner Harbhajan. Umpire Darrell Hair upheld the appeal after the ball looped over to Dravid at slip, but television replays showed it went off his forearm.
Kumble switched ends to exploit extra bounce at the far end and forced the in-form Paul Collingwood (14) to tamely steer a leg-break to slip.
England hopes sank further when Bell edged a catch to Dhoni to reduce the innings to 109 for five. Bell hit seven fours for his seventh fifty facing 137 deliveries.
In the Indian innings, Dravid played a typically patient knock after the home side resumed on their overnight 149-4.
The 33-year-old batsman dug in for almost five-and-half-hours and struck 10 fours, including three in one over off seamer Liam Plunkett.
Pathan struck five fours and lofted left-arm spinner Monty Panesar over long-off for six to reach his sixth Test fifty.
Scoreboard
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 300 (A. Flintoff 70, K.P. Pietersen 64, G.O. Jones 52; A. Kumble 5-76).
INDIA (1st Innings, overnight 149-4):
Wasim Jaffer c Flintoff b Panesar 31
V. Sehwag c Jones b Harmison 11
R. Dravid b Flintoff 95
S.R. Tendulkar c Strauss b Flintoff 4
Yuvraj Singh c Bell b Hoggard 15
M.S. Dhoni c Jones b Harmison 16
Irfan Pathan c Collingwood b Flintoff 52
A. Kumble b Plunkett 32
Harbhajan Singh c Jones b Flintoff 36
Piyush Chawla c Collingwood b Hoggard 1
Munaf Patel not out 11
EXTRAS (LB-25 W-1, NB-8) 34
TOTAL (all out, 96.2 overs) 338
FALL OF WKTS: 1-18, 2-96, 3-103, 4-134, 5-153, 6-229, 7-260, 8-313, 9-321.
BOWLING: Hoggard 18-6-55-2 (1w); Harmison 28-9-60-2; Flintoff 22-3-96-4 (8nb); Plunkett 9.2-1-37-1; Panesar 19-3-65–1.
ENGLAND (2nd Innings):
A.J. Strauss c Dhoni b Kumble 13
A.N. Cook c Dhoni b Patel 2
I.R. Bell c Dhoni b Kumble 57
K.P. Pietersen c Dravid b Harbhajan 4
P.D. Collingwood c Dravid b Kumble 14
A. Flintoff not out 16
G.O. Jones not out 1
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-1, NB-3) 5
TOTAL (for five wkts, 51 overs) 112
FALL OF WKTS: 1-7, 2-50, 3-55, 4-88, 5-109.
BOWLING (to-date): Irfan Pathan 6-1-16-0 (1nb, 1w); Munaf Patel 5-2-10-1 (1nb); Harbhajan Singh 19-5-37-1; Kumble 17-4-41-3 (1nb); Piyush Chawla 4-2-7–0.—Reuters
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