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| November 29, 2006 | Wednesday | Ziqa'ad 7, 1427 |
Ganga stands firm as Umar Gul, Kaneria rock West Indies
KARACHI, Nov 28: It was Pakistan day’s at the National Stadium on Tuesday as the hosts, led by Umar Gul and Danish Kaneria, held sway to put the West Indies under pressure on the second day of the third and final Test.
Umar Gul, the 24-year-old paceman, grabbed three vital scalps – including that of the great Brian Lara – and leg-spinner Kaneria also picked up three to leave the West Indies battling for the crucial first-innings lead.
When stumps were drawn for the day about 2.4 overs early because of the fading light, the visitors had reached 191 for six in reply to Pakistan’s 304 with only Daren Ganga keeping them afloat. The 28-year-old opener weathered the storm on a treacherous pitch to remain undefeated on a courageous 77. The West Indies need a further 113 to draw level with Pakistan’s score.
Ganga, inevitably, becomes Pakistan’s chief target on the third morning because apart from ‘keeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin, who is yet to get off the mark, the West Indies have just their tail left in the ranks.
Ganga, who made 82 in last week’s drawn Test at Multan, admitted it was tough going for the batsmen on a day when nine wickets fell for 235 runs. The 27-year-old right-hander from Trinidad, however, stuck to the task commendably and was a model of concentration and application as he battled through five hours of variable bounce.
At one point during his innings, Ganga negotiated 36 balls without scoring when Umar Gul was on song. In a sensational 10-ball burst from the Pavilion End, after switching ends soon after lunch, Umar accounted for Chris Gayle, Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan to reduce the visitors to 51 for three.
Gayle comfortably outscored Ganga in the opening stand, striking six boundaries in his 40 which came off 54 deliveries before the left-hander attempted to clear the field with an ambitious pull. Mistiming the stroke, he holed out to mid-on where Abdul Razzaq clung onto a catch at second attempt.
Lara, Pakistan’s scourge in the last four Tests – 730 runs at 104.28 with four hundreds – arrived to a rapturous round of applause from a small crowd of 3,000.
But having left the first ball outside the off-stump well alone, the West Indian captain was cleaned bowled by a well-pitched delivery from Umar Gul that beat him all ends up.
Sarwan, eager to prove wrong those who had conspired to sideline him from the Multan Test, survived confident LBW shouts off the first two balls he received from the lanky pacer. But the he vice-captain coulddn’t avoid the inevitable in Umar Gul’s next over. A wonderful inswinging yorker crashed into his leg stump to bamboozle the diminutive player who also departed for a duck.
Shell-shocked by the setbacks, the West Indies resorted to defensive play, consolidating themselves through the experienced Shivnarine Chanderpaul and a watchful Ganga. The fourth-wicket pair added 63 in 90 balls before Kaneria had Chanderpaul caught by Imran Farhat at short-leg for a bright 36. The left-hander’s 49-ball innings contained seven hits to the fence.
Thirty-nine runs later the Kaneria-Imran combination struck again when Runako Morton was adjudged caught at short leg. His dismissal, however, was shrouded by some controversy because the West Indians thought the catch was unfair since it had brushed the fielder’s helmet before it was takented.
TV umpire Riazuddin took a good five minutes to decide Morton’s fate when the decision was referred to him. Repeated slow-motion replays suggested nothing really as the pictures were inconclusive from all possible angles.
The persevering Kaneria’s third wicket was earned in a fair and square manner, Dwayne Bravo (8 off 52 balls) bottom-edging to wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal after a laborious stay of 73 minutes.
Kaneria, indeed, took the brunt of Pakistan bowling as he wheeled away from the University Road End for almost 28.4 overs (24.4 of them coming in an unbroken spell which was only separated by tea. He ended the day with three for 48 and Umar Gul three for 49 in 16 overs.
Earlier, resuming at 257 for seven, Pakistan lost Shahid Nazir in the second over for a 12-ball duck, the tailender losing his middle stump to a delivery from Daren Powell that nipped back as he left a big gap between bat and pad.
Kamran Akmal added only 13 more to his overnight 18 before he neither move forward nor went back and lost his middle stump to the first delivery with the second new ball, bowled by Corey Collymore.
Umar Gul and Kaneria, coming together at 272 for nine, ensured Pakistan surge Pakistan the psychological 300-run barrier. Umar (a career-best 26 off 44 balls, five fours) was the dominant partner and played some handsome strokes, notably flicking behind square-leg for a couple of boundaries.
Powell ended the cumbersome last-wicket resistance when Umar Gul went back but only succeeded in dragging the ball onto the stumps.
Collymore, feeling no side-effect of stomach cramps which troubled the speedster on day one, finished with impressive haul of three for 57 in 21 overs while Powell improved his overnight figures of 0-74 to 2-83.
Scoreboard
PAKISTAN (1st Innings, overnight 257-7):
Mohammad Hafeez b Collymore 18
Imran Farhat c Ramdin b Bravo 47
Younis Khan run out 20
Mohammad Yousuf lbw b Collymore 102
Inzamam-ul-Haq c Chanderpaul b Ganga 18
Shoaib Malik lbw b Taylor 18
Abdul Razzaq c Ramdin b Bravo 7
Kamran Akmal b Collymore 31
Shahid Nazir b Powell 0
Umar Gul b Powell 26
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-7, NB-2) 10
Danish Kaneria not out 7
TOTAL (all out, 100.5 overs) 304
FALL OF WKTS: 1-26, 2-72, 3-112, 4-178, 5-222, 6-239, 7-248, 8-265, 9-272.
BOWLING: Taylor 22-3-76-1; Collymore 21-6-57-3 (1nb); Gayle 16-3-27-0; Powell 23.5-5-83-2 (1nb); Bravo 14-6-33-2; Ganga 4-0-20-1.
WEST INDIES (1st Innings)
C.H. Gayle c Razzaq b Umar Gul 40
D. Ganga not out 77
B.C. Lara b Umar Gul 0
R.R. Sarwan b Umar Gul 0
S. Chanderpaul c Imran b Kaneria 36
R.S. Morton c Imran b Kaneria 21
D.J. Bravo c Kamran b Kaneria 8
D. Ramdin not out 0
EXTRAS (B-5, NB-4) 9
TOTAL (for six wkts, 72.4 overs) 191
FALL OF WKTS: 1-51, 2-51, 3-51, 4-114, 5-153, 6-190.
TO BAT: J.E. Taylor, D.B. Powell, C.D. Collymore.
BOWLING (to-date): Umar Gul 16-4-49-3 (3nb); Shahid Nazir 12-2-38-0; Danish Kaneria 28.4-11-48-3; Abdul Razzaq 12-3-41-0 (1nb); Mohammad Hafeez 4-1-10-0.
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