December 03, 2007	Monday	Ziqa'ad 22, 1428

KOLKATA, Dec 2: Brilliant centuries by Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal engineered an incredible Pakistan fightback on a remarkable third day of this second Test against India at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.

Misbah (108 not out, 323 minutes, 204 balls, 10 fours) and Kamran (119 off 210 balls, 20 fours) came together when Pakistan were in all sorts of trouble at 150-5 in reply to the home side’s massive first-innings total of 616-5 declared.

Complimenting and egging on each other magnificently, they shared a record-equalling partnership for the sixth wicket against India to give the tourists real hope of saving this crucial Test and possibly squaring the tough series.

The way two players waged the great comeback under extreme presure, putting on 207 off 378 balls in 259 minutes to equal the feat of Salim Malik and Imran Khan at Faisalabad in 1982-83, was a treat to watch for the huge crowd present at the imposing stadium and earned accolades from all the critics and experts at the ground.

It was only towards the fag end of the day, in fact the penultimate over, that India found some energy to end the splendid rearguard action from the Pakistani pair. And it needed a special delivery from Harbhajan Singh – by miles the most threatening of the bowlers on view – to do so. Kamran, whose hundred was fifth in 37 Tests and fourth against India, became victim of an unplayable drifting ball, bowled from the round the wicket that found its way through the gate to rattle the off stump. Misbah again proved that his efforts in a defeated cause in Delhi last week were no fluke. The 33-year-old flicked Anil Kumble to the deep square leg fence to complete his maiden century. Having reached his 50 off 64 balls, Misbah needed another 117 deliveries to arrive at the 100-run mark.

Elated but relieved, Misbah found it hard to keep the tears in check as he kneeled down on the pitch to offer his gratitude to the Almighty seconds after reaching the elusive landmark in almost five hours of concentration.

Earlier, it was entirely a contrasting tale to narrate in the morning after Pakistan began at 50 for one as Salman Butt (42), Younis Khan (43), Mohammad Yousuf (6) and Faisal Iqbal (0) all perished of their own undoing to cast a spell of gloom in the Pakistan dressing room.

It was simply hard to believe as to what had transpired in the 70-minute period when Pakistan lost four wickets for just 73 runs.

Salman, having promised much the previous evening, attempted an overambitious drive in Harbhajan’s fifth over of the morning, only to edge a simple catch to Rahul Dravid at slip. Yousuf lasted just 11 deliveries before Harbhajan landed one in the rough and managed to find a yawning gap between bat and pad to hit the stumps.

When Misbah arrived at 85 for three, the situation demanded application and sense of responsibility from senior partner Younis who, unfortunately, never gave the impression that he was leading the side in a testing game. An attacking field allowed Younis the liberty to score freely, but without conviction.

Patel, brought on from the High Court End, finally put the stand-in Pakistan out of his misery when Younis chased probably the worst ball of the day and offered Mahendra Singh Dhoni a routine take behind the timbers.

Faisal Iqbal, in his latest comeback, didn’t trouble the scorers as the confused right-hander didn’t offer any shot to a Kumble googly that caught him straight in front of the middle stump.

There is still a lot of cricket left in this Test because Pakistan are not yet out of the woods as they still require 59 more runs to make India bat again. But the manner in which both Misbah and Kamran batted must have lifted the spirits in the Pakistan camp.

Scoreboard

INDIA 1st innings 616-5 decl (W. Jaffer 202, V. Laxman 112 not out, S.

Ganguly 102; S. Tanvir 2-166, D. Kaneria 2-194)

PAKISTAN 1st innings (overnight 50-1)

Salman Butt c Dravid b Harbhajan 42

Yasir Hameed lbw b Kumble 21

Younis Khan c Dhoni b Patel 43

Mohammad Yousuf b Harbhajan 6

Misbah-ul-Haq not out 108

Faisal Iqbal lbw b Kumble 0

Kamran Akmal b Harbhajan 119

Mohammad Sami not out 0

EXTRAS (b4, lb7, nb7, w1) 19

TOTAL (for six wickets in 104 overs) 358

FALL OF WKTS: 1-38, 2-77, 3-85, 4-134, 5-150, 6-357

BOWLING: Zaheer 20.2-4-65-0 (nb5), Patel 16-4-77-1 (w1), Harbhajan 31.4-8-86-3 (nb1), Kumble 27-6-81-2 (nb1), Tendulkar 7-1-32-0, Ganguly 2-1-6-0.

UMPIRES: Billy Doctrove (WIS) and Rudi Koertzen (RSA)

TV UMPIRE: Amish Saheba (IND)

MATCH REFEREE: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)