KOLKATA, March 20: Anil Kumble who had said that a spinner could not be expected to work wonders on the second day of a match, chose the last day of the Kolkata Test to weave his real magic, sending Pakistan to a 195-run defeat that came as no surprise. Pakistan could not stand up to the guile of Indian leggie who had set the tone with the dismissal of Younis Khan off the first ball of the day and then tore the batting apart to reap a haul of seven for 63 before a Sunday crowd at Eden Gardens. A chase of 422 was always going to be difficult after the tourists began the day needing 327 with nine wickets intact. But no batsman except for the young Asim Kamal could stick to the crease, and the innings folded for 226 in the 92nd over, about half an hour after tea.
“The early wicket of Younis helped our cause, it was great way to start off the day and Kumble did a remarkable job,” Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly said and the Pakistan captain Inzamamul Haq could not disagree. “It did make a difference, but the rest of our batsmen could not fare well.”
Indeed they did not. Right from the start, the batsmen had looked nervous and under pressure and Asim Kamal was the only bright spark, defying the bowlers with a well-played 59, his fifth half century.
The victory, India’s first against Pakistan in six attempts at the Eden, gave them a well-deserved 1-0 lead going into this week’s third and final Test at Bangalore.
Kumble, who finished with 10 wickets in the match, kept the batsmen under pressure all through, getting even the top scalps of Inzamam, first innings century-maker Yousuf Youhana, Abdul Razzaq and Asim.
Inzamam was bowled by an inside edge for 13 and then seamer Laxmipathy Balaji struck, removing opener Taufiq Umar, successive blows compounding the touring team’s problems.
The left-handed Asim together with Youhana put up some resistance after Pakistan had been reduced to 115 for four, having started the day at 95 for one.
As long as Asim and Youhana were together, there was a ray of hope but their partnership that came to a close after lunch spelt doom with Pakistan 178 for five and still a long way off.
“We thought that if Asim and Youhana stayed on till tea, we had a realistic chance of saving the match but unfortunately that did not happen,” Inzamam said.
In a patient stay of 181 minutes at the crease, Asim was eventually caught by substitute Muhammad Kaif at forward short leg in the 79th over bowled by Kumble. His innings featured nine confidently-struck boundaries.
Earlier, Youhana who scored a fine 104 in the first innings played a Kumble delivery into the hands of Gautam Ghambir, also at forward short leg. The lethal leggie then snapped up Abdul Razzaq to cross the 50-wicket mark against Pakistan.
Razzaq, who along with wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal had saved the first Test in Mohali, could not prevent Pakistan from facing their seventh defeat in 10 Tests, and could manage just six before being bowled in the 62nd over.
Kumble’s match haul was the seventh instance that he has taken 10 or more wickets in a 94-Test career. It was also his best performance at the Eden Gardens. Two of the wickets were claimed by off-spinner Harbhajan Singh while seamer Laxmipathy Balaji picked up one.
The day had begun in disastrous manner for the tourists as Younis, whose 147 was the highlight of the first innings, ventured out of his crease to play the first delivery, missed the line and Dinesh Kaarthick knocked off the bales in a flash.
That paved the way for Kumble to wreak havoc with the ball as he kept inflicting blows at regular intervals to the delight of the crowd that had begun to stream in since early morning, sensing an Indian victory.
At the lunch break, Pakistan had inched to 174 for four when Youhana was batting on 20 and Asim was 33 not out and by tea the tourists were staring defeat in the face at 223 for eight with Muhammad Khalil and Muhammad Sami together.
For India, it was only a matter of time and the victory came when Harbhajan clean bowled Kaneria in the 92nd over and the Eden erupted with joy.
Rahul Dravid couldn’t help smiling as he walked up to receive his Man-of-the-Match award for his magnificent centuries in both innings while Sachin Tendulkar was to get a motorbike for achieving 10,000 Test runs in this match.
Pakistan, if they had gotten to their target would have created a world record. Only West Indies, India and Australia have successfully reached targets of 400-plus.
“My boys are in form and what we need is a combined effort and I hope that we will be able to do that in Bangalore; this series is not over yet,” said Inzamam, who also praised Kumble. “He is a great bowler, there is no doubt about it. On a wicket where the ball is keeping low, it is always hard to play him.”
Scoreboard
INDIA (1st Innings) 407 (R. Dravid 110, V. Sehwag 81, S.R. Tendulkar 52).
PAKISTAN (1st Innings) 393 (Younis Khan 147, Yousuf Youhana 104).
INDIA (2nd Innings) 407 (R. Dravid 135, K.K.D. Karthik 93, S.R. Tendulkar 52).
PAKISTAN (2nd Innings, overnight 95-1):
Taufiq Umar c Sehwag b Balaji 35
Shahid Afridi c Ganguly b Kumble 59
Younis Khan st Karthik b Kumble 0
Inzamamul Haq b Kumble 13
Yousuf Youhana c Gambhir b Kumble 22
Asim Kamal c sub (Kaif) b Kumble 50
Abdul Razzaq b Kumble 6
Kamran Akmal b Harbhajan 7
Mohammad Sami lbw b Kumble 9
Mohammad Khalil not out 0
Danish Kaneria b Harbhajan 3
EXTRAS (B-17, LB-3, W-1, NB-1) 22
TOTAL (all out, 91.3 overs) 226
FALL OF WKTS: 1-93, 2-95, 3-115, 4-115, 5-178, 6-186, 7-203, 8-214, 9-214.
BOWLING: Irfan Pathan 7-1-32-0 (1w); Balaji 16-4-60-1 (1nb)l Kumble 38-16-63-7; Harbhajan Singh 30.3-16-51-2.
RESULT: India won by 195 runs.
UMPIRES: S.A. Bucknor (West Indies) and D.B. Hair (Australia).
TV UMPIRE: A.V. Jayaprakash (India).
MATCH REFEREE: B.C. Broad (England).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Rahul Dravid.
FIRST TEST: Mohali, match drawn.
THIRD TEST: Bangalore, March 24-28.