India came away from Old Trafford satisfied having avoided defeat against England in their 2000s Test. The match was played throughout on a slow paced pitch and, while it became more uneven, batsmen on both sides had little cause to grumble.
On the 1st 2 days England piled on the runs, with Trescothick (110) and Strauss putting on 202 for the 1st wicket and Pietersen (169) and Collingwood adding 209 for the 4th.
Replying to the home side's 562-7d, India slumped to 98-6 and then 146-8 before a match defining 9th wicket partnership of 142 between Dravid (138) and Harbhajan (77). Dravid was typically defiant and technically sound, while Harbhajan importantly occupied over 5 hours at the crease.
India inevitably followed on but the tone of the match had shifted slightly. Ganguly played a captain's knock of 79 on a showery 5th day which enabled his team to finish a tough game 8 wkts down but with an advantage of 70 runs. England had their chances to press home their 1st innings superiority, and Simon Jones bowled tirelessly for 9-150, but Dravid's 405 min century symbolised Indian resistance and he was deservedly MOM.
India 2000s: G Gambhir, V Sehwag, RS Dravid, SC Ganguly (c), VVS Laxman, MS Dhoni (wk), Yuvraj Singh, J Srinath, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma
England 2000s 1st Innings 562-7 (160 Ov)
KP Pietersen 169, ME Trescothick 110, PD Collingwood 83, Zaheer Khan 3-76, J Srinath 2-91
India 2000s 1st Innings 350-10 (131.4 Ov)
RS Dravid 138, Harbhajan Singh 77, Zaheer Khan 39*, SP Jones 7-78, MJ Hoggard 2-51
India 2000s 2nd Innings 282-8 (109 Ov)
SC Ganguly 79, G Gambhir 53, VVS Laxman 44, MS Panesar 3-54, MJ Hoggard 2-35, SP Jones 2-72
Match Drawn
Man of the Match: R Dravid
.jpeg)
Comments
Post a Comment