Half-centuries by Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar put India in a good position at close of play on day three in the second Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday after their bowlers quickly wrapped up the Pakistan first innings in the morning session.
At close, India were on 133 for three wickets in the second innings, ahead by 147 runs, when play was called off due to bad light with six overs still to be bowled in the day.
On day 4, play will begin 30 minutes early, at 0900 hours.
Rahul Dravid, on 54, and Sourav Ganguly, on 4, were at the crease.
Earlier, Pakistan crumbled from 281 for 2 to 393 all out. Younis Khan top-scored for the visitors with 147.
Morning session
The day started well for India, with Laxmipathy Balaji striking early. Overnight centurion Yousuf Youhana shouldered arms to an incoming delivery from the seamer. It was a clear case of misjudgment. The ball hit the flap of the pad and the umpire raised the finger quickly. (281 for 3)
Maybe, Youhana (104 off 179 balls with 13 boundaries) had a point to be cross about. The ball may have gone over the stumps.
But if there is any bowler who deserved Youhana's wicket then it was Balaji. In the 29 balls that Youhana faced from the seamer, he got only seven runs -- all of them singles; no boundaries. It was a vital statistic, which indicated that Balaji did not give the batsman anything loose.
The rest of the bowlers conceded runs at over three an over: Irfan Pathan (15 runs off 17 balls), Sourav Ganguly (25 off 39), Anil Kumble (35 off 53), Harbhajan Singh (42 off 73).
Another noticeable feature of the 211-run partnership between Younis and Youhana was the 69 runs the duo scored in singles. In the entire Indian innings there were only 104 singles.
Inzamam-ul Haq walked in next and almost immediately struck the perfect chord. Runs started to flow again. The Pakistan skipper was especially harsh on Balaji (13 runs off 15 balls) and forced Ganguly to take the seamer out of the attack.
But Balaji had done his job. He got India the breakthrough; now it was time for the others to pitch in. He gave way to Pathan, who, after a lackluster day one, was raring to go.
For a change, the Indians came out with a plan in mind. After watching the Pakistanis steal singles with sublime ease on day 2, the field was in much closer in an attempt to cut off the easy singles.
Inzamam (30 off 43 balls) looked in absolutely no trouble during his innings. But, then, he tried to get too cute. A good length delivery from Pathan that was moving away from the batsman had him feeling for it. The resultant edge flew straight to Karthik, who made no mistake. (331 for 4; partnership worth 50 runs)
Things went horribly wrong for Pakistan when the in-form Asim Kamal was run-out in comical fashion.
Younis lofted the ball straight down the pitch in the long-on region and set off quickly. Ganguly chased the ball and flicked it back to Tendulkar, who threw to the wicketkeeper on the full. Kamal (6 off 27 balls) was out by a long way. (347 for 5)
We all talk about how slow the Indian skipper is in the field. But this is one occasion where it worked to India's advantage.
Razzaq walked in next and played out the few overs till lunch.
The fact that India worked on its game plan could also be seen in the fact that they had two slips whenever Younis took strike.
Younis has got as many as 45 runs behind the wicket on the off-side and by placing a fielder at second slip, Ganguly blocked his most productive area and forced him to look elsewhere for runs.
Post Lunch session
India continued their resurgence in the post-lunch session through Kumble and Harbhajan. Bowling in tandem, the spinners suddenly looked dangerous.
All of day 2 both looked placid in the face of a sustained attack from Younis and Youhana. But now they were starting to make the ball talk with the bounce and turn they extracted.
One could ask what was different from yesterday? It had to be the field setting. More slips, the fielders moving in to cut off the single.
But even then there were areas where Ganguly could have done better. How does one explain the fact that while Kumble had five fielders (first slip, second slip, short leg, silly point, leg slip) around the bat, Harbhajan had just two (a first slip and a short leg).
Very odd, especially when considering that Harbhajan looked the better bowler for most of the morning session. However, wickets kept falling and the smiles on Indian faces kept getting bigger.
The first to go was Younis Khan. Kumble snared his man with a classical leg-spinner's dismissal. The ball pitched on off-stump, spun away, took the edge of Younis' bat and flew straight to Laxman at second slip. (361 for 6)
Younis was gone after scoring a fantastic 147 off 258 balls and Kumble had his first wicket of the innings.
Kamran Akmal, Pakistan's saviour in the first Test, walked in next amidst high expectations. But he succumbed under pressure, departing without opening his account.
Harbhajan tossed one up and tempted Akmal to go for a big shot on the leg-side; the batsman ended up mis-hitting it straight to Tendulkar at mid-on. (362 for 7)
Razzaq (17 off 59 balls) was trying to hold up one end as he did in Mohali but to no avail. One delivery from Kumble bounced and turned. The right-hander could do little but fend at it. The resultant edge was cleanly taken by Rahul Dravid at first slip. (378 for 8)
Sami (7) and Khalil (4) were snared Harbhajan and Kumble respectively and the Pakistan innings was quickly wrapped for 393.
The innings followed a similar trend to the Indian innings. India were 278 for 2 before being bundled out for 407. Pakistan were 281 for 2 before they too followed a similar path and were bowled out for 393.
In a little over two sessions on day 2, India had bowled only six maidens. Today, in less than two full sessions, they bowled 16. The flow of runs was cut down and wickets followed.
India innings (8 overs, 36 runs, 2 wickets)
The start to the Indian innings was electric. Sehwag dispatched the first two balls from Khalil to the square leg boundary and then hit another four through the covers in the same over.
But disaster struck in the second over when Gautam Gambhir played all over a yorker from Sami and was clean bowled for 1. (14 for 1)
But Sami struck an even bigger blow in his second over when he removed Sehwag (15 off 10 balls). The ball, angled into the batsman, took an inside edge, bounced high and straight onto the off-stump. (23 for 2)
Sehwag's lack of big scores in the second innings must be a worry. As against his overall average of 53.80, the Delhi opener's average in the second innings is only 24.84.
When tea was called, India were 36 for 2, an overall lead of 50.
Post-Tea session
Tendulkar and Dravid came out to bat determined to take the attack to the Pakistanis. It was clear from the way Kumble and Harbhajan bowled earlier in the morning that batting on the last day would be very difficult. Even a total of 250 should be enough for a win. But the more runs on the board the safer the team will feel.
Tendulkar, in particular, looked very good. With the exception of Danish Kaneria, who gave away only six runs in 23 balls, the rest of the Pakistan bowlers were treated with utter disdain. It looked like the Sachin of old blazing away a trail for the rest to follow.
Dravid, at the other end, played aggressively as well. Both batsmen realised that quick runs was the best policy on this wicket.
The batsmen were in no trouble whatsoever. But, then, the weather gods decided to play a part in the proceedings. Light started to fade very rapidly.
The umpires turned down Tendulkar's appeal for bad light. And even though the floodlights came on, it was very difficult to spot the red ball.
A few deliveries later, the worst that could have possibly happened, did happen.
A short delivery from Razzaq pitched outside the off stump and moved away, Tendulkar was beaten by the away movement. Razzaq appealed for a caught behind decision but without any support from the wicketkeeper or the fielder at first slip. With Tendulkar looking on, umpire Bucknor raised the finger after thinking for a long time.
One could see daylight between bat and ball. The ball moved behind the batsman and one couldn't help but wonder whether the umpires should be allowed to appeal for bad light as well. One is sure that Bucknor did not get a good look.
But, then, that's cricket. One moment you are flying high and the very next you can crash face first into the ground.
Tendulkar (52 off 91 balls with 9 fours) was gone after scoring his 41st half-century in Tests. (121 for 3)
Ganguly was in next; he was greeted by some quick short pitched deliveries from Sami. The Indian skipper, obviously distressed, appealed for light but it was turned down again.
While all this drama was happening at one end, Dravid was in a different world at the other. Nothing could quite shake his concentration. A ferocious pull off Razzaq helped him reach his third fifty of the series and the 37th of his career.
A little latter, the umpires finally agreed to call off play due to bad light, with six overs left to be bowled in the day.
India ended the day on 133 for 3, 147 runs ahead with two days and seven wickets in hand.
The pitch was slow to start off with and has become slower over the last two days. The number of runs that the batsmen got straight down the wicket best illustrates this fact. Only 77 runs were scored straight down the wicket out of the match total of 933 runs.
Stroke-play will be very difficult and every run that India adds from this point on will make things tougher for Pakistan
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