The statistics can be startling. On day one, in the first Test, Pakistan made 362/2 in 85 overs -- and that was fast, even by today's Test match standards. Today, Pakistan added a further 317 to that score for the loss of five wickets -- off just 58.3 overs.
The impetus was provided by Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan in the morning session; the two overnight not outs started off with aggressive intent, adding 28 in the first five overs as they cruised through into top gear. But the really manic stuff came in the post lunch session, when an amazing display of big hitting by Shahid Afridi and an even more amazing century by Kamran Akmal -- amazing, at least in part because it was almost unnoticed, yet incredibly authoritative.
Compare the statistics: Shahid Afridi 103 off 80 deliveries; manic stuff by any standard. What then of Akmal, whose 102 took just 81 deliveries? If Akmal seemed slow, it was probably because of the frenetic pace Afridi set in the second half of his innings. His first 51, with five fours and two sixes, took 55 deliveries; his second 52 took just 35, and included a stunning assault on Harbhajan Singh that saw the hapless offie slammed for four successive sixes, all onside blasts with the turn, off the first four deliveries of the 134th over.
The two put on 93 off the first twelve overs after lunch before really accelerating; they brought their 101-run partnership up off just 95 balls (read these figures in context of the fact that this is a Test match you are talking of; the partnership yielded 170 off just 129 deliveries
You could go on and on, drawing on a seemingly bottomless well of statistics to paint the picture of a day on which Pakistan, in tit for tat mode, paid India back for its 675/5 declared in the first innings of the first Test at Multan in March 2004, with 679/7 declared in the first innings of this Test.
And yet, the statistics that defined the play, that provides context for the admittedly brilliant performance of the four Pakistani century makers, relates to the bowling. The TV coverage incorporates a gadget that measures the speed of the ball in increments, from the moment it leaves the bowler to the moment it meets the bat.
Working off a head of steam, operating with the new ball and steaming in to four slips and a gully, Shoaib Akthar let one fly at 96.2 miles per hour. When it hit the deck, that speed dropped to 81.3 and when it got to opening batsman Rahul Dravid, that speed had come down to 75.3 mph. That, perhaps, explains this other set of numbers: India, facing a run-mountain and without ever looking to be aggressive, were 65/0 in 13 overs when bad light brought play to a halt; a run rate there of 5 an over, which would be startling in context, if you did not factor in the pitch.
If the Indians were finding Akthar that easy, imagine then the Pakistan batsmen, in form, with a great first day behind them, facing the Indian seamers. Irfan Pathan's delivery, tracked in similar fashion, started off at 81.1 mph. When it got to the batsman, it was traveling at 64.7. And doing absolutely nothing, either in the air or off the track.
All of this is not to take away from a batting display of sustained brilliance. Yousuf took off from where he had left yesterday and, incredibly, found yet another gear to move up to as he raced past his 100, then his 150 and, in the 170s, came to within a boundary hit of his partner.
India had started the day hoping to peg Pakistan back, but that blistering start (helped, somewhat, by a wayward Agarkar who in the 88th over, the third of the day, went short and wide thrice in succession and was creamed for three fours by Younis) rocked them back on their heels, and even before the first drinks break, forced the fielding side into a flat out defensive mode.
The 110th over began a very brief spell, the only one in the match, where the contest between bat and ball evened out somewhat. Rudi Koertzen had blotted his copybook in turning down an absolutely plumb LBW against Yousuf; Anil Kumble took him out however before he could capitalize.
Thanks perhaps to his profligate bowling on day one, Kumble had to wait well into the second hour of the morning before he got a ball; Dravid even gave Agarkar a brief second spell before turning to his senior bowler. But from the moment he got his ball, Kumble got it all right: the length was right, the line was around off, the ball looped and floated in the air, even on occasion achieving curve, and turned off the deck at some speed.
One such delivery did Yousuf. The ball floated in around middle and off, and halfway through its flight began curving away. Yousuf came down the track, and was comprehensively beaten in his attempted lofted on drive by the dip of the ball, which then darted away past the flailing bat for Dhoni to bring off an easy stumping.
Inzamam walked in -- and out again almost immediately, done by Kumble again; this time, the ball was flighted, and fuller on off and middle; lots of top spin caused it to skid through at speed, under the attempted sweep and onto the pad and even Koertzen, though he thought long and hard on that one, couldn't turn the shout down.
The two quick wickets were followed by a disastrous run out. Younis Khan had, all morning, batted as he had yesterday -- with absolute assurance and unflustered control against spin and pace alike. A double hundred seemed a modest ambition -- he seemed like he could bat forever, and wanted to.
India, however, had at this point got a bit of a second wind thanks to the departure of Yousuf and Inzy; the field came in, the bowlers tightened their lines further, and the plan was clearly to deny Younis the one run he needed to complete the double hundred. Younis, stuck in the 190s for a considerable while, pushed to the on side and took off. It was a tight run, but he had made such runs before, and his judgment of the single had been immaculate throughout this innings.
On this occasion, however, his partner was not backing up; Shoaib Akthar was rooted to the crease and by the time Younis turned and dove back into his crease, Harbhajan had broken the stumps at the batting end with a direct throw to end a brilliant knock in a heartbreaking fashion.
India went into lunch with some hope three wickets falling quickly towards the close of the first session; only Shahid Afridi and Kamran Akmal among the recognized bowlers left, and a very real chance to run through the side and claw their way back into the game.
But then came that blitz, outlined earlier in a welter of stats, and it was bye-bye hopes as the field spread to the far corners in an attempt to contain the cascade of runs. With Afridi in berserker mode, that was a bit like trying to contain a tsunami; the most notable feature of his assault on Harbhajan, that produced 27 overs (the second highest runs per over in Test cricket after Brian Lara's 28 against South Africa's Peterson) was that the Indians had four boundary riders on the on side, and Afridi four times in succession took them on and cleared them by miles.
Afridi went to a mishit, and then Sourav Ganguly produced a moment of sheer magic to get rid of Rana Naved, who seemed inclined to emulate his departed colleague. Some four deliveries after diving headlong to cut an off drive off, Ganguly found himself too far in front as Naved lofted an off drive. He backpedaled, but not rapidly enough to get under the ball. Then, just as the ball cleared his head and began dropping, Ganguly -- still backpedaling -- took off into the air, stretched one hand up and out behind him, and brought off one of the best outfield catches seen in recent times; a catch that reminded you of Adam Bacher's brilliant effort to cut off a coruscating innings from Sachin Tendulkar.
By then, Akmal was well into the nineties; Inzamam delayed his declaration till the young keeper, who turned 24 yesterday, reached his second hundred against India (a smooth, controlled cruise this, in contrast to the fight back he had authored last year), before declaring with a little under half an hour to go for tea.
India negotiated that period; then came back out and tackled the pace of Akthar and Naved, and the spin of Afridi, in rapidly deteriorating light before the umpires called off play, even earlier than yesterday.
Overall, it was a day of batting dominance -- and at its center, stood what must be one of the most unresponsive pitches in recent memory. India have a long, hard fight ahead -- but in the nature of the wicket, and in the assurance with which the two openers negotiated a very tricky period of play today, lie indications that the real fight has to be fought by the fielding side, as its bowlers attempt to alchemise a dead pitch into wickets, and hopefully a win.
Don't bet on it, though.
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