Ever climbed a staircase in the dark, put a foot down on a stair that wasn't there, bit your tongue and stood there, feeling a tad sheepish?
When Indian wickets tumbled during the period between lunch and tea, Pakistan was racing up that staircase. The bowlers were revved up, the fielders were buzzing, and the chatter on the ground almost drowned out the cheering from the stands.
And then Dhoni began fighting fire with a firestorm of his own -- and suddenly, the next step just wasn't there. A strangely flat Pakistan came out for the final session on the back foot and content to defend, in the hope that the batsmen would gift them a breakthrough.
For India, two young lads showed what attitude, and hearts as big as all outdoors, could do. Irfan Pathan and Mahendra Dhoni walked out with the team still needing 51 runs to avoid the follow on. In seven frenetic overs, 46 of those runs had been knocked away, the team had been hauled out of imminent danger, and the two felt comfortable enough to throttle back and focus on the bigger picture.
It was a remarkably mature display from two youngsters; their batting ability lower in the order at least in part influenced India's decision to go in one batsman short -- and when it was asked of them, they delivered.
The period immediately after tea produced the sort of controlled strokeplay the seniors had eschewed throughout the morning. Danish Kaneria opened the session and after Dhoni had taken one off the first ball after the break, Pathan met the second with the most immaculate cover drive you could hope to see; a ball later, Pathan played a controlled loft over long on for six.
Kaneria got to bowl to Dhoni next over -- and was greeted with what a startled Dean Jones, in the commentary box, called an "upright paddle straight drive". That really is the best way to describe it -- Dhoni stood tall, reversed his bat and with tremendous bat speed, hit the ball straight behind the keeper. An over later, Dhoni got more conventional, going down the track to hit the straightest six of the match.
There's a point to this narration. As Kaneria wheeled away at one end for much of the morning, and Dravid and Laxman played with caution, there was talk in the commentary box of the possibility that the leg spinner could play a major role as the track began showing more wear and tear.
Rahul Dravid faced 47 deliveries from the leggie, of which 33 were dot balls and 18 runs were scored. VVS Laxman -- the batsman who had drawn gasps at the way he consistently whipped Shane Warne against the turn, or ran around the ball to drive inside out through the covers, had 67 dot balls off 85 faced, and just 30 runs scored.
Against that, when Kaneria ended his first spell of the final session, Dhoni had 4 dot balls and 25 runs off 11 balls faced; Pathan had 10 dot balls and 12 runs off 14 faced. Neither allowed the spinner to settle to any sort of line or length -- and Pakistan was forced to resort to defensive lines from Razzaq and Afridi to stem the onslaught.
The two batsmen reined in their attacking instincts -- comparitively, that is, and went past the 100 of the partnership off 88 deliveries (Pathan's contribution 29 off 41, Dhoni's 66 off 47).
The next target was the follow on, and Dhoni cracked a square drive off Afridi to push India past that mark in the 104th over; of the 131 runs India needed when he walked in to bat, Dhoni alone had hit up 84.
In an interesting bit of captaincy, Younis Khan brought Akthar back into the attack with Dhoni on 97; the attacking move was met with a lofted extra cover drive off the first ball from the speedster, to take Dhoni to his first Test 100 off just 93 deliveries.
From that point on, matters deteriorated. With Akthar, yet again bowling furiously fast, unable to make any impression on either Pathan or Dhoni, the chatter in the field apparently crossed the Plimsoll line; at one point Pathan walked over to umpire Rudi Koertzen for a chat. The next ball was followed by even more chatter -- the umpires, apparently having had enough, summoned Younis Khan at the end of the over evidently to tell the on-field captain to get his players to cool it.
Akthar responded, in the next over, with two sharp bouncers; Pathan went under both, smiled broadly at the bowler, then pulled the next delivery in front of square. Did I mention 'mature'? There was much of that quality in evidence, in the way the two batsmen handled the task, the bowling, and the extraneous aggravation.
The most remarkable aspect of the partnership was the way the two batsmen counter-attacked when Pakistan seemed to be gaining the upper hand and then, once they had scattered the field and taken the fizz out of the bowling, eased off on the pedal a bit and settled down for the longer haul.
There was maturity, too, in the way the two built their relationship. Dhoni was the aggressor; Pathan the one with his hand on the brake, constantly talking to his partner, cooling him down. And when Pathan came under the verbal hammer and seemed to lose his cool, Dhoni was quick to wave him over for an extended mid-pitch conference that ended with Pathan getting his smile back.
Pathan had a let off in the dying moments, when Asif -- who worked hard, and bowled with great discipline, while Akthar bowled just three brief spells on the day -- slanted one across, drew the batsman into the drive, and found the edge only for a diving Akmal to palm the ball onto the boot of Younis Khan at first slip.
Yet again, play ended early for light; 103 runs came in the session without loss of a wicket off 26 overs. Pathan ended with 49 not out off 96; Dhoni had 116 off 123 to his name; India was 441/5, 147 behind Pakistan with five wickets in hand. And perhaps the best testament to what those numbers really mean came when play ended -- the Indian team, to a man, came down the pavilion steps and formed a line to cheer the two not outs back into the hut.
The math at close is interesting. There are still 180 overs left in the game -- and for Pakistan, which is the only one of the two teams in a position to push for a win, the trick is to put up enough on the board in the third innings, and still leave enough time to bowl India out.
How much would that be, and how many overs would Pakistan think it needs, given the strength of the Indian batting lineup? 100 overs, say? Which leaves them 80 overs to score, what, 350? Anything less, and a Sehwag blitz, or even a Dhoni wild card, could upset the applecart.
And all this is after they manage to bowl out the five remaining Indian wickets, mind. This game is headed for a draw -- be glad, people, for the mini-excitement of the afternoon session, that brought you as close to the edge of your seat, and the match to the possibility of a result, as you are likely to get.
Reports on the morning session here; the afternoon session here; and other matters cricketing here.
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