Day 1 Report:

This was in many ways Englands most disappointing performance in the series so far. For the first time things started relatively encouragingly with Gooch winning the toss and with Stewart able to play (he had been in doubt yesterday because of a virus). Fairbrother, however was not so fortunate with the same virus.

Richard Blakey was included probably so that Stewart wouldn't have to keep wicket in his less than fit state. Atherton was recalled in place of Fairbrother so I don't think too much was lost there. Jarvis, Malcolm and Salisbury were dropped and Emburey was brought in. Therefore the batting looked very strong with Lewis being demoted to no. 8 despite his century at Madras and Emburey at 9. However, the price for this is that there are only 4 specialist bowlers, Defreitas, Lewis, Emburey and Tufnell. Since the seamers have been so unsuccessful and the pitch in Bombay was sure to be another turner and with Hick bowling so well I think this was probably a good decision.

So, having won the toss on a pitch which was obviously going to get worse and with a long batting line-up England must have fancied their chances. The fact that they made such a hash of such a good opportunity was what was so disappointing. This time they didn't have the excuse of losing the toss and this one looked to be every bit as important as those in the previous matches. By lunch India were totally on top and looking well set for a 3-0 win.

Kapil and Prabhakar opened the bowling and found some swing and a bit of movement off the seam. Batting wasn't easy. With 11 on the board Gooch was beaten by a beauty from Kapil which left him late. The umpire hesitated before giving him, and Gooch looked rather unimpressed. Atherton came in to join Stewart and both seemed to be playing quite comfortably before what the commentators described as one of the worst run-outs they've seen. Stewart played the ball square on the off side and set off for a single. Atherton wasn't interested but Stewart kept going. The ball was returned to More but it was mis-fielded and so if Stewart had gone back he probably could have made it. As it was he ended up in Athertons crease and looked none to pleased with his rival for the opening spot in the England side.

Next in was Smith. By this time the spinners were on and once again Smith looked unconvincing despite his 50 in the last match. He was finally caught behind off an innocuous ball by Raju. This left it 30-3. At this stage the ball wasn't doing a lot so things looked pretty catastrophic for England. Gatting then staged a mini-fightback with Atherton though only in relative terms as the pair put on 28 for the 4th wicket, Gatting scoring most of them. Once again he looked confident against spin though his tendancy to sweep was a bit worrying. In the end he was caught at slip trying to turn a ball to the on-side.

It was 58-4 at this stage and at lunch it was 62-4. The bowlers were completely on top once again. They were bowling accurately but they were not getting extravagant turn most of the time. The first hour or so after lunch saw the first serious fight-back as Hick put on a 58 partnership with Atherton. Both started to make batting look relatively easy and put the earlier batting into perspective. Meanwhile the ball gradually started to turn more and more and a few were popping as well. More had to take a some at shoulder height. The seamers were not used at all after the morning session. The partnership was dominated by Hick who played some great attacking strokes once again, leaving off from his first innings at Madras. Atherton eventually departed with the score on 116 driving into the hands of mid-on.

Blakey came in ahead of Lewis, a controversial decision. The decision looked even worse when Blakey looked extremely nervous and never likely to last long. He didn't, going lbw to Kumble on the back foot, the way in which Kumble takes so many of his wickets. 118-6 and it looked like it could be a 3 day match.

However, this brought 2 of the successes of the last match, Lewis and Hick together and it wasn't long before they were making batting look relatively easy. Both played some great attacking strokes, and Lewis actually outscored Hick. About 116 runs were scored in the afternoon session which was pretty quick in the circumstances. They came out for the evening session at about 178-6 and really had to be looking at a score of 300+ to give themselves a reasonable chance in the match. The scoring was no- ticeably slower and batting was becoming progressively more dif- ficult as the number of balls popping and turning sharply in- creased. But they still managed to take the score to 211 before Lewis on 49 was beaten by a top spinner from Kumble and was lbw on the back foot. He had become quite subdued in recent overs, going for 22 minutes without a run at one stage. His innings was in some ways better than his one at Madras as it was under so much more pressure.

At 211-7 England were still in a terrible position and 300 was still a long way off. Emburey was in next having not batted for 13 days. He was in completely defensive mode which as those who have seen Emburey play spinners will know means prodding forward with bat and pad to just about every ball. It was quite a shock when the ball broke the close ring of fielders. Anyway, it was just what England needed as he allowed Hick to continue getting the runs. The last few overs were quite tense as Hick tried to reach his 100 before the close. He reached 99 with a single off the 4th ball of the last over but Emburey just blocked the last 2.

At the close England were 239-7 which represented a considerable recovery from the depths of 118-6. The ball was turning quite a lot in the last 2 sessions but again Hick and Lewis showed what could be done by positive batting. The spinners bowled well again. Kumble looked the most dangerous despite as usual turning it less than the other spinners. The batsmen seem to play back against him too often presumably because of his pace. Chauhan was a bit disappointing but Raju was generally very steady again. Frankly England made a bit of a mess of things and I think displayed their total lack of confidence at present. Full credit to the Indian bowlers for keeping up the pressure despite losing an important toss. Congratulations to Hick on his highest test score and hopefully his first test 100. It was an excellent in- nings. The commentators were saying that his innings at Madras and the one here have been the best English batting of the series. I am personally much relieved by this as I wondered if he would ever make it.

India are still on top but if the pitch continues to deteriorate and the England spinners find their touch at last it may not be beyond England to win, if they can top 300.

Thanks to: rsp@ukc.ac.uk (R.S.Pickett)

Day 2 Report:

India's first century opening stand in three years left them 144 for one in reply to England's first innings 347 after the second day of the third Test at the Wankhede stadium on Saturday. Navjot Sidhu and Manoj Prabhakar put on 109 for the first wicket to dent England's hopes of avoiding a tour whitewash despite a Test-best 178 from Graeme Hick. Sidhu, who made 106 in the second Test in Madras last week, was unbeaten on 69 at the close with 11 boundaries and a six.

Local lad Vinod Kambli, who came in at the fall of Prabhakar's wicket, delighted the 30,000 partisan fans with a brisk 20 off 38 balls while adding 35 for the unbroken second wicket with Sidhu. Earlier Hick went from his overnight score of 99 to 178 -- his first century in 14 tests -- as England posted their highest score of the series.

The 26-year-old Zimbabwe-born batsman, who came in Friday morning with England struggling at 58 for four, was last man out 22 minutes after lunch on the second day. Hick anchored England's faltering boat for six and a half hours, hitting 20 boundaries and a six to give the tourists their best chance of victory in the series.

But Sidhu and Prabhakar denied the tourists an early breakthrough by tackling the English pace and spin on a wicket that appeared to play easier than it did on the opening day. It was left to Hick, bowling off-spin, to make the breakthrough when he had Prabhakar caught behind by Richard Blakey for 44. Prabhakar, who partnered Woorkeri Raman in India's last century opening stand 16 Tests ago, hit four boundaries and lofted left-arm spinner Phil Tufnell for six over long-off.

With the bat, Hick had received valuable support from England's tail, with the last four wickets garnering 229 runs, most from Hick, after the top six batsmen went for a paltry 118 on Friday. After adding 93 for the seventh wicket with Chris Lewis on the opening day, Hick and his overnight partner John Emburey (12) put on 51 for the eighth wicket. England's ninth fell at 279, but last man Phil Tufnell defied the Indian bowlers for 83 minutes to score two as Hick plundered 61 runs at the other end in a 68-run stand for the 10th wicket. When Hick was finally out through a brilliant 20-yard running catch by Kapil Dev, England had easily surpassed their series best of 286.

With his maiden Test century in the bag off the day's third delivery Hick took the Indian attack apart with a dazzling display of strokeplay around the wicket. He made 62 of the 88 runs England scored in the first session after resuming at Friday's score of 239 for seven. England went to lunch at 327 for nine with Hick on 161.

With the eighth wicket pair of Hick and Emburey batting comfortably against the spinners, Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin summoned Kapil Dev who had bowled just six overs till then. The veteran allrounder responded with the breakthrough off his fifth delivery as Emburey edged a ball pitched outside the off-stump into wicket-keeper Kiran More's safe hands. Two overs later, Kapil trapped Phil DeFreitas leg before for 11 to take his tally test total to 419 wickets, 12 short of New Zealander Richard Hadlee's record 431. Hick hammered 44 of the next 48 runs before lunch while non-striker Tufnell watched from the other end without opening his account.

India claimed the second new ball immediately after lunch, and Hick greeted it by hoisting Kapil over square leg for six and followed up with a flowing straight drive for four. But Kapil had the last laugh when he ran back 20 yards from short square leg to hold a skier from a top-edged hook shot from Hick off Manoj Prabhakar. Kapil finished with three for 35 from 15 overs while leg spinner Anil Kumble had three for 95 and left-armer Venkatapathy Raju two for 102.

Thanks to: ``Vasanthan S. Dasan''

Day 3 Report

Childhood friends Vinod Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar set their home city alight on Sunday as India took control of the third and final Test against England. Left-hander Kambli made an unbeaten 164 -- his maiden Test century -- and Tendulkar responded with 78 as India, replying to England's first innings score of 347, ended the action-packed third day's play at a comfortable 397 for three. A boisterous sell-out holiday crowd of more than 45,000 went into raptures as the two youngsters put the mediocre English attack to shame in their first international match at the Wankhede stadium.

Coming together in the first hour at 174 for two, Kambli and Tendulkar batted until 32 minutes before the close to put on 194 runs for the third wicket. The pair, who grew up at the cricket-conscious Shardashram high school in the city, scored runs at will on a slow wicket.

Playing in his third Test match, the 21-year-old Kambli returned unbeaten after an entertaining seven-hour display in which he scored 18 boundaries. His more famous compatriot Tendulkar, 19, dug in to hit 10 boundaries in his seventh Test half-century in 24 matches, but was leg before to Phil Tufnell 22 runs short of a sixth century. Fifty runs ahead and with seven wickets in hand, India look set to tighten the screws on the beleagured tourists.

England's bowlers got a taste of what another rival team must have felt when Kambli and Tendulkar scored triple centuries each during a record-breaking 664-run stand in an inter-school match in 1988. But the tourists only had themselves to blame for allowing Kambli to get so far, giving him two lives with a butterfingered display in the field.

Phil DeFreitas floored a skier at long-off when Kambli was on 39 and then skipper Graham Gooch spilled a low catch at first slip when the left-hander had moved to 119. Starting the day on 20, Kambli took the English attack apart just as he had done for an unbeaten 100 in the first one-day international in Jaipur on January 18.

India had added 30 runs to their overnight score of 144-1 when left-arm spinner Tufnell struck an important blow by removing Navjot Sidhu 55 minutes after the start. Sidhu had carried his Saturday's score of 69 to 79 when he played tentatively forward and Robin Smith at silly point took an easy catch to break the 65-run stand for the second wicket between Sidhu and Kambli.

Kambli would have fallen at the same score of 174, but Phil DeFreitas floored a running catch at long-off after getting both hands to the ball. Off-spinner John Emburey was the unlucky bowler. Kambli celebrated the let-off by slashing Tufnell to the point fence for his seventh boundary to bring up his second Test half-century in successive matches. He made 59 in the second Test in Madras last week.

When Gooch summoned the second new ball after 80 overs, Kambli and Tendulkar took 15 runs in the first over bowled by DeFreitas. India scored 81 runs in the pre-lunch session which ended with the home team on 225 for two. Kambli and Tendulkar took charge after lunch, adding a further 86 runs in the two-hour afternoon session.

Umpire Srinivas Venkatraghvan, a former Test captain, had to plead with spectators to calm down after orange peel was hurled at the English fielders near the boundary lines.

Thanks to: ``Vasanthan S. Dasan''

Day 4 Report:

India were in line for a historic sweep of the Test series against England after another classy all-round display on the fourth day of the third and final Test on Monday. Left-hander Vinod Kambli hammered a monumental 224 -- the highest score by an Indian against England -- as the home team piled up 591 in their first innings against their opponents' 347.

Facing a deficit of 244 on a wearing wicket, England were stung on either side of the tea interval by seamer Manoj Prabhakar who wiped off the top three batsmen in the space of 22 deliveries to reduce the tourists to 34 for three. Mike Gatting and Robin Smith revived the faltering innings with a defiant 74run stand for the fourth wicket to take England to 108 for three by stumps, still 136 runs in arrears. Smith was unbeaten on 39, while Gatting made a chancy 31 not out after surviving a close run out decision and a missed catch in the slips when he was on 22.

India, who scored massive victories in the first two Tests, have the entire final day's play Tuesday to grab the remaining seven wickets quickly to record their first ever sweep in Test history. The 21-year-old Kambli, who made his maiden Test century on Sunday, dominated the limited English attack after resuming at his overnight score of 164. Playing only his third Test, the Bombay-based left-hander went on to surpass the best ever by an Indian against England -- 222 by current chairman of selectors Gundappa Vishwanath in Madras in 1981.

But the youngster fell just 12 short of equalling childhood idol Sunil Gavaskar's all-time Indian record of 236, made against Clive Lloyd's West Indians in Madras in 1983. Kambli, who came in Saturday evening at the fall of the first wicket, batted for 10 hours before he was eighth out to a diving catch at gully by Gatting off seamer Chris Lewis. He hit 23 boundaries while facing 411 deliveries from the hapless English bowlers.

Starting their second innings 20 minutes before tea, England began on the wrong foot when Prabhakar trapped Alec Stewart leg before for 10 in the last over of the afternoon session. Returning after tea, the wily Prabhakar bowled England captain Graham Gooch (eight) with a swinging yorker and then had Mike Atherton (11) fending a short ball to wicket-keeper Kiran More to open up the English middle-order.

Resuming at Sunday's score of 397 for three, the Indians raced to 519 for four midway through the afternoon session, before losing their last six wickets for 72 runs in an attempt to force the pace. England, desperate to stem the run riot, reduced their over-rate to just around 13 an hour, but the Indians still managed to maintain a run-a-minute tempo.

Kambli and another Bombay product Praveen Amre set the pace with a breezy fifth wicket stand of 101 in 95 minutes, after skipper Mohammad Azharuddin had fallen for 26. The 24-year-old Amre, who belongs to the same Ramakant Achrekar coaching school that produced Kambli and Sachin Tendulkar, hammered 57 off 74 balls including nine boundaries.

Amre was caught at point by Phil DeFreitas in the first over after lunch bowled by Graeme Hick to make India 519 for five, but the day's excitement had only begun. Veteran allrounder Kapil Dev helped Kambli take the score to 560 before the 40-year-old off-spinner John Emburey struck with two wickets in the space of three deliveries.

Kapil, who made 22, was snapped up by DeFreitas at point and then new batsman Kiran More top-edged a sweep in to Lewis' hands at short fine leg. Emburey's figures were spoilt by the tailenders as Anil Kumble (16) smashed him for six and Rajesh Chouhan (15) bettered that with two sixes off consecutive balls. Phil Tufnell removed both batsmen with successive deliveries in identical fashion -- caught at deep midwicket by Atherton -- to return England's most successful bowler with four for 142 from 39.3 overs.

Thanks to: ``Vasanthan S. Dasan''

Day 5 Report:

Leg spinner Anil Kumble claimed four for 70 on Tuesday to fire India to a resounding innings and 15-run victory in the third test against England for a 3-0 sweep of the series. Trailing by 244 runs on the first innings, England were bowled out for 229 in their second knock 44 minutes after lunch on the fifth and final day at the Wankhede stadium. It was India's first ever sweep of a test series and followed massive victories by eight wickets in the first test and by an innings and 22 runs in the second test.

Kumble, a bespectacled 22-year-old mechanical engineer from Bombay, was adjudged the man of the series with an impressive bag of 21 wickets. Resuming at the lunch score of 198 for six, England lost their last four wickets for the additon of only 31 runs. Chris Lewis had not added to his lunch score of three when he edged left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju to wicket-keeper Kiran More in the session's third over. Kumble then removed man of the match Graeme Hick, who made 178 in the first innings and was batting comfortably on 47 in the second knock.

Hick played defensively forward and the ball carried off the bat and pad into a diving Praveen Amre's hands at forward short leg. Kumble had John Emburey caught at second slip by Sachin Tendulkar and then spinning partner Raju had Phil DeFreitas stumped to signal India's win amidst beating of drums by some 15,000 joyous home fans. The Indian spinners claimed 46 of the 60 England wickets in the series as the flat-footed tourists found the turning ball hard to negotiate on helpful wickets.

Memories of the routs in Australia and South Africa in the last two seasons were forgotten as the triumphant Indians, accompanied by security men, did a victory lap around the ground. The beleagured tourists offered little resistence when they began the final day's play at 108 for three, still needing 136 to make India bat again.

India had to wait till 77 minutes after the start to secure a wicket against the defiant overnight pair of Robin Smith and Mike Gatting who added 74 runs Monday after coming together at 34 for three. The fourth wicket pair carried the stand to 121 to make England 155 for three when Gatting was stumped by wicket-keeper Kiran More off Rajesh Couhan for 61.

More fumbled with the ball before breaking the wicket, but television replays confirmed umpire Piloo Reporter's decision as Gatting was a few seconds late in grounding his bat. The 35year-old Gatting hit nine boundaries in his 19th half century in 71 matches. Kumble clean bowled Smith with a well-pitched top spinner for 62 to make England 181 for five 15 minutes before lunch. Next ball, Richard Blakey went the same way, but allrounder Chris Lewis prevented a hat-trick despite a cluster of seven fielders around the bat.

There was no indication of an England collapse when Gatting and Smith added 41 runs in 17 overs bowled by the Indians in the first hour's play. Smith, who began the day on 39, was the first to reach his half century 45 minutes after the start when he flicked Kumble for two. It was Smith's 20th half century in 39 tests and the fourth against India in six matches. Gatting, on 31 overnight, reached his individual fifty by cutting Kumble for his seventh four and then celebrated the landmark by sweeping the next delivery for another boundary.

Thanks to: ``Vasanthan S. Dasan''