The Wisden Bulletin
by Lawrence Booth
Thursday, December 20, 2001

Close India 99 for 3 (Tendulkar 50*, Dravid 1*) trail England 336 (Vaughan 64, Ramprakash 58, Foster 48, Srinath 4-71) by 237 runs

England's understandable obsession with getting rid of Sachin Tendulkar provoked some heated exchanges as India struggled in reply to England's 336. Nasser Hussain instructed Ashley Giles to bowl into the rough outside leg stump, and stalemate ensued. At one point Tendulkar waved his bat angrily at an unrepentant Hussain, and umpire Jayaprakash had to step in. When Tendulkar complained again, Giles simply shrugged his shoulders in a what-can-I-do-about-it sort of way.

It all deflected from the fact that England were on top, thanks to Andy Flintoff who had bagged all three wickets to fall in his most hostile spell for England yet. He spoilt the effect with celebrations that resembled a gorilla who hadn't been fed for a week, but this was new-ball bowling from the top drawer, full of aggression and heart.

First to go was Deep Dasgupta, who edged one that bounced and seamed to first slip where Marcus Trescothick clasped the ball to his bosom. With Dasgupta out for 0, India were 8 for 1.

VVS Laxman whipped his first ball through midwicket with the wrists of Darth Vader, and then flick-pulled Flintoff superbly, bisecting the two men placed especially for that shot on the leg side - shades of Inzamam. But Flintoff went wide of the crease and speared in a corker of a delivery that spat off the pitch and went through a huge gate to crash into the top of the stumps. Laxman had made 12 and India were in trouble at 22 for 2.

SS Das was fortunate to survive in the penultimate over before tea, when a big inside edge onto his pad was athletically caught by James Foster, diving full-length onto the leg side. But umpire de Silva shook his head, and tea was taken at 42 for 2.

Tendulkar came out bristling in that silent but menacing way of his, and worked Giles's second ball through midwicket with a quick two-step and a flick of the wrists. Soon after he whacked Giles less elegantly over the leg-side infield for four more, and then tucked into Craig White. An uber-textbook extra-cover drive was followed by a four to long leg via a rare Hoggard misfield. Das cut Flintoff for four to bring up the 50 stand, of which his share was a stoic 10, but finally moved into second gear with a sweep and a cover-drive for four in one Giles over. For a while, England had no answer.

Their eventual response was to turn up the negativity, as Giles plugged away outside leg stump, and Flintoff peppered the batsmen's ribs to recall the ghosts of Larwood and Voce; leg slip rubbed his hands in excitement. When he went over the wicket again to Das, an inside edge flew onto the stumps, and Flintoff almost knocked out the air with a meaty right hook. The wave that bade Das farewell as he trudged off was even less necessary. Das was out for 28 and India were back in trouble at 88 for 3.

That wicket came in the middle of a sequence of seven maidens, and Tendulkar had already made his objections known. More opinions were offered at a drinks break, but it only served to fire England up: if you don't like it, we'll keep doing it. It was dour, unsporting stuff.

Tendulkar moved to his fifty with a lovely inside-out cover-drive for four off Giles, but was almost bowled by the next one that spat, Warne-like, but missed outside edge and off stump, and Foster's gloves, costing England four byes.

With 11 overs to go, the umpires offered the players the light, and 25 minutes later play was called off for the day. It was probably no bad thing - in the space of two days, relations between the sides had gone from excellent to iffy.

In the morning England's innings dragged manfully before collapsing like a toddler just after lunch. At the heart of the fightback was a 21-year-old student James Foster, who almost overnight has transformed himself from hopeless rabbit into gnarled terrier. Unlike at Ahmedabad, Foster lost Craig White early on, as Javagal Srinath's round-the-wicket attack eventually resulted in a tame fend to short leg, where Das slid in and held on. White was out for 39 and England were 271 for 6.

Giles joined Foster, who timed a couple of sweet drives either side of mid-on, but Giles was given a life when he edged Kumble onto his boot and into the hands of Das at short leg. As Kumble prepared to celebrate his 300th Test wicket, umpire Jayaprakash shook his head. Giles just kept pushing forward dutifully, and Foster made the running: Obelix and Asterix.

But a lunchtime score of 325 for 7 quickly became 336 all out. Foster was caught behind by Srinath for 48 (334 for 8); Giles was lbw trying to sweep the next ball, from Sarandeep Singh, for 28; and Matthew Hoggard was lbw on the back foot as Kumble finally reached his 300. The stadium erupted, and the only pity was that Kumble's mother, who had waited and waited yesterday for her son's big moment, was today absent ill. Kumble was the 18th bowler to reach the landmark.

A total of 336 was a shade below par on a wicket that offered a little help early on to the seamers but not much else. But that was before Andy Flintoff charged in.

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

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