Close India 357 and 424 for 8 (Dravid 115, Ganguly 99, Tendulkar 92) drew with England 617
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In the end, it wasn't rain or bad light that saved India the match, but a resolute performance from their top batsmen. A century from Rahul Dravid, nineties from Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, and useful partnerships all the way down the order helped India bat the day out, and left them the space to come back into the series at Headingley.

At one point in the evening though, the match was balanced on a knife's edge, with the Indian tail exposed to England's bowlers. Ganguly, the last recognised batsman, fell at the last hurdle of the nervous nineties, playing on to a delivery from Steve Harmison for 99 (378 for 6). Just over 30 overs were left in the match at that stage, with India 118 runs ahead. Allowing two overs for the changeover, that would give England a fair shot at a win – if they could skittle out the tail quickly.

Ajit Agarkar helped. He hit a quick 32, but much of his strokeplay was too impetuous, and he eventually perished to Michael Vaughan, sticking his pad forward and his bat backward, plumb in front (395 for 7). The very next over, Harbhajan Singh was castled for 1 by Steve Harmison and it was game on (396 for 8). India 136 in front, 22 overs left in the game.

But Parthiv Patel got over his initial nerves and showed admirable defence against the pacers who were, inexplicably, on from just one end. Hussain certainly missed a trick by continuing with Michael Vaughan from one end for four more overs, and opportunity frittered away. Zaheer Khan hung in there with Patel, and the match was called off with 10 overs left in the game.

It hadn't appeared in the morning that India would last out the day. The pitch showed signs of variable bounce, and Andrew Flintoff in particular troubled Dravid. Flintoff pitched five deliveries in one over at virtually the same spot, with all of them bouncing at different heights. More than once Dravid dropped his wrists when the bowler dropped short, only to find the ball keeping low and thudding into his wrists or his body.

Neither Dravid nor Tendulkar batted with the kind of assurance they had shown last evening, but they displayed stodge, put the loose balls away and tried nothing flashy. Once Matthew Hoggard and Flintoff had finished their spells, the going got easier for the Indians. Tendulkar's 30th Test century seemed to be on the anvil when, against the run of play, he got out to Vaughan. An over earlier, Tendulkar had stepped out and off-driven a loopy overpitched delivery from Vaughan to the boundary. Here, he tried an expansive off-drive, and Vaughan's beautifully flighted delivery turned through the substantial gate between bat and pad and crashed into the stumps (174 for 3). Tendulkar had made 92.

A Yorkshireman had scalped an ex-Yorkshireman, but England hadn't yet got the better of India. Dravid and Ganguly saw India through to lunch and continued battling it out in the afternoon session. Both had close calls – Ganguly thick-edged Hoggard uppishly from in between the two gullies, a trademark mode of dismissal for him; Dravid seemed to get a thin edge to Hoggard but umpire Rudi Koertzen negated the appeal.

Dravid continued having trouble with the bounce but was immaculate in defence, as in his shot selection. He crawled through the nineties but opened out a bit when he reached his hundred, smashing Vaughan for a thunderous back-foot cover-drive and executing a glittering cut off Cork to the third-man boundary. Shortly after the second four though, he was out for 115, stepping too far across the line of a Cork delivery that reverse-swung and straightened and caught him plumb in front (309 for 4). After adding 163 runs with Tendulkar, Dravid had added 135 with Ganguly.

VVS Laxman stroked a couple of beautiful boundaries, but then played a shockingly irresponsible stroke after tea, pulling Cork straight down the throat of Craig White at deep midwicket (339 for 5). It was a set-up, and he succumbed for 14. Which set up the short-lived and ultimately anti-climactic drama at the end of the day.

Ganguly played a captain's knock, batting with responsibility and resilience, playing close to his body and eschewing anything flashy. He may not have reached the individual milestone Indians cherish so much, but he achieved the far bigger task of taking his team to safety. India had lived to fight another day, and Ganguly had led from the front.

Amit Varma is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India.

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