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India square the series Wisden CricInfo staff - August 25, 2002
India 628 for 8 dec beat England 273 and 309 (Hussain 110, Stewart 47) by and innings and 46 runs Sixteen years after they last won in England, India meted out another battering on a delirious day at Headingley. They smashed England by an innings and 46 runs, their biggest-ever victory in a Test outside India. At 11.30, with Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart managing a healthy flow of boundaries, India were looking slightly forlorn. Then the captain went, and with India huffing and puffing gleefully, the England house was blown down before lunch. Hussain, Stewart and Andrew Flintoff - who bagged his second pair in as many Headingley Tests - all went in the space of two runs and ten balls, and after that it was a formality. England were shot away for 309, and India had only their second innings victory outside India, and the first since a depleted Australian side was routed at Sydney in 1977-78. So it's eyes down for a series decider at The Oval in ten days' time. The last time England had a winner-takes-all showdown there, against New Zealand in 1999, they ended it as the worst team in the world. What was becoming a gay procession of a summer could turn into something much more sinister, and India now have a real chance of winning their first series outside Asia since 1986. The momentum is all theirs. In the first half-hour, things had looked quite good for England. Hussain moved easily to his 12th Test hundred, but even that carried ominous portents. This was his fourth hundred in the second innings of a Test - and England have lost the lot. To break that run, Hussain had to bat for most of the day, but he went in Anil Kumble's first over. The ball popped off the pitch, and as Hussain fended it down Virender Sehwag at short leg took an outstanding low catch (265 for 5). Two balls later, Flintoff jabbed Zaheer Khan to Rahul Dravid at first slip (267 for 6). That's four innings, 11 balls and no runs for Flintoff in Headingley Tests; he also made a pair here against South Africa in 1998. Even a proud Lancastrian like Flintoff would not have expected this Yorkshire stronghold to be quite so unwelcoming. Maybe he should have had that hernia operation after all. The wickets kept on falling, with Stewart next to go for 47 to a textbook legspinner's dismissal (267 for 7). His hard hands against spin returned as he pushed at Kumble and edged obligingly to Dravid at slip. Kumble even turned it off the straight. It must have been India's match. Alex Tudor thudded a few off-side boundaries before a ridiculous run-out did for Ashley Giles. Tudor tucked Harbhajan Singh to mid-on, and Giles sauntered down the track before realising a run wasn't on. Milk has turned quicker, and Giles was easily beaten by Sourav Ganguly's quick throw to Harbhajan (299 for 8). Tudor then bat-padded Harbhajan to Sehwag at short leg (307 for 9), who snaffled his sixth catch of the match, and it was all over when Kumble had Andy Caddick caught by Ganguly at the third attempt. Whether he actually hit the ball was a moot point; it was the last poor decision in a match that had a few of them.
This was a Test to remember for India, and one they dominated from the moment Dravid and Sanjay Bangar blunted the bowlers on the first day. England, by contrast, have been completely humbled. Five days ago they may have had half an eye on the Ashes series in November. Now they daren't look beyond the showdown at The Oval.
© Wisden CricInfo Ltd |
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