Close India 209 for 2 (Das 105, Dravid 57*) trail Zimbabwe 287 (Carlisle 77, Friend 60*, Kumble 4-81) by 78 runs
scorecard

India took firm control of this match, but the manner in which they achieved it won them few awards for positive cricket. After some spirited wagging by Zimbabwe's tail had enabled them to muster 287, India crawled to 209 for 2 in 74 overs, losing opening batsman and centurion SS Das for 105 in the last over of the day.

Shiv Sunder Das, having grafted, grafted, grafted all day long threw it away by slashing outside off to Ray Price, and Alistair Campbell at slip held on to a sharp, high chance. Sachin Tendulkar – not a nightwatchman – emerged from the pavilion and ended the day unscathed.

The innings had begun with Das and Deep Dasgupta showing the same grit and determination they had shown against England a few weeks ago, but perhaps they took their job too seriously. Runs came at a crawl as they treated the abjectly mediocre bowling of Heath Streak and Brighton Watambwa with inordinate respect, even though Das seemed to find it easier to hit the ropes than rotate the strike; his first seven scoring strokes were all boundaries.

He was let off once when he edged Heath Streak and the ball flew between wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu and Andy Flower – at first slip – at a perfect catchable height. Apart from that the Indians never looked in trouble.

The only bowler who looked remotely likely to break through was left-arm spinner Ray Price, and sure enough, he got the first breakthrough with an arm-ball that Dasgupta shouldered arms to. He looked bewildered at the sound of timber behind him, in suitably Gattingesque manner (79 for 1). He had made 33, including a lovely stepping-out six off Price (what is it with these Bengalis?), but couldn't convert it this time.

Das could. Condemned so often for not converting his starts, he reached his 100 with about 40 minutes left in the day's play, with a back-foot square-drive off Trevor Gripper. In celebration, he hit a back-foot pull to the boundary off the next delivery. Interestingly, his only other Test century had also come against Zimbabwe at Nagpur; Ah, that lovely combination of a placid track and a toothless opposition.

A sentiment Rahul Dravid could echo. He loves the Zims and he loves playing them in India; last time they were here, he got 432 runs in two Tests at exactly the same venues. He finished the day unbeaten on 57 off 141 deliveries, an ominous sign for Zimbabwe.

Earlier Sourav Ganguly, no Brearley at the best of time, opted to open the day's proceedings with Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble – this, when the ball was just four overs old. Zaheer Khan twiddled his thumbs dreaming up yorkers, while the tail continued wagging with the same ferocity it had shown the day before.

Travis Friend, whose strokeplay bears an assurance that specialist batsman, not lower-order sloggers, have, continued as he had left off yesterday, depositing Javagal Srinath's slower one for a six, and then flicking him for four off consecutive balls.

Price grew in confidence too, dabbing Harbhajan Singh past slip and cover-driving Anil Kumble for fours. The partnership finally ended when Friend nudged Harbhajan Singh square on the off side and darted off for a run. Price made no attempt to run, then, after crucial seconds had passed, raced down the pitch. Kumble lobbed the ball back to Dasgupta and Price was well short of the crease (286 for 9). Price made 18.

It didn't take Kumble too long to wrap up the innings – a typically accurate in-dipper caught Watambwa (0) in the crease, and umpire Srinivas Venkataraghavan took no time in raising his finger. Friend remained undefeated on a 70-ball 60, while Kumble picked up his fourth wicket, once again, in all probability, a matchwinner at home.

Teams
Zimbabwe 1 Stuart Carlisle (capt), 2 Trevor Gripper, 3 Alistair Campbell, 4 Gavin Rennie, 5 Andy Flower, 6 Grant Flower, 7 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 8 Heath Streak, 9 Travis Friend, 10 Ray Price, 11 Brighton Watambwa.

India 1 Shiv Sunder Das, 2 Deep Dasgupta (wk), 3 VVS Laxman, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Rahul Dravid, 6 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 7 Sanjay Bangar, 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Javagal Srinath.

Amit Varma is assistant editor and S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com India.

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