Close Zimbabwe 260 for 6 (A Flower 92, Ebrahim 82*)
scorecard

Zimbabwe did most things right today, but a couple of silly errors at the fag end of the day spoiled it for them somewhat. After losing three wickets in the first session, Andy Flower and Dion Ebrahim got together for a 116-run fourth-wicket partnership.

Grant Flower kept up the momentum after his brother fell for 92, but his needless run-out, and then Heath Streak's dismissal, allowed India back into the match.

On a slow surface that gave the seamers very little assistance, Zaheer Khan stood out with his ability to generate pace and late swing, and was rewarded with two wickets in the first session. Harbhajan Singh extracted some spin and occasional bounce from the pitch, but Anil Kumble had a day he'd rather forget – his first 11 overs went for 57, and while he settled down after Andy Flower's dismissal, he never threatened the batsmen.

Zimbabwe captain Stuart Carlisle won his second toss in a row and, as at Nagpur, chose to bat first. But he hardly had the ideal start, as Javagal Srinath clipped his off bail with the fourth ball of the day for 0. Zaheer compounded the misery when he had Trevor Gripper edging one to Rahul Dravid at first slip for 8 (11 for 2).

Alistair Campbell resisted for 100 minutes, but when he gave Dravid his second catch of the morning – and Zaheer his second wicket - for 16, Zimbabwe had just 65 on the board.

Andy Flower was joined by Ebrahim, and the two put the innings back on track. Flower started with a flurry of fours - his lunchtime 37 contained eight of them – but eased off in the afternoon, when the Indian bowlers tightened their length and line.

Zaheer and Harbhajan, especially, tested both batsmen but crucially, both lasted through that period, nurdling the ones and twos. Flower brought up his half-century with another nudge to leg off Harbhajan, before taking to Kumble with gusto, sweeping him three times for four.

Flower started aggressively after tea as well, spanking Kumble through cover for four and then sweeping him over square leg for six. Just when he threatened to cut loose, Harbhajan struck with his second ball after tea. A well-flighted delivery curved in, pitched in line with middle and leg stump and then straightened fractionally. Flower groped forward, the ball kissed the inside edge, and ricocheted off the pad to SS Das at short leg. Flower had made 92 off 154 balls.

Ebrahim continued the good work with Grant Flower, adding 65 for the fifth wicket. Both batsmen were in control, and a big first-innings score looked likely, when Ebrahim committed a crucial error of judgment. He nudged one to mid-on off Kumble and raced madly towards the other end. Kumble ran across the pitch, and his direct hit at the striker's end left Grant Flower well short of his ground.

Kumble struck again in his next over, when Streak (0) attempted an expansive back-foot drive off a short, wide delivery, but only managed to inside-edge on to his stumps.

Ebrahim batted out till the close, and passed his previous-best Test score of 71, which he had reached three times. Zimbabwe will need Ebrahim and Travis Friend – who scored an unbeaten 60 in the first Test – to bat on and take Zimbabwe towards 350 tomorrow. Anything less than that and India will be well pleased - and well in control.

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

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

S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com India.

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