© CricInfo

© CricInfo

© CricInfo

Zimbabwe run up against the Kumble factor

Anil Kumble’s remarkable record at home continues. He picked up 16 wickets in the Test series against Zimbabwe, which India won 2-0. The tall leg-spinner from Bangalore was thus duly named the Man of the Series, a performance that warrants his being named our Player of the Fortnight.

The first Test match was played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur. Kumble reaped four wickets in the first innings, his victims being Alistair Campbell, Grant Flower, Tatenda Taibu and Brighton Watambwa. Zimbabwe scored 287 all out in their first innings after electing to bat first. Kumble’s figures of 32.5-12-81-4 had much importance, especially as Harbhajan Singh went wicketless in 26 overs.

Kumble (37-15-67-5) and Harbhajan (31.4-9-46-4) wreaked considerable havoc in Zimbabwe's second innings. India went on to win the first Test by an innings and 101 runs. Kumble was simply superb in the second essay, claiming the priced wicket of Andy Flower (8). His other victims were Campbell, Gavin Rennie, Grant Flower and Heath Streak. This was Kumble’s 19th five-wicket haul in Test cricket. The senior spearhead of the Indian bowling finished the Test with 9/148, and there were no doubts regarding the choice for Man of the Match - Anil Kumble.

The second Test was played at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi. Kumble had a long spell (34-13-88-3) in the Zimbabwe first innings, picking up the wickets of Streak, Taibu and Raymond Price. On a crumbling track, it was Harbhajan Singh who hogged all the limelight in the second innings, picking up six wickets to shoot out Zimbabwe for just 146.

Kumble proved his value to the team by scoring an unbeaten and defiant knock of 34 in the Indian first innings as he ran out of partners. In the final analysis of the game, Kumble’s contribution was valuable enough to set up the Indian victory.

Kumble was distinctly unlucky in the second essay; a mixture of sloppy fielding and woeful umpiring denied him a wicket for a long time. After picking up his first victim in Dion Ebrahim, Kumble went on to claim three more scalps - Grant Flower, Streak and Taibu. It might have looked like the supporting act to Harbhajan Singh's figures of 29.3-8-58-4, but it was a class act in itself.

Heath Streak turned out to be Kumble’s bunny, falling in all four innings of the series to the leggie's guiles. Kumble, thus, is the Player of this Fortnight, based on his match-winning performances in the two-Test series.