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Rain plays spoilsport on second day
Trent Bridge (England), Aug 10: Rains spoiled the second day`s play here today, washing out two entire sessions, as India slumped to 302 for eight in their first innings in the second cricket Test against England.
Trent Bridge (England), Aug 10: Rains spoiled the
second day's play here today, washing out two entire sessions,
as India slumped to 302 for eight in their first innings in
the second cricket Test against England.
Only 25 overs were possible in the day between lunch and
tea during which India added 92 runs to their overnight total
of 210 for four and lost four wickets.
Harbhajan Singh was batting on 13 and Zaheer Khan on one when rains forced an abrupt end to the day's proceedings after just 1.3 overs had been bowled after tea. Earlier the morning session was lost due to persistent showers, which started last night. In between when India played, skipper Sourav Ganguly came up with an attractive 68-run knock before being sent back by a controversial caught behind decision.
The other overnight batsman V V S Laxman failed to add to his score of 22 while Parthiv Patel, the youngest wicketkeeper ever to play Test cricket, made an inglorious start to his career, being dismissed for nought.
On a day when the ball swung far less than it did on the opening day, Ganguly executed some trademark shots on the off-side and was associated in a rollicking sixth wicket partnership with Ajit Agarkar who contributed a quick, though shaky, 34 off 39 balls with six fours.
On a typical day of Test cricket, the Indian batsmen were made to work hard for their runs as the ball moved both ways at great angles. Proper shot selection was vital and this is where both Jaffer and Dravid made the mistake. Jaffer played away from his body and was bowled off an inside edge in just the third over of the innings while Dravid, usually ideally suited for such conditions, misjudged the length of the ball and gave a simple catch to debutant Robert Key in the slips.
Tendulkar was also slightly circumspect initially but by the time India took lunch at 61 for two, he seemed more in control.
Sehwag, on the other hand, was hardly unfazed by the moving ball and played in the way he does best - by attacking. There were instances when he was beaten outside the off-stump or when he attempted injudicious shots but he left them behind with a gentle shrug of his head and was ready for the next ball.
Some of the strokes he played through the off-side were visual delights. Copy-book drives through covers and point made the English fielders look like applauding spectators. He reached his half-century with his ninth boundary, a beautiful cover-drive against Hoggard, who was clearly the pick of the English bowlers today.
The scoring picked up in the post-lunch session with Tendulkar, who failed in both the innings of the first Test at Lord's, slowly getting into a nice rhythm.
Tendulkar, whose first run took him past Sir Garfield Sober's tally of 8032 Test runs, hit a couple of boundaries to quickly move into his thirties but then attempted a rash stroke that halted his nascent innings.
With only one fielder placed on the on-side, Tendulkar tried to pull a Dominic Cork delivery from wide outside the off-stump to the midwicket boundary but only managed an inside edge that crashed into his stumps. Tendulkar's 68 ball knock contained six hits to the fence.
Keen to get back to form, Ganguly was satisfied to graft his innings and played cautiously but the English bowlers had no respite from Sehwag. The two Indian batsmen took the score to 141 for three when bad light forced tea break to be taken 15 minutes before schedule.
When play resumed, Sehwag struck a string of five boundaries in three overs in the run-up to his century. The fifth was an uppish drive over point region and just escaped the hands of a diving Michael Vaughan but fetched him his second test century nevertheless.
Sehwag seemed to have relaxed a bit after reaching his century and that brought his downfall soon after. He lazily leaned into a fuller delivery from Craig White and missed the line completely to see his middle stumps uprooted.
Sehwag's wicket fell at 179 and Ganguly was joined by Laxman who once again looked in prime touch. Having spent a good amount of time at the crease, Ganguly also batted confidently but it was Laxman who stole the show in the overs preceding the abrupt end to the day's play.
Laxman, who had scores of 43 not out and 74 in the lord's Test, batted elegantly and struck four sweetly timed boundaries in his 27-ball 22.
Bureau Report
Harbhajan Singh was batting on 13 and Zaheer Khan on one when rains forced an abrupt end to the day's proceedings after just 1.3 overs had been bowled after tea. Earlier the morning session was lost due to persistent showers, which started last night. In between when India played, skipper Sourav Ganguly came up with an attractive 68-run knock before being sent back by a controversial caught behind decision.
The other overnight batsman V V S Laxman failed to add to his score of 22 while Parthiv Patel, the youngest wicketkeeper ever to play Test cricket, made an inglorious start to his career, being dismissed for nought.
On a day when the ball swung far less than it did on the opening day, Ganguly executed some trademark shots on the off-side and was associated in a rollicking sixth wicket partnership with Ajit Agarkar who contributed a quick, though shaky, 34 off 39 balls with six fours.
On a typical day of Test cricket, the Indian batsmen were made to work hard for their runs as the ball moved both ways at great angles. Proper shot selection was vital and this is where both Jaffer and Dravid made the mistake. Jaffer played away from his body and was bowled off an inside edge in just the third over of the innings while Dravid, usually ideally suited for such conditions, misjudged the length of the ball and gave a simple catch to debutant Robert Key in the slips.
Tendulkar was also slightly circumspect initially but by the time India took lunch at 61 for two, he seemed more in control.
Sehwag, on the other hand, was hardly unfazed by the moving ball and played in the way he does best - by attacking. There were instances when he was beaten outside the off-stump or when he attempted injudicious shots but he left them behind with a gentle shrug of his head and was ready for the next ball.
Some of the strokes he played through the off-side were visual delights. Copy-book drives through covers and point made the English fielders look like applauding spectators. He reached his half-century with his ninth boundary, a beautiful cover-drive against Hoggard, who was clearly the pick of the English bowlers today.
The scoring picked up in the post-lunch session with Tendulkar, who failed in both the innings of the first Test at Lord's, slowly getting into a nice rhythm.
Tendulkar, whose first run took him past Sir Garfield Sober's tally of 8032 Test runs, hit a couple of boundaries to quickly move into his thirties but then attempted a rash stroke that halted his nascent innings.
With only one fielder placed on the on-side, Tendulkar tried to pull a Dominic Cork delivery from wide outside the off-stump to the midwicket boundary but only managed an inside edge that crashed into his stumps. Tendulkar's 68 ball knock contained six hits to the fence.
Keen to get back to form, Ganguly was satisfied to graft his innings and played cautiously but the English bowlers had no respite from Sehwag. The two Indian batsmen took the score to 141 for three when bad light forced tea break to be taken 15 minutes before schedule.
When play resumed, Sehwag struck a string of five boundaries in three overs in the run-up to his century. The fifth was an uppish drive over point region and just escaped the hands of a diving Michael Vaughan but fetched him his second test century nevertheless.
Sehwag seemed to have relaxed a bit after reaching his century and that brought his downfall soon after. He lazily leaned into a fuller delivery from Craig White and missed the line completely to see his middle stumps uprooted.
Sehwag's wicket fell at 179 and Ganguly was joined by Laxman who once again looked in prime touch. Having spent a good amount of time at the crease, Ganguly also batted confidently but it was Laxman who stole the show in the overs preceding the abrupt end to the day's play.
Laxman, who had scores of 43 not out and 74 in the lord's Test, batted elegantly and struck four sweetly timed boundaries in his 27-ball 22.
Bureau Report