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India force a draw in Bangalore Test

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Indian batsmen fought it out on the final day to force a draw in the first Test at Bangalore. Their efforts were complemented by bad light interruptions and the end result was a disappointing one for the Aussies as they had India on the mat on the third day afternoon. Of late, India has faltered on most occasions when its famed batting line-up has been asked to bat out for a draw. But today, Sachin Tendulkar came to the rescue with able support from Gambhir and Laxman to bail out his team. It’s not often that Tendulkar has delivered the goods under crunch situations but today it was totally refreshing to find the little master handling an enormous amount of pressure with total ease. It was a different matter that he still couldn’t break Brian Lara’s record and the fact that he got dismissed by an ordinary leg spinner.

India were set a target of 299 in about 83 overs with the Aussies batting out for 30 minutes this morning. Australia collected 35 runs at the loss of Shane Watson. The home side got off to a bad start with Virender Sehwag getting a leading edge to slip off Stuart Clark in the 6th over. The Aussies were very lucky to get Sehwag cheaply as the previous delivery that Sehwag had faced before his actual dismissal was a catch put down by the keeper off Brett Lee. With Sehwag departing early, the hopes of chasing down 299 died down for India. Opener Gambhir and Dravid tried to calm down the dressing room with their solid defence until Ricky Ponting set a trap for Dravid’s dismissal at mid wicket. Brett Lee with a reverse swinging ball bowled one that drifted onto the pads and Dravid played a full blooded flick shot which he forgot to keep it down. Ricky Ponting at short mid wicket dived to his right to take a stunning catch to convert what was heading towards the boundary to a wicket. Dravid’s fall brought in Tendulkar in the middle. The little master started off very well with an assured approach in both defence and attack. And he along with Gambhir prevented any further damage before lunch.

The post lunch session demanded the Aussies to get atleast three wickets. But Gambhir and Tendulkar kept on defying the quick bowlers for almost an hour until the former played all around a full delivery from Mitchell Johnson to get bowled in the 27th over. Gambhir, who had done all the hard work failed to complete his mission of playing the long innings. Johnson at this time was cracking up speeds over 147 kmph and mixing them up with a lot of slower deliveries. Gambhir survived 81 deliveries making 29 runs. India were reduced at 77 for 3 and had to face a possible 56 more overs. New batsman VVS Laxman joined Tendulkar and after a first innings failure was determined to make an impression which he did. Both these experienced batsmen saw off the threats from the fast bowlers and that forced Ponting to turn up to his two underrated spinners Michael Clarke and Cameron White. Tendulkar and Laxman didn’t go after these spinners but instead played according to the merit of the ball. Overs also ticked by quickly and India found themselves well placed at Tea to force a draw.

The home side had to negotiate two and a half hours in the last session with a possibility of 35 overs. With Tendulkar and Laxman looking very solid, Ponting bowled his spinners most of the time and a draw looked to be very easy. The weather also started to favour the Indians as it got darker and darker with every moment. Tendulkar, who got himself to 49 and 15 short of Lara’s record was getting restless because of the imperfect playing conditions. His concentration was lost as a result and drove one carelessly without reaching the pitch of the ball to spoon a simple catch to short extra covers. The bowler getting that wicket was Cameron White and it was a proud moment since it was only his maiden test wicket. White almost was in tears after getting the wicket. Sachin may not have made a big score but the 126 balls that he had survived surely saw India through. There was not much of challenge left for Laxman and next man Ganguly as they had a little over 30 overs to bat through and that too against Michael Clarke and Cameron White. In between, play was suspended twice because of bad light and eventually resumed at 4:45 with match to go on for just another 15 minutes or so. India comfortably drew the match at 177 for 4 with Laxman on 42 (from 142 balls with 5 fours) and Ganguly on 26 (from 68 balls with 2 fours). The hosts survived a total of 73 overs.

Zaheer Khan was the Man of the Match for his all round brilliance and in front of the entire Bangalore crowd bravely said during the presentation ceremony that he has never seen an Australian team play such defensive cricket, which he thinks is a good thing for us. The aggressive and highly confident Zaheer surely rubbed a lot of salt on the wounds of Ricky Ponting and his team. The two teams now head to Mohali for the second Test which begins on the 17th.