Cricket Blog

Day 1 Report

Pakistan needed desperately to bounce back as this was a do-or-die match for them. They have to win no matter what. But considering the first day’s play that may seem too far fetched now. Kumble won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first. Despite an early hiccup losing Karthik cheaply, Jaffer and Dravid ensured that there would be no further mishaps. The two put on a valuable 136 run partnership for the second wicket before Dravid was unlucky to be given caught behind to Danish Kaneria. India were 138/2. In walks the little master. Who would have thought that the master blaster would be overshadowed by someone called Wasim Jaffer, but that’s exactly what happened.

Jaffer was in the Zone and his strokes were sublime and effortless. He caressed the ball to all sides of the park and soon reached his first test century against Pakistan. India were 206/2 at the tea break from 55 overs. The partnership was going at around 5 runs per over. The final session saw the floodgates opened up. India amassed 146 runs from 29.3 overs and finished the day at 352/3 with Jaffer unbeaten on 192 from only 255 balls. He could very well be the second Indian ever to reach a triple hundred at the test level. Tendulkar was the third wicket to depart falling for a googly from Danish Kaneria. A long day awaits Pakistan tomorrow with Ganguly, Laxman and Dhoni to bat and Jaffer looking in ominous form. India need to get to 600+ and then declare. The pitch has been predicted to slow down and crumble during the third day making Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh as key weapons in the host’s arsenal.

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Day 1 ReportThe test series is finally here and Day 1 belonged to India and Kumble. Losing the toss, the home team was asked to field first. However, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the seamers ripped through the Pakistani top order with Zaheer Khan doing most of the damage and Munaf Patel providing able support.

After the Pakistanis were reduced to 83/5, there looked to be no recovery and the Indian bowlers continued to apply the pressure. A classy knock from Misba ul-Haq saved the day for the visitors as they managed to reach 210/8 in 85.4 overs with Mohammad Sami offering some resistance.

Before the day began, India were on the backfoot due to RP Singh and Sreesanth not being able to prove match fitness. India then had to go with Munaf Patel who was called in as replacement. I would have loved to see Irfan Pathan back in the team on the back of his terrific comeback into the ODI team. However, Munaf justified his inclusion by bowling a tight line and length and supported Zaheer Khan superbly.

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A one man show can only be done by a legend such as Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar who was at his deadliest best in yesterday’s day-night match. His performance won the series for India and despite missing out on YET another century, the end result would have been far more satisfying. India finally managed to beat Pakistan in a home ODI series. With another game to go, India can well afford to rest some seniors and get their younger generation a chance to display their skills.

For most part of his 18 year career Sachin has been regarded as the best batsman in the world, ever. Yesterday he showed that age is no bar when it comes to playing at the big stage. For the most capped player in ODI history, Sachin also defies critics on a regular basis. Most of 2007 has been spent in speculation on whether the time has come for the Big 3 to retire. I don’t know about the other two, but this man should be left alone. Yet again he has silenced his critics as he let the bat do all the talking. And his bat did not just talk, it screamed.

Winning the toss, Shoaib Malik decided to bat first knowing fully well that the dew would play an important factor in the second innings. RP Singh gave his team the perfect start by getting rid of Salman Butt for a duck and Pakistan never recovered from the 2nd ball of the innings. The powerplays were wasted as only 79 runs were scored in the first 20 for the loss of 2 wickets. RP, Pathan and Zaheer were bang on target and barring the odd boundary kept things nice and tight.

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So India have bounced back and the see-saw battle between these two countries continues on. But a 2-1 lead in a 5 match series is always handy. The turning point in the match was the first six that Yuvraj hit off Abdur Rehman and from there on the momentum shifted tremendously.

The toss was won by Shoaib Malik and he elected to field first citing reasons that his team chases well and he wanted to make use of the early conditions. Pakistani new-ball bowlers lost the plot early on as they gave away far too many runs to the best opening combination in ODI history. Both Sachin and Saurav made use of the chances given to them, especially Saurav who was dropped of the first ball by Kamran Akmal.

Sachin took his own time to settle down but the boundaries started to come and he looked set for a big innings. Before he played a loose shot to give Sohail Tanveer his first wicket. Akmal, in complete contrast to the dropped catch, leapt to his right to snatch it out of midair. The man in form, Gautam Gambhir, walked in to replace the Little Master.

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Yet another India-Pakistan match, yet another thrilling finish. This has been a trend that goes for over 50 years. Nothing, I repeat, nothing can compare to an India vs Pakistan match. Chasing 322 for a victory, I would say Pakistan bounced back in spectacular fashion.Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first on a pitch that was going to assist the pace bowlers early on. Ganguly showed his intentions as he square cut Shoaib Akhtar to the boundary off the second ball of the innings. However that was short-lived as Shoaib had the last laugh in this short battle. Ganguly inside-edged to his stumps and India were 6-1. Not the start the wanted but what followed was arguably India’s best partnership of the day. Gautam Gambhir joined Sachin and the two smashed the bowling to pulp in a calculated run of play. Sachin batted like only he can. In fact, Gambhir was the slower of the two.

The run rate picked up from the 9th over when Umar Gul was spanked to all parts of the park. To Gul’s credit he came back strongly in a match defining spell later on. Sachin was at his dominant best. And since the England series, he has really made an effort to play like he has always had, without any extra burden of captaincy, or trying to anchor the innings. He knows that with the likes of Dhoni, Yuvraj and Uthappa in the middle order, he can play his natural game. And play he did. Shoaib tried to make fun of Sachin early on, but the little master let his bat do the talking.

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