|
Pakistan in India 2004-05: Pakistan Vs India -
1st Test at Mohali - Day 1 |
Report by Karthik Narayan
March 8th 2005:
Pakistan 312
(Kamal 91
Inzamam 57 Balaji 5/76)
Full Scorecard
An India Pakistan match
is always full of passion, zeal and innumerable
adjectives. Today was Day 1 of the First Test at
Mohali between these two great teams of the
Sub-Continent. The National Flags of the two
teams fluttered in a warm, mild wind, as the
match started and the two captains, Inzamam &
Ganguly walked into the middle for the Toss.
Toss: India won the toss and Sourav
Ganguly elected to field first to make optimum
use of the seamer friendly conditions at Mohali.
India left out Harbhajan Singh as they went in
with 3 seamers and a spinner while Pakistan left
out Shahid Afridi and in came Asim Kamal.
The match started with the two Indian left arm
seamers, Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan taking the
new ball. Ganguly had specifically chosen to
field first to make use of the freshness of the
pitch – and his decision was rewarded when Irfan
Pathan found the gap between Butt’s bat and the
body to come in and take off the off stump of
the left hander. India had drawn first blood
with the score at just 11 – indeed the ideal
start for them. Younis Khan fiddled the bat for
a couple of streaky fours but soon he perished
to Zaheer lbw as the ball pitched marginally
wide off the leg stump line and went on to hit
Younis Khan's pad.
Consolidation and partnerships were the order of
the day for Pakistan to cover up and make amends
for early losses as the skipper Inzamam came to
take strike at 30/2. After battling the initial
testing overs by Irfan, he soon found some real
good timing going – his cover drives being
exemplary! And when the opening bowling pair
made way for Balaji and Kumble, things looked
much better from a Pakistani perspective. Umar
and Inzamam dispatched Balaji promptly with
great cricketing shots and Balaji’s comeback
into test cricket looked untidy. Clearly, he was
a little rusty, and his initial bowling figures
had him giving away runs at nearly 5 runs an
over. Runs came in thick and fast, with both
Inzamam and Umar playing their shots, both sides
of the wicket. However, Balaji had some respite
when he bowled a good length delivery to Umar
and the inside edge made sure the ball deflected
to dislodge the stumps.
Soon after lunch, the scoring rate dropped a bit
with constant change of bowlers. Ganguly chopped
and changed his bowlers at regular intervals to
make sure that all of them bowled almost equally
and in short spells. Youhana fancied himself to
make very quick runs like his skipper, but his
improvisation attempts soon fell in vain as he
fell victim to Irfan Pathan caught behind by the
keeper Dinesh Karthik at 104/4. Inzamam and Asim
Kamal came together to face the challenge and
they fared very well – Inzamam completed his
37th Test fifty and 3rd against India in fine
style. Asim Kamal showcased his talents with a
fine knock laced with good strokes all around
the field. Kumble struck just before tea and
claimed the wicket of Inzamam. The ball
straightened and was pitched right in line with
the stumps. The Pakistan captain played the
wrong shot to the wrong ball and had to take the
long walk back. The dismissal put India back on
track again. Abdul Razzaq came quickly, scored
quickly and left quickly! His aggression was
totally unwanted – his outside the off stump
slash carried a faint edge, only to be caught
behind by a happy looking Dinesh Karthik -
second wicket for Balaji.
The Post Tea Session saw India firmly in the
driver’s seat. With both Kamal and Akmal trying
their best get a decent partnership going.
Kumble took care of Kamran Akmal and then
Pakistan was looking down the barrel. They
collapsed totally surrendering their wickets to
the Indian bowlers. Sami threw his bat around
before gifting his wicket to Balaji. Kamal
followed his good stint with the bat with a
magnificent 91 as he was very unlucky to get out
yet again in the nervous 90s. Balaji claiming
that wicket and he also mopped up the rest of
the Pakistani tailenders, a good comeback game
first up. Balaji once again had a good outing
against the Pakistani batsmen with a five-wicket
haul.
Day 2 of the 1st Test promises yet another day
of mouth watering action as the Indian batsman
get ready to face the Pakistani music. Follow
Cricketfundas.com for all the action on Day Two
of this engrossing Mohali Test Match.
Top of the Page |
