2nd ODI: India v England at Cuttack, 22 Jan 2002 Stephen Lamb |
India innings:
England innings: |
India made a perfect start to the chase as Ganguly dispatched Gough twice to the backward point boundary in the first over. A flashing square drive off Hoggard took Tendulkar off the mark in the second.
It was a ball of fuller length from Hoggard that made the breakthrough as Ganguly, with minimal foot movement, edged a straightforward catch to Knight at second slip. But India kept up the momentum as Tendulkar took boundaries through midwicket off Hoggard, then through extra cover and back down the ground off Gough, who made way for Flintoff after four overs.
Flintoff was unfortunate to see Mongia missed in the slips as Knight (second) moved in front of Trescothick (first) and the edge eluded them both. Mongia took three to extra cover and a no ball brought up India's 50. Although the brakes were applied for a while by Hoggard and Flintoff, Mongia broke the deadlock by twice reaching the extra cover boudary off Hoggard in the 14th over. In between pushed singles, Tendulkar drove Hollioake magically to the rope at extra cover.
Hussain constantly shuffled his attack, with Snape coming on in the 19th over and England increasingly desperate for a breakthrough. It came fortuitously when Tendulkar was run out by a deflection, Hollioake getting a fingertip to a drive by Mongia which hit the stumps with Tendulkar, backing up, stranded yards out of his ground.
Mongia made light of Gough's re-introduction, swinging a short ball to the mid-wicket boundary, but England broke through again when Laxman failed to make his ground as he attempted a single after Mongia had clipped the ball to Collingwood at backward point. The throw to Foster was a good one and Laxman was gone for three. At the half-way stage of India's innings the match was intriguingly poised.
The 36th over of the England innings went for ten runs, six of them coming off the first ball as Collingwood swung Tendulkar to square leg where Harbhajan, having caught the ball just inside the boundary, couldn't quite release it as he stepped back on to the rope.
Vaughan was then needlessly run out after miscuing a reverse sweep. As the ball went towards square leg he hesitated when there should have been a straightforward single, and was left short of his ground at the bowler's end. Flintoff followed for five, swinging across a full-length ball from Harbhajan to lose his off stump.
Hollioake was then bowled through the gate by Kumble as he played for non-existent spin, leaving England on 192 for six and in danger of wasting the opportunity of posting a reasonable total. Amid the adversity Collingwood was still able to reach his 50 in style, swinging Kumble over midwicket.
Snape took a step down the wicket to swing Sehwag handsomely to the rope at square leg for his first boundary. Srinath then missed a far-from-easy return catch from Collingwood as England looked to accelerate in the closing overs, but showed all his experience to keep a tight rein on the batsmen at the death.
Collingwood fared better against Agarkar, swinging him high over the midwicket boundary. Snape was run out by Agarkar as he slipped while backing up, and Foster kept Collingwood company as England reached their eventual total.
Hussain was missed on 36 as he edged Ganguly and Ratra couldn't hang on to a thickish edge behind the stumps. The England captain then swept Harbhajan behind square to bring up the tourists' hundred, and Vaughan caught the mood next ball by pulling Ganguly handsomely over midwicket.
Hussain survived the tightest of run-out decisions after pushing Ganguly for a sharp single. Ratra's direct hit on the stumps at the bowlers end initially looked to have beaten Hussain, but this wasn't confirmed by replays as the third umpire, MR Singh, made an excellent decision. It made little difference as Hussain then inexplicably lost patience against Ganguly, holing out to Agarkar at deep mid-on.
Joined by the inexperienced Collingwood, Vaughan restored the momentum with a handsome boundary through extra cover, and was then missed by Agarkar as he swept to fine leg. Collingwood cut his first boundary to third man, and the the scoreboard ticked consistently as the two exchanged regular singles.
Vaughan went to his half century (59 balls, 4 fours), with a sweep off Tendulkar, and Collingwood used his feet to clip Kumble wide of mid-on for his second boundary. It set the tone for the partnership; each of the two was prepared to come down the wicket, and Vaughan took four more through extra cover off a ball from Tendulkar which he turned into a full toss. He was again missed on 60, this time a stumping chance to Ratra.
Trescothick, England's hero at Kolkata, was twice beaten by Srinath in the first over of the morning, in which the bowler also twice overstepped. Knight got under way with two to long leg off Agarkar, adding three more with an off drive which Ganguly struggled to chase. A firm clip for three then got Trescothick under way in Srinath's next over. The morning's first boundary was edged narrowly wide of Laxman at second slip, immediately followed by a carve through backward point for the second.
Agarkar made the first breakthrough for India when Trescothick was fractionally late on a pull, giving Dinesh Mongia time to run behind the square leg unmpire to take a straightforward catch.
An excellent piece of fielding by Tendulkar in the covers prevented Hussain from getting under way, but Knight restored England's momentum by pulling Agarkar powerfully for four. Attempting a similar stroke, Hussain edged Srinath to the third man boundary. Well-judged running between the right and left-handers kept the scoreboard ticking over, and Hussain found the fence again pulling a marginally short ball from Agarkar through midwicket.
Profitable though it can be, the pull shot lost England their second wicket as Knight hit Srinath straight to Harbhajan Singh at deep midwicket. After taking his first boundary to third man, Vaughan struck Agarkar sweetly to midwicket for three more.
A double bowling change after 12 overs introduced spin at both ends, and Hussain immediately aimed to hit Harbhajan off his length, coming down the pitch to hit him high over extra cover. A full pitch on middle and leg from Kumble was then duly dispatched by Vaughan. After 15 overs England were 75 for two.
India played an unchanged side from the first match at Kolkata, while England made one change, bringing in Ben Hollioake for Ashley Giles. There was still no place for the Surrey left-hander Graham Thorpe.
England are 1-0 down in the six-match series after India won the day/night encounter at Kolkata.
England team: ME Trescothick, NV Knight, *N Hussain, MP Vaughan, BC Hollioake, PD Collingwood, A Flintoff, JN Snape, +JS Foster, MJ Hoggard, D Gough.
India team: *SC Ganguly, SR Tendulkar, D Mongia, VVS Laxman, HK Badani, V Sehwag, +A Ratra, AB Agarkar, A Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, J Srinath.
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Date-stamped : 22 Jan2002 - 14:56