Dravid and Ganguly: A partnership of determination and aggression
India won their second consecutive One-Day International against Zimbabwe by four wickets, in the triangular series for the Coca-Cola Cup at the Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo. Zimbabwe set India a target of 235 runs in 50 overs after a late charge by their stand-in captain Guy Whittall (58 off 55 balls). India knocked off the required runs with just four balls remaining. The third wicket partnership of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid added 93 valuable runs in 14.3 overs to guide India past the target. Ganguly and Dravid take the honours for the best partnership of the match.
Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar were tied down by some steady bowling by the Zimbabwe bowlers. Tendulkar scratched around for 27 balls to make just nine runs. For the better part of his innings Ganguly was never on song as he found his footwork deserting him once again. It almost suggested that those days have been left behind when he used to blaze through the off side; today he managed to knock so many balls straight to the man placed at backward of point.
The Indian skipper was joined by his deputy in the 26th over after Dinesh Mongia (37) had been dismissed to reduce India to 91/2. India required 144 more runs with 24.5 overs in hand. Given the fact that the pitch was on the slower side and Ganguly was struggling to knock the balls away for runs, the going looked a bit difficult. Dravid seized the opportunity by pulling and then later on-driving Guy Whittall for glorious boundaries.
Dravid and Ganguly went about picking their singles at will to keep the scorecard moving. The running between the wickets seemed to have helped Ganguly a lot as he toiled hard to regain his lost form. Ganguly was a picture of grit and determination as much as Dravid was the picture of confidence and aggression. The 31st over bowled by Whittall was punished by the two batsmen for 16 valuable runs to ease off the building pressure. Dravid pinched a single off the first ball of the over. The second was dispatched to the long on fence for four by Ganguly to get to his Half Century. The fourth ball disappeared over mid-wicket for a massive six. Ganguly squeezed the fifth for a single. The last ball off the over saw the stroke off the day, a sweetly timed on-drive by Dravid that raced to the fence for four!
The best part of the partnership was the amount of confidence that Ganguly seemed to have gained from the attractive strokeplay of Dravid. Ganguly suddenly was changing gears and there were glimpses of the Ganguly we all knew. The Indian captain was so much more positive in the way he went about smashing the bowling; a good sign for Ganguly and the Indian team. A good partnership is all about one player complementing the other and building up the innings. Their third wicket partnership set India on the way to a victory. It also rekindled the batting form of Ganguly and Dravid shed his defensive shell.
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