Zimbabwe made India fight all the way, and Ray Price was their star with the ball again. As Harbhajan had shown on the fourth day of this Test and on the last day at Nagpur, length was the key to bowling on a wearing surface. Price dropped it on a length 85.9% of the time today, and 87.7% in the second innings. Not as good as Harbhajan's 95%, but fairly close. But Price induced more false strokes in the last innings than either Harbhajan or Kumble had on the fourth day. The Indian batsmen played and missed, edged, were rapped on the pads or mistimed their shots 29.8% of the time. The corresponding figures were 25% for Harbhajan and 23.1% for Kumble.

What Price lacked was support from the other end. A look at Grant Flower's bowling in the second innings tells the story. When on a length, Flower was difficult to get away – just two runs from 23 balls. But he erred too often, and the Indian batsmen took full toll.

On a slow pitch, the short balls sat up and begged to be hit, and Tendulkar did just that, scoring 14 from four balls. That gave the Indian innings early momentum, and though Zimbabwe clawed back, it wasn't quite enough. The not-in-control factor for Grant Flower was low too – a mere 11.1%.

Another quality spinner from the other end, and the series result might well have been different.

S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com India.

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