'Jumbo' tramples all over England bats Starting Day Four at Mohali, the English batsmen may have been hopeful of pushing for a draw. The pitch, after all, was not rotten, the bowling had looked haphazard the previous evening, and both openers seemed set. Anil Kumble put paid to those hopes. After Tinu Yohannan again blasted a hole at the top of the order, Kumble got into the act, dismissing six batsmen in the innings. Only Graham Thorpe seemed even remotely comfortable against the leggie, but finally he too succumbed to Kumble at the end, offering him a tame return catch. Thorpe made 62 and Trescothick 46, but none of the others could stick around. Dismissed for 235, England set a target of 5; India reacted with almost disdain, sending Iqbal Siddiqui in place of the injured Shiv Sunder Das to hit the winning runs. Kumble, as expected, was the Man of the Match, and he will be licking his chops in anticipation of the even-more-helpful pitches coming up in the series.

Hussain: We probably lost the game on the first day He did not appear distraught, but Nasser Hussain at the post-match press conference must have definitely felt the pain of losing at the only ground in the series where they had a chance. Mohali, as Hussain acknowledged, was "a very good cricket wicket. It had pace, bounce, and was good for batting." And yet India won the match inside four days. The English captain identified the problem with the spectacular Harbhajan-Singh-inspired collapse on Day One. "I think we probably lost the game on the first day. When myself and (Graham) Thorpe were in, with the score at 200/3, to collapse to 238 all out in India, batting first, is like shooting yourself in the foot," said Hussain. He was gracious enough to acknowledge the skills shown by the Indian spinners. "They are fine bowlers, especially in India. We cannot hide behind that," he said. When asked whether the bounce aided the Indians, Hussain pragmatically replied that his own off-spinner, Richard Dawson, was helped by the same factor. The skipper was all praise for Dawson, who he said "showed very good attitude. He is a fast learner, and when someone tells him something, he puts it into practice very quickly." He admitted that the other English debutant, James Foster, did not have so hot a game, but was quick to read little into it. "I am sure Foster will admit that he has had a very poor game, but I think he has shown a bit of character as well,” he said. “Let us not compare him to someone who has played a hundred Tests, let us compare him to other people who are playing their first Test." Sound words from a supportive captain.

Enriching cricket - in many ways If a newcomer had spotted the teams walking off after the awards ceremony, he would have been justified in thinking that Harbhajan Singh had single-handedly won the match for India. The massive bowl-trophy and the five-lakh purse, however, were for a feat that was performed nine months earlier: the by-now-famous hat-trick against Australia at Kolkata. The ink in the record-books having dried ages ago, it might seem a tad lavish, but the benefactor was none other than the Punjab Cricket Association, which wanted to honour a son of its soil. The PCA, going by appearances, is flush; the offices of the institution on the sidelines at Mohali are strongly reminiscent of a five-star hotel in décor and opulence. Big-screen TVs dot lounges littered with plush sofas and richly endowed with wooden paneling. The grounds themselves are similarly well-maintained, with the infrastructure reputed to be the best in the country. No wonder Nasser Hussain said that he had no complaints about the ground whatsoever!

The Man of Mohali speaks on bowling in tandem with Harbhajan Singh and his successful return from an injured hiatus. Click Here Barely 30 years ago, another Indian leg-spinner of yore tormented England throughout a home series. Click Here Spin guru EAS Prasanna lauds new-generation tweakers Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in his Mohali review. Click Here