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News Letter
Mon Sep 9 2002
Issue No: 103

England openers extend lead after Dravid 217

A strong showing by the Indian and England batsmen has meant that the Oval Test, barring a bold declaration by Nasser Hussain or an unlikely English collapse, is headed for a draw. After the home team led by Michael Vaughan (193) piled on 515 in the first innings, it was the turn of India and Rahul Dravid to fashion a suitable reply. In the 170 overs that the tourists played, they made 508 with Dravid (217) making his first double-century in an away Test. It was also Dravid's third hundred in successive innings - a feat that has only been achieved by five other Indian players previously. The others to make a significant contribution were Sachin Tendulkar, who made 54 in his 100th Test, and captain Sourav Ganguly (51) and VVS Laxman (40). When England batted for the second time, Marcus Trescothick (58*) and Michael Vaughan (47*) made a postitive start adding 114 runs in the 28 overs that they played before stumps were drawn.

Dravid: A draw looks the most likely result

Sunday was a memorable day for Rahul Dravid. Not only did he notch up his first double century on away soil, he also became the first batsman to score a 1000 runs in this calender year. But he is not expecting his tour de force to deliver a famous win for India. In fact, he is plumping for the safest bet - a draw.

"It's a strange game and anything could happen but a draw looks the most likely result," Dravid admitted.

"For us to force a result, we needed some wickets [on Sunday]. Full credit to them, they came out and played positively and we didn't bowl as well as we should have."

It was a view that England's highest run-getter in this series, Michael Vaughan, also concurred with, though he did not discount the possibility of a surprise result emerging.

There are 93 overs left in the game and we will have to play pretty positively on Monday to force a result. "But on the last day of Test match cricket there is always the odd surprise. There are 93 overs left in the game and we will have to play pretty positively on Monday to force a result. "Being realistic it will be tough for us to get a result but you never know, Nasser might declare in the afternoon," he added.

Dravid, meanwhile, also went on to become the first Indian to score 600-plus runs in a Test series against England. And if he hadn't been run out at 217, he might well have overhauled the record score by an Indian in away Test - Sunil Gavaskar's 221. Dravid, though, shrugged away his unfortunate dismissal by saying that "it was part and parcel of the game".

Harbhajan dreams of bringing Bradman and Schwarznegger together

There is no dearth of colour when Harbhajan Singh is around. Be it on the field or off it, the impish young off-spinner is a much-loved figure. For such an active personality, though, Harbhajan simply loves sleeping. In an interview to BBC which led to this revelation, Harbhajan also talked about his admiration for Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev and Steve Waugh, all of whom he counted as his cricketing heroes. If allowed to invite three people to a dinner party, however, it would not be either of them but Sir Don Bradman, Arnold Schwarznegger and Sonali Bendre whom he would like to arrive as his guests. And if he were to play any music to the unlikely trio you could bet your bottom dollar that his favourite number Bheegi Bheegi Raaton mein by Pakistani singer Adnan Sami was bound to occupy pride of place.

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Sachin Tendulkar scored his first ODI hundred in a match against Australia at the Khetterama Stadium in Colombo on this day in 1994. It came after a long wait; the match marked Tendulkar's 79th appearance in an ODI. But he has more than made up for the early disppointments by scoring an unprecedented 32 tons in the 216 ODIs that he has played since.

It has been a run-filled and fun-filled Test series. The outcome now hinges probably on when Hussain makes his declaration. Will the England captain be daring and imaginative enough while making the vital decision? Find out by logging on to CricInfo.com.

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Rahul Dravid
Memorable double hundred
© CricInfo

Where did Kapil Dev record his first win as Test captain?

Previous Question

Whose record did Sachin Tendulkar beat to become the youngest player to appear in 100 Tests?

Answer:Kapil Dev



"Vaughan played out of his skin. As long as he keeps playing the way he does, he and Trescothick should take English batting to new records," Nasser Hussain

"I didn't realise I was so close, it's obviously been a great summer with the four centuries, the wickets have been flat, I have rode my luck but I have played pretty well," Michael Vaughan on becoming the second batsman to score 1000-plus Test runs in 2002



"Dear Sourav, You are our pride. As a captain you are the best so far and as a batsman you are equally superb. Please continue to flourish," Kishore K Lahiry


Rahul Dravid was the 100th batsman to be run out in a Test at The Oval; the first batsman in this list is England's Fred Morley who fell in a similar fashion on September 7, 1880.

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