India vs England, First Test, Day 4

Well, after watching Day 3’s proceedings I had decided not to write too much due to India’s dismal performance. However Day 4 was full of highlights. And even though India  have lost both Tendulkar and Dravid (to a dubious decision), Karthik and Ganguly are well settled at the moment.

With the wicket not offering a lot of lateral movement, a lot now depends on Monty’s guile. He did outfox Sachin to a beauty, the same armball that he used to get him out the first time in India.

The day began with England in full control of the match. However it was RP Singh, the unsung hero of the first innings, who was finally rewarded for his persistence. He got Michael Vaughan when the skipper was really beginning to get it on. 

That started a mini collapse. Paul Collingwood was surprised, or should I say bamboozeled, by a snorter of a delivery. All he could do was duck from the bouncer which caught his gloves and went down to first slip. RP was on a roll. Ian Bell soon followed after playing a couple of crispy shots. However a inside edge soon followed him in the second innings as well.

This is the time when Kevin Pieterson really decided that it was game on. He completely toyed with the Indian bowling and was ably supported by Matt Prior. Kumble, Zaheer, RP, Sree Santh, they were all completely useless in front of the big South African. However, once Prior fell, the Indian bowlers, actually bowler (RP Singh) got rid of the tail real quick.

This would actually be a big worry for England as their tail has refused to wag twice in as many innings in front of a decent attack. It would get even worse if the pace attack is from South Africa, Pakistan or Australia. No wonders they received a 5 – 0 thrashing in the ashes earlier this year.

The day however belonged to KP who scored his third century at Lords in 4 matches. This is also his first against India and could be one of many more to come. 

If England are going to win this match from here, then it would be all thanks to this big man, for had it not been him, England could have been dismissed for a really low total.

India started their innings positively with both Karthik and Jaffer looking to play their shots. Jaffer seems to think that once he crosses a fifty or a hundred in one of the innings then he has done his job. He needed more application here and his wicket caused another failed opening start for India. Rahul Dravid came in and blasted a boundary through point for his first delivery.

However it was Chris Tremlett who had him trapped in front, although it must be said that he was hit just outside the line of offstump and the ball was really only touching the bails as Hawkeye suggested. In came Tendulkar in what would surely be is last innings at Lords. He received a standing ovation from the crowd which goes to show how much he is appreciated around the world.

Tendulkar and Karthik started to rebuild the Indian innings, and just when it seemed that Sachin had settled down, in comes Monty Panesar. An armball completely deceived Sachin and Steve Bucknor had no hesitation in lifting the dreaded finger. This was the end of the innings and the joy could be seen quite clearly in Panesar’s celebrations.

Ganguly was the last man in for India for the day and with Karthik, the two put on a 53 run stand. India finished the day at 137-3, still 243 runs short of their target. With only Laxman and Dhoni left, it really is upto young Karthik and experienced Ganguly to hold the fort for as long as possible. A win is still very much in the equation for India, the batsmen just have to live up to their reputation.