CRICKET / India v England, first Test: Two wickets yesterday evening after an afternoon of toil sealed a day that was emphatically England's. The first, to Steve Harmison thanks to a fine, low catch at first slip by Alastair Cook, saw the back of Anil Kumble for 58 and broke an eighth-wicket stand worth 128, within a single run of the highest of the match.
The next strike, from Monty Panesar, was sublime, a joy to any English supporter who thought the art of real spin bowling had died.
Mohammad Kaif had batted beautifully, producing an elegant, wristy justification of his selection, and had helped pull India round from a parlous 190 for seven to one where his side were within half an hour or so of being right back in contention. Panesar had worked diligently through the day, mostly from the dressing-room end, until Andy Flintoff changed he and Harmison around in search of the breakthrough.
With a century looming, Kaif left his crease and hit Panesar back over his head to the straight boundary to take him to 91. Perhaps he did not want to sleep (or maybe not sleep) with a hundred still in the offing. But what followed was beyond his control.
Panesar, slowing his pace, found loop from around the wicket and drift in to the right-hander as Kaif, propping forward, was pulled round and opened up. But the ball dipped, bit, taking a puff of dust, and spun sharply back across the batsman from middle and leg to take off-stump.
This was a stunning piece of cricket, the last act in an old-fashioned sub-continental day in which India were restricted by commendably persistent bowling to just 196 runs in 87 overs.
Earlier, during an extraordinary morning in which Matthew Hoggard tore the Indian top order asunder with an exemplary display of swing - reverse for the most part, which is unusual for him - Panesar had opened his Test wickets account by pitching one on the line of the stumps of the great Sachin Tendulkar, straightening it and trapping him lbw as the batsman pushed forward with his bat tucked away behind his front pad.
If it was a brave decision by Aleem Dar, then it was correct.
Panesar's lap of honour told of his glee. His wickets and the five that went to Hoggard, at a cost of 57, sat alongside one apiece for Flintoff and Harmison.
If the draw remained the most likely result at the close, then with India on 322 for nine, 71 adrift, England would have felt they were in with an excellent chance of winning the opening match of the series.
India had begun the day on 136 for one, with Wasim Jaffer sniffing a century and Rahul Dravid embedded and beginning to expand his empire at the crease. The expectation was for England's industrious bowlers nevertheless to have a trying day. But the late evening of the second day had brought with it storms that raged until after midnight and threatened a prompt start.
Quite how is a mystery, given that a fundamental of reverse swing is that the ball has to be kept dry, but the downpour must have had an effect in the first session, during which five wickets fell for 54, for instantly Hoggard began to move the ball in massively.
The dismissal of Dravid, lbw without adding to his overnight 40, was unfortunate for him - the ball was swinging well down the leg side when it struck his front pad - but there was no doubting the wicket of Jaffer in Hoggard's following over, edging as he did low to Flintoff at second slip, or that of VVS Laxman, lbw to the next, in-swinging, ball.
Kaif deprived Hoggard of the second hat-trick of his international career, but rarely can he have bowled better for England. Until tiring towards the end of the day, when Kaif twice sent half-volleys skimming through midwicket, he scarcely bowled a ball that was not precisely on the intended line and length.
Later, deservedly, he was able to collect the wicket of Irfan Pathan and complete the sixth five-wicket haul of his career, taking him to 189 wickets, joint 11th in England's all-time list.
Already this has been a match remarkable for players given unexpected opportunity making their mark. For England, Cook first and then Collingwood have been followed by Panesar, who throughout each and every one of his 41.4 overs, has looked not a novice but a seasoned campaigner, restricting the strokeplay of some of the world's finest players of spin.
There is no secret or mystery about Panesar. He has a fluent, repeating action reminiscent of the former England spinner Phil Edmonds, is balanced at the crease with a good body action and strong arm that helps impart the spin and gives him the drift that helped do for Kaif.
Kaif, meanwhile, has offered some respite from those who persistently make their case for the return of Sourav Ganguly.
For over five hours, Kaif defended with straight-batted defiance, drove neatly, and once pulled Harmison thrillingly through midwicket for one of his 12 boundaries.
Guardian Service
FIRST TEST - India v England
(in Nagpur)
Overnight: England 393 (P Collingwood 134 no, A Cook 60; S Sreesanth 4-95). India 136-1 (W Jaffer 73 no).
India First Innings Close
W Jaffer c Flintoff b Hoggard 81
R Dravid lbw b Hoggard 40
S Tendulkar lbw b Panesar 16
VVS Laxman lbw b Hoggard 0
M Kaif b Panesar 91
M Dhoni c G Jones b Flintoff 5
I Pathan c Flintoff b Hoggard 2
A Kumble c Cook b Harmison 58
Harbhajan Singh not out 0
Extras (b17 lb3 w5 nb2) 27
Total 9 wkts (135.4 overs) ... 322
Fall of wickets: 1-11 2-140 3-149 4-149 5-176 6-183 7-190 8-318 9-322.
To Bat: S Sreesanth.
Bowling: Hoggard 30-13-57-5, Harmison 27-5-75-1, Flintoff 29-10-68-1, Panesar 41.4-19-72-2, Blackwell 7-0-28-0, Bell 1-0-2-0.
