CRICKET:England fought hard yesterday in trying conditions for bowlers. For a while, midway through the afternoon session when James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom, helped by a little hazy cloud cover, bowled beautifully in tandem, they even placed pressure on Indian batsmen who had threatened to run riot, breaking down The Wall when Rahul Dravid seemed immovable and then depriving Dinesh Karthik of what had seemed an inevitable century.
Towards the close of the day, with the second new ball available, there was a bonus wicket for Paul Collingwood, who removed Sourav Ganguly leg before wicket. That it came via a massive inside edge (an appalling decision from the umpire, Ian Howell) merely tickled the fancy of India's former captain. Does it constitute dissent for a batsman to grin as he walks from the field?
By the close, though, it was India, needing only a draw to take the series victory, who had claimed the high ground in reaching 316 for four.
Given the opportunity to bat first in pristine conditions, Wasim Jaffer and Karthik put on 62 for the first wicket before Anderson snared the former at third man for 35.
Karthik and Dravid then added a further 127 before, in quick succession, Dravid was yorked middle stump by Anderson for 55 and Karthik was deemed to have edged Sidebottom when nine short of his hundred. Although the snickometer suggested no contact, Howell must have heard something. The batsman later backed his decision.
With Ganguly gone for 37, VVS Laxman was left to negotiate his way beyond the second new ball and to the close in the company of Sachin Tendulkar, who in the final session had been constructing his innings with the serenity and patience of a stonemason working on a cathedral.
With Laxman barely off the ground yet on 20, having completed 5,000 of the most elegant Test runs on the way, Tendulkar will resume this morning on 48. His has been a pragmatic innings, already beyond three hours in length, and, if he manages to go further than he did at Trent Bridge and complete a hundred or more in what, presumably, will be his last Test appearance in this country, then the finger will be pointed firmly at Matthew Prior.
The wicketkeeper will have required a JCB to dig himself out of the avalanche of opprobrium heaped upon him in the past week, even before Tendulkar, then on 20, launched a drive at a ball slanted across him by Sidebottom and edged low to the wicketkeeper's right. Prior, leaden-footed, got to it but failed to hold the chance. Perhaps, said someone, he should have used his mouth. Sidebottom, who had worked so hard for his wicket, was beside himself.
So far Tendulkar has played an innings, for the most part, devoid of big shots (which may yet come today when the time is ripe).
Guardian Service
(At the Oval)
India won toss
India - First Innings
K Karthik c Prior b Sidebottom 91
W Jaffer c Pietersen b Anderson 35
R Dravid b Anderson 55
S Tendulkar not out 48
S Ganguly lbw b Collingwood 37
V Laxman not out 20
Extras (b21 lb2 w2 nb5) 30
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Total (4 wkts, 90 overs) ... 316
Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-189, 3-199, 4-276.
To Bat: M Dhoni, A Kumble, Z Khan, R Singh, S Sreesanth.
Bowling: Sidebottom 25-5-75-1, Anderson 20-5-83-2, Tremlett 23-4-60-0, Panesar 19-2-71-0, Collingwood 3-1-4-1.
