Jaffer hits a half-century to increase India's advantage

Cricket A half-century from Wasim Jaffer helped India stretch their lead over Pakistan to 301 runs on day four of the second…

CricketA half-century from Wasim Jaffer helped India stretch their lead over Pakistan to 301 runs on day four of the second Test.

Having bowled the tourists out for 456 before tea, first-innings hero Jaffer caused further trouble for the Pakistan attack with his knock of 56 guiding India to 141 for two at stumps in Kolkata.

Jaffer, who scored a double century in the opening innings, escaped an early dismissal when he was dropped on nought before his opening-wicket stand of 75 with Dinesh Karthik allowed India to take control of the match.

Karthik was eventually removed by Danish Kaneria for 28 but Jaffer continued to make his mark and reached his 10th Test 50 in 70 balls.

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni had moved on to 28 at close of play and Sourav Ganguly was unbeaten on 24 as the Indians aim to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Earlier in the day, an unbeaten 161 from Misbah helped Pakistan avoid the follow-on, but a late collapse saw the tourists bowled out with a 160-run first-innings deficit. Chasing India's mammoth score of 616 for five declared, Misbah and Mohammad Sami had steered their side through the morning session and beyond the 417 runs they needed to avoid having to bat again.

However, India's bowlers made the breakthrough after lunch with the removal of Sami while the last three wickets fell for eight runs. Misbah was the last man standing for Pakistan after a maiden Test century.

Second Test Scoreboard

Overnight: India 616-5 dec (W Jaffer 202, V V S Laxman 112 not out, S Ganguly 102, S Tendulkar 82, M Dhoni 50 not out, R Dravid 50). Pakistan 358-6 (Kamran Akmal 119, Misbah-ul-Haq 108 not out).

PAKISTAN - First innings

Misbah ul-Haq not out 161

Mohammad Sami c Jaffer b Laxman 38

Tanvir c Dravid b Kumble 0

Shoaib Akhtar c Dravid b Harbhajan Singh 0

Danish Kaneria b Harbhajan Singh 0

Extras (b8, lb7, w1, nb10, pens 0) 26

... -----

Total (all out, 151.1 overs) 456

Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-77, 3-85, 4-134, 5-150, 6-357, 7-448, 8-449, 9-452.

Bowling: Khan 25.2-8-69-0; M M Patel 21-4-5-1; Harbhajan Singh 45.5-9-122-5; Kumble 47-14-122-3; Tendulkar 7-1-32-0; Ganguly 4-1-9-0; Laxman 1-0-2-1.

INDIA - Second innings

W Jaffer b Danish Kaneria 56

K Karthik c Misbah-ul-Haq b Danish Kan 28

M Dhoni not out 28

S Ganguly not out 24

Extras (lb2, nb3, pens 0) 5

... -----

Total (2 wkts, 36 overs) 141

Fall of wickets: 1-75, 2-95.

To bat: R Dravid, S Tendulkar, V Laxman, A Kumble, H Singh, Z Khan, M Patel.

Bowling: Shoaib Akhtar 9-0-24-0; Tanvir 9-0-41-0; Mohammad Sami 5-1-28-0; Danish Kaneria 12-0-41-2; Salman Butt 1-0-5-0.