India 327 and 117 for 7 (Gambhir 53*, Panesar 5-61) lead England 413 (Pietersen 186, Cook 122, Ojha 5-143) by 31 runs
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Kevin Pietersen
played one of the great Test innings to leave England scenting victory
in the second Test during a day of high drama in Mumbai. Pietersen
bestrode the first two sessions with a brilliant 186 and England's
spinners did not waste the opportunity he had provided as Graeme Swann
and Monty Panesar terrorised India's second innings in turn.
Rarely has a Test of any era had such an emphasis upon spin bowling, and
the result has been a compelling contest. India will start the fourth
day precariously placed with a 31-run lead and three second innings
remaining. Swann and Panesar, yet to win a Test in tandem for England in
eight attempts, proved themselves at least the equals of India's
spinners. However, there is just a glimmer of hope for India: England
will not chase any fourth-innings total above 100 with certainty.
This was a historic day as Pietersen and Alastair Cook both equalled the
record for most England Test centuries, it was an enthralling day of
virtually perpetual spin, it even had an element of controversy in the
dismissal of Jonny Bairstow, but it largely swooned in the presence of
the batting genius of Pietersen, who unveiled one of his most
exceptional innings for England, 186 from 233 balls on a wickedly
turning pitch, an innings played with utter conviction, awash with
moments of rare skill.
The quality of his innings - and, in a different key, that of Cook - was
emphasised by what followed. England's tail collapsed in quick time and
then India caved in in turn, only Gautam Gambhir gamely assembling an
unbeaten half-century. Panesar and Swann outbowled their India
counterparts on this occasion, even if the difference was overstated
because of Pietersen's brilliance, with Panesar's extra pace making him a
particularly challenging proposition on a surface where he could also
turn the ball markedly.
Nearly eight overs elapsed before England, holding a lead of 86, made an
impression, Panesar drawing Virender Sehwag cagily forward and Swann
taking a catch at gully. Cheteshwar Pujara, England's scourge, was
caught at short leg off an inside edge as Swann followed suit in the
next over.
The stage was set for what might prove to be Sachin Tendulkar's final
Test innings in Mumbai, but there was no heroic script, no summoning of
powers of old. Tendulkar survived a stumping appeal off Panesar by a
whisker as his back foot momentarily lifted and was then late on his
shot against Panesar to be lbw.
Was it the pressure, or merely carelessness, which then caused Virat
Kohil to mistime a full toss from Swann horribly to mid-off where the
substitute, Joe Root, held his nerve? Yuvraj Singh followed off the
glove to short leg; MS Dhoni, a captain who had demanded turning
surfaces to expose England, found himself exposed as he edged Panesar to
slip. A breathless third day ended with R Ashwin's failed attempts at
adventure and a skied catch to Samit Patel at extra cover.
Panesar has 10 wickets in the match to date, the first time an England
spinner has done that since Hedley Verity in the 1930s. His quicker pace
than India's slow left-armer, Ojha, on a pitch where both could find
substantial turn, made him a more difficult proposition.
But as the dust settled - and there was lots of it - the emphasis
remained with Pietersen. This was an innings of daring and presumption,
one that could only be played by a batsman of great talent and even
greater ego. India's spinners waited for the storm to abate in the
knowledge that only when it did normal life could be resumed.
Smart stats |
Pietersen's hundred was achieved with a reverse sweep against Harbhajan
Singh, outrageous, yes, but caressed with such composure there was not
the merest hint of excess. For his 150, he performed an exceptional
pick-up over mid wicket off Pragyan Ojha. There was also an
extraordinary loft over cover for six against Ojha, which he deposited
there as if in a dream.
Ohja finally got his man, drawing a lavish drive which he nicked to the
wicketkeeper, and when it was all over, and Pietersen fell, utterly
fulfilled, England's last five wickets fell for 31 in nine overs as the
spinners restored the natural order of things, just as houses and shops
are repaired and reopened after a storm has left town
England's collapse was quickened by the soft run out of Matt Prior, who
half-attempted a stolen offside single and was then sent back by Stuart
Broad, Dhoni's rapid retrieve and throw beating his desperate dive for
the crease. The rest fell quickly, with Harbhajan nipping in for two
tail-end wickets and Panesar slogging Ashwin to deep midwicket. Perhaps
he was desperate to get the ball in his hands.
The stand of 206 in 53 overs between Pietersen and Cook moved them alongside Wally Hammond, Colin Cowdrey and Geoffrey Boycott with 22 Test hundreds.
Even if one India fielder looking on, Tendulkar, had the right to
remark that they had barely started, the sense of achievement was
palpable in a year that has brought England little joy.
Such achievements are years in the making, and they have been reached by
two very different individuals following two very different routes, but
they came within two overs of each other on a sunny Sunday morning in
Mumbai.
Cook reached his hundred with a perfectly fashioned off drive against
Harbhajan, lips licked in anticipation as he leant into the shot with
such poise that when his career ends a representation of the shot should
rightly stand alongside Henry Moore's Old Flo. Pietersen would be
better celebrated with a dance song, complete with laser show.
Cook, who continued his unparalleled record of hundreds in four
successive Tests as captain, fell for 122, 35 minutes before lunch,
caught at the wicket by Dhoni as Ashwin found turn and bounce. Cook and
Pietersen, introvert and extrovert, loyalist and rebel, had been at the
peak of their game.
India took the second new ball immediately upon Cook's dismissal and
they struck again on the stroke of lunch as Bairstow, controversially,
became Ojha's third victim as he tried to work him against the spin into
the leg side and got a leading edge to Gambhir at silly point. England
felt they had a case that Bairstow should have been reprieved on the grounds that the ball had struck the grille of Gambhir's helmet.
England's director of cricket, Andy Flower, approached the match
referee, Roshan Mahanama, to ask for the decision to be reversed, but as
Bairstow had left the field of play, the decision could only be
withdrawn if India's captain, Dhoni, withdrew his appeal. Dhoni, with
the support of his coach, Duncan Fletcher, chose not to do so. By the
close of a remarkable day, it all seemed quite inconsequential.
David Hopps is the UK editor of ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: David Hopps
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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