Zeenews Bureau
Bangalore, Dec 08: India put on a brilliant batting display, largely owing to the combination of Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly which shared a mammoth partnership of 300 runs. The home team ended the first day at a positive note as the duo helped India amass a huge total of 365 runs for the loss of five wickets.
Yuvraj Singh fell victim to the bowling of Mohammad Sami at a score of 169 runs. He was caught by Iqbal at gully as he closed the face of the bat a bit early on a short of length delivery. With his wicket gone, half of the Indian squad had been wrapped up as wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik came in to bat.
Sourav Ganguly carried on with the run march against Pakistan in the final session of the day’s play as he scored another Test century. The Indian total read 311 runs for the loss of just four wickets as the sessions post lunch did not conceive any wickets for Pakistan. Ganguly looked at his sublime best as he cut the ball with panache and kept the tempo up with the batting southpaw, Yuvraj Singh.
India’s Yuvraj Singh cracked a blazing century to help his team make a strong comeback on the first day of the final Test match against Pakistan. The century came off just 135 balls as he carried on with his good form with the bat in his re-entry into the Test squad. The Indian total spiralled past 250 run-mark, with Sourav Ganguly keeping the tempo up from his side as well.
Ganguly too had marched towards a well earned fifty and put India in the driver’s seat in the post-lunch session of play. His knock was marked with some exquisite stroke-making followed-up with effective running between the wickets, a feat he has mastered in the recent times. The Indian scorecard read 174 runs for the loss of four wickets with the pair adding runs at will. The effort brought some respite to India after they were left high and dry by the top order batsmen.
The experienced duo of Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh had powered India past 100 run-mark with an array of boundaries. They creamed the pace attack of the visitor team with ease and rotated the strike efficiently to help India recover from the initial hiccups of losing four wickets. India were 104 runs for the loss of four wickets shortly after the lunch break.
Earlier, Arafat had clean bowled Laxman, sending the Indian camp in a state of panic. Laxman dragged a low keeping delivery onto the stumps after scoring just five runs. With the top order gone cheaply, Pakistan were on top of their game as the duo of Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh tried to alleviate the innings. The Indian scorecard had a gleam look to it as it read 61 runs for the loss of four crucial wickets.
Arafat claimed his second wicket as he got the in-form batsman Wasim Jaffer out LBW at a score of 17 runs. The batsman was left plumb in front of the wicket as the delivery headed towards the off and middle stump. The Indian score card read 51 runs for the loss of 3 wickets as VVS Laxman came in to fill the slot.
Debutant pacer Arafat claimed his first wicket of the match in the form of Rahul Dravid, who looked set to enthral the spectators at his home ground. He could manage to score 19 runs before he nicked an outside off stump delivery into the hands of Misbah-ul-Haq standing at first slip. India were 44 runs for the loss of two wickets as Sourav Ganguly walked in to bat.
Prior to this, Pakistan speedster Mohammad Sami struck gold in then early overs of the final Test match as he claimed the wicket of opener Gautam Gambhir. The batsman could only add 5 runs to his tally before he edged a delivery into the hands of wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal. India were 8 runs for the loss of a wicket after a slow start.
Indian skipper Anil Kumble won the toss and elected to bat first in the final Test match against Pakistan being played at Bangalore. The Indian squad underwent four changes for the match as Sachin Tendulkar, Munaf Patel, MS Dhoni and Zaheer Khan were out of the playing eleven due to fitness problems.
Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Khan and Ishant Sharma were taken in the squad as replacements to the injured players. For Pakistan, the only change was Yasir Arafat coming in place for Sohail Tanvir.
India team: Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan
Pakistan team: Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Younis Khan(capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Faisal Iqbal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal(wk), Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Yasir Arafat, Danish Kaneria
