 |
| |
|
 |
 |
 |
Fluctuating fortunes Kumble rattles England after Trescothick's 99Posted: Tuesday December 11, 2001 7:51 AMUpdated: Wednesday December 12, 2001 7:31 AM
AHMADABAD, India (AP) -- Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble's five-wicket haul plotted an England collapse after opener Marcus Trescothick's attacking 99 launched the tourists' challenge on the opening day of the second test match at Ahmadabad's Motera Stadium on Tuesday. Kumble, aided by two dubious decisions from Zimbabwean umpire Ian Robinson, claimed five wickets for 80 runs to stop England's advance in the wake of a rosy opening partnership of 124 runs between vice-captain Trescothick and Mark Butcher. England was 277 for six wickets at the draw of stumps with all-rounder Craig White, seeking to repair the damage, batting on 42 and wicketkeeper-batsman James Foster on 15. Responding to their captain's call for commitment, England's batsmen made a steady start by overcoming the hiccups of the massive 10-wicket defeat in last week's series opener before Kumble got into the wicket-scalping act. Carrying his match-winning form from the first test - where he claimed six for 81 in England's second innings - Kumble bagged five wickets in an innings for the 18th time in 65 tests with his fastish over-the-wrist tweakers to block England's path to safety. Attacking opener Trescothick displayed his wide range of strokes in his 244-minute knock, studded with 11 boundaries and a lusty six off spinner Harbhajan Singh, but fell one short of posting his maiden century in only his second test appearance against India. Trescothick's fluent innings came to an end when he edged an intended cut off Kumble into wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta's gloves in the first over after tea, for which he broke off on 99. Trescothick said he was "not really disappointed" at falling on the verge of what would have been his third test century. "It didn't bother me too much ... I was happy to have made a good contribution to England's score," Trescothick said. "It turned out to be an even day. We're hopeful of reaching 400, which is an ideal score on this wicket." Butcher struck nine boundaries in his 120-ball knock of 51, which came in 172 minutes of compact batting after skipper Nasser Hussain won the toss for the first time in 11 tests. Butcher, shaping for a defensive back-foot shot, was caught behind by Dasgupta off Kumble, who added two quick wickets in the afternoon session as umpire Robinson erred in adjudging skipper Hussain and Michael Vaughan out. Hussain was given out leg before to Kumble for one run even though his pad was outside the leg stump at the point of contact. Vaughan, inducted in place of seasoned left-handed batsman Graham Thorpe who had to dash back to England on Tuesday, was given out caught by Virender Sehwag at forward short-leg off Kumble when the ball went off his left pad. Vaughan scored 11 runs. Vice-captain Trescothick said he was not allowed to comment on the umpiring decisions. "I can't talk about the umpiring decision ... You've seen it all," he said. All-rounder Andrew Flintoff became Kumble's fifth victim, caught by Vangipurappu at silly point for a duck. Sachin Tendulkar bowled middle-order batsman Mark Ramprakash with a prodigious spinner for 37, which included six fours and a six off Kumble to mid-wicket. England suffered a big jolt before the test got underway as Thorpe, one of its most accomplished batsmen, was granted permission by the team management to take the flight back home to attend to personal matters. "Pressing matters of a personal nature have arisen that require Graham's immediate attention," said a statement by England's team management. Trescothick said losing Thorpe was a "big setback" for the England side. "Graham was our best batsman ... He was the top performer when we won test rubbers in Pakistan and Sri Lanka," he said.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
