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Dravid's brilliance punishes England

England 515 and 114-0 India 508

Angus Fraser
Monday 09 September 2002 00:00 BST
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When they walked out to bat at 4.46pm yesterday, Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan were under pressure. India had amassed 508, thanks largely to an awesome innings of 217 from Rahul Dravid, and England with a first-innings lead of just seven runs appeared to be in the position where if one side was to win this fourth Test it was not going to be them.

However, 28 overs later the situation had been reversed. Batting in their usual aggressive style, Trescothick and Vaughan took the game to India from the first over and by the close had given England a handy lead of 121. Indeed, such was the rate they rattled along at they may even have given Nasser Hussain an outside chance of taking the Test and the series today.

The chances of either side being able to force a result are slim but the opening pair have ensured that at least there should be something worth watching at The Oval as this enthralling series reaches its conclusion.

Trescothick got the ball rolling, as he inevitably does, by taking advantage of anything loose served up on a docile pitch. Cutting and driving with his usual power, it did not take long before the seamers had been hit out of the attack and the spinners were given the responsibility of stemming the flow. However, even they failed to control the Somerset left-hander on a turning pitch as he smashed his way to 50.

After nearly running his opening partner out in the first over calling for a quick single, he never looked back and seems to be warming up nicely for the International Cricket Council Champions' Trophy which is due to start in Sri Lanka later this week.

For Vaughan, at the moment batting seems as easy as starting your car and it did not take long before he began cruising through the gears. A sumptuous drive through the covers got him going and on 16 he moved to a 1,000 runs in the calendar year. Another milestone he passed on the way to 47 not out was 600 runs in this series.

He was not the first to reach this landmark on another day dominated by the batsmen. Dravid beat him to the 600 club, but both batsmen will look back on this summer with fondness.

After spending all but 17 minutes of this Test on the field of play it was inevitable that Dravid's legs would let him down in the end. Called for a quick single he was a bit slow out of the blocks, but the blame for his demise lay firmly at the feet of his batting partner, Ajay Ratra.

Walking off the field accepting the applause of a full house crowd, everyone appreciated they had witnessed a special innings.

Quite right, too, because for the previous 10 and a half hours, while almost effortlessly collecting his career-best score, this delightful batsman had played as impeccable an innings as you could wish to see. During his marathon occupation of the crease ­ 468 balls ­ one mistake, a hard chance to Ashley Giles in the gully on 168, is all that registered in my notes and by the end of his sojourn the Indore-born right-hander had given everyone another masterclass in the art of batting.

The other milestone Dravid passed was becoming the highest Indian run-scorer in a series against England, but playing his side into a position of safety would have given him as much pleasure as either of these personal landmarks.

It is not just the amount of runs that Dravid has scored during the 31 hours and 3 minutes he has batted during this series which has impressed, and allowed him to outshine his more celebrated team-mate Sachin Tendulkar, but the way in which he has collected them.

The concentration required to bat for such periods of time is phenomenal, even on 189 he was letting balls fly through to the keeper. Some players would have been teeing off at everything by then, but that explains why has reached such dizzy heights.

The first task for England yesterday morning other than to take wickets was to repair some of the psychological damage created on Saturday evening. After tea, Hussain's team seemed to play in a manner that suggested they were more concerned with the possibility of losing this game ­ despite still being 255 runs ahead ­ than winning it.

Looking to kill an hour's play Dominic Cork, under the guidance of Hussain, bowled bouncer after bouncer at the Indian batsmen with the field set to make the hook shot unwise. Such a tactic would have only filled the Indian dressing-room with optimism. They would have realised England were fearful.

With this advantage India came out to bat yesterday requiring just one run to avoid the follow-on. This was passed, courtesy of a leg bye, but despite the efforts of Andrew Caddick and Matthew Hoggard, who bowled well with the second new ball, the tourists prospered.

Cork snarled and chuntered in his usual manner, but the Indian batsmen decided to take him on both verbally and by attempting the hook shot. By the time the Derbyshire player was taken off, four overs later, his figures before him were those of a busted flush rather than a royal.

Andrew Caddick was England's best bowler, deserving better than his figures suggest. After a poor outing at Headingley, he bowled with discipline and aggression proving that there is something in this pitch. Obtaining bounce and movement towards the slips, he troubled all the Indian batsmen, including Dravid and deserved the fifth wicket he was deprived of when Ashley Giles dismissed Harbhajan Singh.

OVAL SCOREBOARD

England won toss

England – First innings 515 (M P Vaughan 152, M E Trescothick 57, M A Butcher 54, D G Cork 52; Harbhajan Singh 5-115)

INDIA – First innings (Overnight Friday: 66 for 1)
S B Bangar c Butcher b Hoggard 21
R S Dravid run out (Giles-Stewart) 217
S R Tendulkar lbw b Caddick 54
S C Ganguly c Stewart b Cork 51
V V S Laxman c Giles b Caddick 40
A B Agarkar b Vaughan 31
A Ratra c Butcher b Caddick 8
A Kumble c Hussain b Giles 7
Harbhajan Singh b Giles 17
Zaheer Khan not out 6
Extras (b10, lb6, nb28) 44
Total (713 min, 170 overs) 508

Fall: 1-18 (Sehwag), 2-87 (Bangar), 3-178 (Tendulkar), 4-283 (Ganguly), 5-396 (Laxman), 6-465 (Agarkar), 7-473 (Dravid), 8-477 (Ratra), 9-493 (Kumble), 10-508 (Harbhajan Singh).

Bowling: Hoggard 25-2-97-1 (nb11) (3-0-15-0, 3-1-7-0, 6-0-28-1, 3-0-9-0, 8-1-21-0, 2-0-17-0); Caddick 43-11-114-4 (nb3) (2-0-13-1, 4-2-4-0, 7-3-13-0, 2-0-6-0, 4-1-14-1, 9-2-14-0, 6-1-20-1, 9-2-30-1); Giles 49-12-98-2 (1-0-1-0, 2-0-6-0, 4-1-7-0, 6-2-17-0, 3-0-15-0, 14-5-23-0, 15-1-28-0, 4-3-1-2); Tudor 19-2-80-0 (nb8) (4-2-14-0, 2-0-14-0, 5-0-25-0, 4-0-6-0, 4-0-21-0); Cork 22-5-67-1 (nb6) (2-1-4-0, 3-1-10-0, 11-3-28-1, 4-0-19-0, 2-0-6-0); Vaughan 12-1-36-1 (1-0-1-0, 3-0-9-0, 1-0-9-0, 7-1-17-1).

Progress: Second day: 50: 70 min, 15.4 overs. Close Friday: 66-1 (Bangar 17, Dravid 31) 22 overs. Third day: overnight rain delayed start until 11.15am. 100: 136 min, 30.3 overs. 150: 198 min, 46.3 overs. Lunch: 151-2 (Dravid 65, Tendulkar 38) 47 overs. 200: 265 min, 62.2 overs. 250: 301 min, 70.5 overs. Tea: 260 for 3 (Dravid 109, Ganguly 37) 76 overs. 300: 392 min, 94.2 overs. New ball taken after 100 overs at 307 for 4. Close: 315 for 4 (Dravid 131, Laxman 14) 105.2 overs. Fourth day: 350: 494 min, 117.5 overs. 400: 555 min, 132.3 overs. Lunch: 403 for 5 (Dravid 184, Agarkar 3) 133 overs. 450: 616 min, 148.1 overs. Tea: 486 for 8 (Kumble 5, Harbhajan Singh 5) 162 overs. 500: 691 min, 164.5 overs. Innings closed 4.37pm.

Dravid: 50: 116 min, 88 balls, 8 fours. 100: 273 min, 213 balls, 15 fours. 150: 478 min, 360 balls, 19 fours. 200: 583 min, 449 balls, 26 fours. Tendulkar: 50: 97 min, 76 balls, 10 fours. Ganguly 50: 112 min, 76 balls, 8 fours.

ENGLAND – Second innings
M E Trescothick not out 58
M P Vaughan not out 47
Extras (b4, nb5) 9
Total (for 0, 117 min, 28 overs) 114

Bowling: Zaheer Khan 5-0-37-0 (nb4); Bangar 2-0-6-0; Kumble 10-2-28-0 (nb1) (one spell each); Harbhajan Singh 7-1-24-0 (5-1-17-0, 2-0-7-0); Agarkar 4-0-15-0 (one spell).

Progress: 50: 46 min, 9.5 overs. 100: 96 min, 23 overs. Bad light stopped play 6.45pm.

Trescothick: 50: 96 min, 82 balls, 8 fours.

Umpires: E A R de Silva (Sri Lanka) and D L Orchard (SA)

TV replay umpire: N A Mallender.

Match referee: C H Lloyd.

Four-Test series drawn 1-1.

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