da pinnacle： There are days when a batsman stands tall and plays well outside hisperceived ability
Anand Vasu19-Nov-2000There are days when a batsman stands tall and plays well outside hisperceived ability. There are days when a team revels in distinguishedmediocrity when things aren’t going their way. There are days when anunlikely pair come together and defy all odds. Today was one of thosedays. Andy Flower was that peerless batsman, Henry Olonga his partnerand India the hapless side at the receiving end. Andy Flower’smarathon unbeaten 183 put Zimbabwe in a strong position at the end ofthe second day’s play at the Feroz Shah Kotla. The visitors amassed422/9 before declaring and putting pressure on India.Resuming on a less than inspiring 232/5, Zimbabwe would never haveimagined that they would be in a position to declare after puttingover four hundred runs on the board. As it happened, the Indian team’sinability to deliver at crucial times helped Zimbabwe do this andmore. Javagal Srinath once again gave India a breakthrough early inthe day. Removing Heath Streak before he could add to his overnightscore of 25, Srinath opened the door for the spinners. The spinnershowever, had no idea what to do, once this door was opened for them.At 325/9 Zimbabwe were on the ropes. Or so we thought. Henry Olonga isa rather unpredictable man. When he’s bowling, he’s troublesome -either for the opposition batsmen or for his captain. Today, theIndians would not have minded facing up to Olonga at his quick best.The sight of him occupying the crease for 90 balls was something theIndians would badly like to have avoided. To achieve that however, youneed bowlers. Sourav Ganguly’s decision to go into this match withonly four bowlers was widely criticised. The way things have pannedout, justifiably so it seems. Having opted to go with just the fourbowlers, Ganguly’s reluctance to hand the ball to Murali Kartik isanother situation that needs to be addressed. And fast, if India wantto go at the Zimbabweans with a serious thought of winning.The visitors’ attitude in this regard is beyond doubt. When AndyFlower was a mere 17 runs from reaching what would have been amemorable double hundred. If Heath Streak harboured any thoughts ofbatting on till Andy Flower notched up his double ton, those thoughtscertainly did not get in the way. At 422/9 Zimbabwe spared the Indiansa further drudgery and declared their innings closed. Not before AndyFlower had given the Indians a lesson in batsmanship in their ownbackyard. Applying himself immaculately, Flower cornered the Indianbowling. Milking them for timely singles and twos, Andy Flower brokethe monotony by striking boundaries at will. Whether it was pullingthe fast bowlers, or sweeping the spinners, Andy Flower was always incontrol. The day clearly belonged to him, and therein to Zimbabwe.When India played Bangladesh in last month, they managed to concede400 runs in the first innings. Snide remarks abounded at how Indianarrowly missed the ignominy of allowing Bangladesh to declare theirinnings. There was no such escape this time. The Flower-Olonga combineadded an unbeaten 97 runs for the last wicket. Heath Streak once againrefused a chance to make history. If the pair had been allowed tocontinue on, and add another three runs, it would have been only thesecond time India would have conceded three figures to the last pair.Statistics and records clearly don’t interest the Zimbabwean captain.Pressing on for a win was clearly high on Streak’s list of priorities.Sending down seven overs to Sadagoppan Ramesh and Shiv Sunder Das, theZimbabweans tried hard for early breakthroughs. Fortunately for Indiathere was no further damage and they went through to stumps at 9 forno loss. Still 413 behind, India will have to do something veryspecial to regain the initiative.