How 'The Wall' pulled India out of post-2007 WC crisis with series win in England
The series is one to be remembered for several reasons. Be it for Dinesh Karthik outscoring several legends during his finest hour as an international cricketer, Anil Kumble's unlikely maiden Test ton at The Oval, Sachin Tendulkar's frustrating struggle with 'nervous ninties' that kept fans waiting for a century, or the sheer dominance of pacer Zaheer Khan.
Let us reminisce on India's tour to England back in 2007:
1st Test: The first Test at Lord's saw England opting to bat first after winning the toss. Other than half-centuries from Andrew Strauss (96) and skipper Michael Vaughan (79), no English batter could do a lot against the pace trio of Zaheer (2/62), Sreesanth (3/67) and RP Singh (2/58) as England collapsed from 218/1 to 298 all-out. In India's first innings, the duo of James Anderson (5/42) and Ryan Sidebottom (4/65) allowed no big partnerships. Wasim Jaffer's gritty 58 stood out in India's score of 201 as they trailed by 97 runs.
In their second innings, England was reduced to 132/5 by RP (5/59) and Zaheer (4/79), but a counter-attacking knock by Kevin Pietersen (134 in 213 balls, with 14 fours and a six) took England to 282 runs, setting 380 to chase for India. While Dinesh (60) contributed a fine half-century, India had collapsed to 145/5, but an 86-run stand between VVS Laxman (39) and MS Dhoni (76) made sure India drew the match, at 282/9.
2nd Test: In the second Nottingham Test, India opted to field first. A fiery 4/59 from Zaheer and 3/32 by Kumble reduced England to 198, as Cook top-scored with 43. India's first innings lead of 283 runs was gigantic, as Karthik (77) and Jaffer (62) started with a 147-run stand. The remainder of top six, including Dravid (37), Tendulkar (91), Sourav Ganguly (79) and VVS Laxman (54) carried forward that momentum, with India scoring 481 runs.
In their second innings, a century from skipper Vaughan (124 in 193 balls, with 18 fours) and fifties from Strauss (55) and Paul Collingwood (63) helped England put up a fight. A 112-run stand for fourth-wicket between Pietersen and Collingwood took England near the 300-run mark, but Zaheer (5/75) and Kumble (3/104) made sure Three Lions were wrapped up for 355 runs, setting 73 to win for India, which they chased down with seven wickets in hand.
Zaheer's performance earned him the 'Player of the Match' award.
3rd Test: The final Test at The Oval saw India opt to bat first. The result was a gigantic 664 on the board which made England sweat, cry, scream and get rattled. If half-centuries from Karthik (91), skipper Dravid (55), Tendulkar (82), Laxman (51) and Dhoni (92) were giving enough headaches to Englishmen, Kumble, the man who had broken several spin bowling records in his career, chose this venue for his maiden international ton (110* in 193 balls, with 16 fours and a six). Anderson was the leading bowler for England, with 4/182 in 40 overs.
During their first innings, England got half-centuries from Cook (61), Collingwood (62) and Bell (63), as they posted 345, still trailing by 319 runs. Zaheer and Kumble got three-wicket hauls.
After being reduced to 11/3, the middle-order fightback led by Ganguly (57) helped India to 180/6 declared, setting a 500 run target for England.
The hosts showed up a massive fight. A 79-run opening stand between Cook and Strauss started things off, while Pietersen (101 in 159 balls, with 18 fours) and Paul Collingwood (40) put on 114 for the fourth-wicket. Bell (67) also scored a half-century, but the match ended in a draw, with England at a commendable 369/6.
Kumble was given the POTM award for his century and five wickets in the match.
Indian top-scorers: Dinesh Karthik (263 runs in three matches, six innings, average of 43.83, three fifties, best score of 91), Sourav Ganguly (249 runs in three matches, six innings, average of 49.80, two fifties and best score of 79), Sachin Tendulkar (228 runs in three matches, six innings, average of 38.00, with two fifties, best score of 91) and MS Dhoni (209 runs in three matches, five innings, average of 52.25, with two fifties, best score of 92).
Indian top wicket-takers: Zaheer Khan (18 wickets, three matches, average of 20.33, best figures of 5/75), Anil Kumble (14 wickets in three matches, average of 34.50, best figures of 3/32), RP Singh (12 wickets in three matches, average of 28.91, best figures of 5/59) and S Sreesanth (9 wickets in three matches at an average of 37.55, best figures of 3/53). (ANI)
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