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23-Dec-2008 17:40:00 GMT
England in India, 2008/09, 2nd Test, 5th Day

Ind v Eng Mohali Test Draw, India Win Series 1-0

Mohali: Chasing 403 runs to win, England were 64/1 when play was called off with the mandatory one hour remaining with Andrew Strauss (21) and Ian Bell (24) at the crease, with Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni bowling the last over and VVS Laxman keeping wickets.

The draw gave India a 1-0 series victory as they won the first Test at Chennai by six wickets. But full credit should be given to Kevin Pietersen and his men who returned for the Test series after the terror attacks in Mumbai.

Dense fog because of which play got off a to a delayed start on most days and Dhoni's delayed decision to draw the second innings played their parts in the Test ending in a draw.

Dhoni waited for the centuries of Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, but both the southpaws failed to get the landmark. Gambhir and Yuvraj added 153 runs for the fifth wicket.

The delay in the declaration left India little time in hand to bowl out England as there are no horrors in the pitch to give India a miraculous victory.

The lone wicket to fall was that of Alastair Cook (10) who was dismissed by Ishant Sharma to put England to 18/1. The start of play was delayed by 2 hours due to dense fog.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni said - "We played very well. We needed a big partnership in the first Test and Tendulkar and Yuvraj stood up. Here there was a bit of moisture in the wicket, but there wasn't much in it for the spinners and there was the lost time. When we went into bat we weren't sure about the fog, we started well today and both Gautam and Yuvi deserved their centuries but sadly couldn't get them. We are just concentrating on our plans and are enjoying the cricket we are playing. We'll just to prepare well in the future."

Kevin Pietersen told - "There's a lot to learn from a tour of India. We've enjoyed comeback for the Tests. We got into a position to win in Chennai but couldn't pull it off. I'm really proud to be captain of a bunch of lads who jumped on a plane back and their concentrated on their cricket. The way they got themselves into a good position last week they can take a lot from."

Zaheer Khan is Man of the Series. That's a pleasing, if slightly surprising, award. It's often the batsmen who get honoured more, but Zaheer has bowled well especially with his reverse swing. "We are working well as a unit. I was hoping to get more wickets. It's been good since I cam back from injury and we all enjoy the success of each other. It's been a great year for Indian cricket."

Gautam Gambhir is Man of the Match. "I'm very honoured," he says. "If someone told me I'd get so many runs I'd have taken it. I've had a hunger for runs and have been in good form. All innings you play for your country are special. It was a good wicket, we should have won 2-0."

Day 5 Highlights

  • Gambhir and Yuvraj missed their hundreds narrowly but did enough to allow India to set England an impossible victory target. Dhoni declared after lunch adn the match was drawn.
  • 774-runs made by Gautam Gambhir in his last four Tests. Hi made three centuries (include double hundred at Delhi) and three fifties.
  • 9th times series wins recorded by India against England - their sixth in India. Having won the 2007 Test series by 1-0 in England, for the second time, have won two series in succession against England. The first instance being when they won by 1-0 in England in 1971 and 2-1 in India in 1972-73
  • 2md times Man of the series won by Zaheer Khan in Test match - both against England. His first award was in England in 2007 for claiming 18-wickets in the three Test series at 20.33 average.
Reports by session
1st Session: Runs 82, Wkt 0, Ovr 13
2nd Session: Runs 66, Wkt 4, Ovr 20
3rd Session: Runs 33, Wkt 0, Ovr 7.4

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