Classy Pujara blunts Panesar

The remarkable Cheteshwar Pujara withstood Monty Panesar's superb comeback performance to give India the honours after the second Test's fascinating, action-packed opening day in Mumbai.

Panesar took 4 for 91 from 34 overs, bowling Sachin Tendulkar with a magnificent ball that pitched middle and hit the top of the ageing Little Master's off stump and also claiming the prized wickets of Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a perfect demonstration of why England were so foolish to leave him out of the opening Test at Ahmedabad.

The left-arm spinner even took the second new ball, with James Anderson, as England struggled to counter an excellent seventh wicket partnership between Pujara and Ravi Ashwin, who have so far added an unbroken 97. At the close, with Pujara on a serene 114 not out from 279 balls and Ashwin a combative unbeaten 60, India were 266 for 6 and looking like they had emerged from a competitive day in control on a turning pitch.

Pujara, 24, has now batted for 719 balls and more than 15 hours in this series so far without being dismissed, and the nearest England came on a hot and humid day at the Wankhede Stadium was when, on 60, he edged another fine delivery from Panesar which bounced and turned and saw Anderson, in a short gully position, palm away a sharp chance diving to his left.

There was a dispiriting start for England when Alastair Cook, the captain, lost the toss and heard Dhoni predictably choose to bat on a dry surface that began to dust up even after just a couple of hours. Anderson, however, gave England the perfect start by swinging the second ball of the match into Gautam Gambhir's pads to have the left-hander lbw after he had clipped the first ball effortlessly to the mid wicket boundary.

Sehwag, in his 100th Test, reached 30 not without luck - one inside edge off Anderson narrowly missed his leg stump - but was then beaten in the air by a full ball from Panesar that drifted into his pads and straightened through the batsman's attempted clip to leg.

Panesar's joy was unconfined, soon afterwards, when he bowled his cricketing hero Tendulkar for just 8, and when Kohli on 19 lifted a catch to Nick Compton at extra cover India were 118 for four. That almost immediately became 119 for five as Graeme Swann turned one to hit Yuvraj Singh's off stump and remove the left-hander for a second ball duck.

Dhoni, though, hung around in determined fashion to add 50 with Pujara before, at 169, becoming Panesar's fourth scalp. Pushing forward on 29 in the second over after tea, he gloved a low catch to Swann diving forward from gully.

The day's final session, however, belonged to India as Pujara made his unhurried and highly skilful way to a third Test hundred while Ashwin played some eye-catching strokes to go to a valuable half-century from just 67 balls.


Date: 23/11/2012 11:16:57 by MBaldwin
In: Today | England |