Cricket story by Fred Smith, Tue, 14 Mar 2006 10:52:00 GMT


MOHALI, India - It was a classic tale of old guard teaming up with new guard at Mohali on the fifth day of the second test between India and England. The old warrior Anil Kumble, who passed the 500-wicket landmark on Saturday, was ably assisted by debutant Munaf Patel as they wrapped up England's second innings for 181.

Starting the day at 112-5, England was dealt an immediate blow when Geraint Jones played on to a Patel bouncer. Thereafter Patel quickly accounted for Liam Plunkett and Matthew Hoggard before a 42 run stand between Flintoff and Harmison gave some respectability to the England total.

Harmison was brilliantly stumped by Dhoni off Kumble and Flintoff handed Piyush Chawla his first test wicket. Needing only 144 runs to win, India got there with the loss of Wasim Jaffer's wicket. Sehwag was unbeaten on 76, while skipper Dravid made 42.

Dravid heaped praise on his bowlers, "Losing a couple of days to rain, a draw was the likely result. But we knew if we got slightly ahead and had our spinners bowling at them on the final day with the bounce in this track," he said.

"A couple of sensational spells from someone — and Munaf and Kumble did exactly that — and we had a chance. Munaf bowled really well, there was swing and pace, and put it in the right areas. His three wickets in the morning were important."

England captain Andrew Flintoff said his side was young, but would mount a serious challenge in Mumbai, "We did well last week in Nagpur and we have shown signs in this game that we can compete with the best sides in the world," he said. "This is a good young side which is improving and we go to Mumbai with a good chance, we just have to learn from our mistakes here."

Match Summary
England won the toss and elected to bat
England 1st innings 300 all out- Flintoff 70, Kumble 5-76
India 1st innings 338 all out- Dravid 95, Flintoff 4-96
England 2nd innings 181 all out - Flintoff 51, Patel 4-25
India 2nd innings 144-1 - Sehwag 76*, Dravid 42*

Result - India won by nine wickets
Man of the match - Anil Kumble

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