Third Test, Bangalore: India 626 & 284-6 dec drew with Pakistan 537 & 162-7
India settled for a draw in the final Test with Pakistan in Bangalore to claim a first home series for 29 years against their fiercest rivals.
The hosts won the three-Test series 1-0 but were heading for an unlikely second victory, with Pakistan 162-7 chasing 374, before bad light stopped play.
India declared their second innings on 284-6 with Sourav Ganguly (91) and Dinesh Karthik (52) doing the damage.
Captain Anil Kumble then took 5-61 to give India a sniff of the win.
But with 13 overs lost because of the gloom, the leg-spinner might rue not declaring earlier.
Pakistan raced to 23-0 at tea as they went through the motions of chasing, but the game appeared to be up soon after.
Kumble deceived Yasir Hameed (39) with a quicker ball and then caught Younus Khan (0) off his own bowling three deliveries later.
The skipper struck for a third time to remove Salman Butt for eight after the opener edged behind to wicket-keeper Karthik but Pakistan’s Faisal Iqbal and Misbah-ul-Haq stuck around to put on a bit of a show for the patient crowd.
The pair shared an enterprising 71 before Iqbal lofted a skier to 19-year-old Ishant Sharma off Kumble for 51 and then Kamran Akmal was bowled by Kumble’s next ball for a golden duck.
But as the match looked like grinding towards the draw, left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh removed Misbah’s off stump for 38 off 40 balls to leave Pakistan tottering at 148-6.
The home crowd sensed a chance to skittle Pakistan and the excitement mounted further when Yuvraj bowled Yasir Arafat for another duck.
But with an unlikely victory seemingly within India’s grasp, the light worsened and Pakistan wasted no time in accepting the invitation to go off.
The Indians remained on the pitch but eventually the umpires conferred with Kumble and he accepted the bad light was terminal.
Earlier, India resumed on 131-2 with Ganguly on 63 and Rahul Dravid on 35.
The two old hands proceeded serenely for 14 overs and added 46 to their overnight stand of 106 before the innings stuttered.
Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria trapped Dravid trapped lbw for 42 to leave India 178-3, a lead of 267.
Ganguly, who won man-of-the-series in his 99th Test, was poised to become the seventh player to score a double-hundred and a century in the same match.
Australians Doug Walters and Greg Chappell, West Indies’ Lawrence Rowe and Brian Lara, India’s Sunil Gavaskar and England’s Graham Gooch are the other batsmen to have achieved the feat.
But the former captain flashed an edge to Iqbal at gully off Mohammad Sami in the next over for no further score.
India’s stutters continued shortly after when birthday boy Yuvraj, 26, edged Sami to wicket-keeper Akmal for two.
But Karthik, who hit Kaneria for a six and two fours in an over, and VVS Laxman stemmed the rising tide with a 37-run stand.
India were unfortunate to lose a further batsman when Laxman retired hurt on 14 after suffering a blow to the elbow when he ducked into a fiery Shoaib Akhtar short ball with the third delivery after lunch.
But the aggressive Karthik was ably supported by Irfan Pathan (21 not out) and the pair put on 59 before Karthik edged behind to Sami off Arafat and Kumble finally declared. Source: BBC
