India close in on victory over Pakistan

Opener Wasim Jaffer and former captain Saurav Ganguly took India to within 32 runs of victory over Pakistan in the first test on Sunday. The home team, set a winning target of 203, were coasting at 171 for three in their second innings when play was called off five minutes before the close due to bad light.
Pakistan scored 247 all out in their second innings, adding just 35 runs to their overnight total of 212 for five. Left-hander Ganguly, who took two wickets in one over in the morning, was 48 not out after dominating a 78-run unbroken fourth wicket partnership with Sachin Tendulkar (32 not out) after strike bowler Shoaib Akhtar claimed the top three batsmen to raise Pakistan's hopes.
Jaffer struck a fluent 53 with eight fours, driving majestically on both sides of the pitch, and put on 82 runs with Rahul Dravid (34) after lunch to reach his ninth test 50 before Akhtar had him caught at square-leg on a lifeless pitch.
Akhtar then removed Dravid, who had survived a close lbw appeal against paceman Mohammad Sami, bowled between bat and pad in a fiery spell after tea to reduce India to 93 for three.
"Both mine and Saurav's innings were important," Jaffer told reporters. He's in very good form. We hope he plays tomorrow too and finishes it off. "Winning the first test will help a lot," he said. "It's tough to come back after losing, we'll have the momentum going."
Pakistan suffered a batting collapse in the morning to lose their last five wickets for 35 runs. Left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan struck in the first over when he had Kamran Akmal caught at point edging a loose drive on his overnight score of 21.
Akmal had put on 52 runs for the sixth wicket with Misbah-ul-Haq after a post-tea batting collapse on the third day. Khan then forced Sohail Tanvir to sky a pull shot to square-leg for 13 runs, making the score 229 for seven.
Misbah, who top scored with 82 in the first innings, scored 45 despite a fever until skipper Anil Kumble turned to part-time medium-pacer Ganguly who wrapped up the innings.
Ganguly was handed the new ball during his first over and Misbah recklessly tried to hoist the first delivery over long-on, only to provide Karthik with a running catch at deep mid-on.
Ganguly dismissed Sami (5) two balls later before last man Danish Kaneria was run out following a mix-up with Shoaib.
Leg-spinner Anil Kumble took three for 68 to claim seven wickets on his test captaincy debut. During his innings Tendulkar moved past former Australia captain Allan Border's test aggregate of 11,174 runs to take second place in the all-time list behind West Indian Brian Lara.
SCOREBOARD:
-- Pakistan 1st innings 231 (Misbah-ul-Haq 82; A. Kumble 4-38)
-- India 1st innings 276 (V. Laxman 72 not out; D. Kaneria 4-59)
-- Pakistan 2nd innings (overnight
212-5):

===========================================

Salman Butt c Dravid b Kumble            67

Yasir Hameed c Laxman b Kumble           36

Younis Khan lbw b Kumble                 23

Mohammad Yousuf c and b Harbhajan        18

Shoaib Malik b Harbhajan                 11

Kamran Akmal c sub (Yuvraj) b Zaheer     21

Misbah-ul-Haq c karthik b Ganguly        45

Sohail Tanvir c Harbhajan b Zaheer       13

Mohammad Sami c Jaffer b Ganguly          5

Shoaib Akhtar not out                     0

Danish Kaneria run out                    0

Extras: (lb6, nb2)                        8

-------------------------------------------

Total:                                  247

===========================================

Fall of wickets: 1-71 (Hameed), 2-114 (Younis), 3-149 (Yousuf), 4-155 (Butt), 5-161 (Malik), 6-213 (Akmal), 7-229 (Tanvir), 8-243 (Misbah), 9-247 (Sami)
Bowling: Zaheer 18-4-45-2 (nb1), Patel 10-2-48-0, Kumble 27.1-8-68-3 (nb1), Ganguly 9-2-20-2, Harbhajan 17-4-56-2, Tendulkar 2-0-4-0
Overs: 83.1
India 2nd innings:

===========================================

D. Karthik c Akmal b Akhtar               1

W. Jaffer c Butt b Akhtar                53

R. Dravid b Akhtar                       34

S. Tendulkar not out                     32

S. Ganguly not out                       48

Extras: (lb3)                             3

-------------------------------------------

Total: (for three wickets)              171

===========================================