Laxman wrests initiative with unbeaten 165

VVS Laxman is hardly the kind of batsman who gets excited over such minor accomplishments like reaching a century. The Hyderabadi seems to be onto something big here at the Wankhede Stadium after batting through the second day of the Irani Trophy match against Mumbai to remain unconquered on 165. A quintessential big innings man, Laxman resuscitated a Rest of India innings in the throes of decay at 29/3 early in the morning with the able support of Mohd. Kaif. At close, Rest were smugly placed at 299/4, a lead of 39 that promises to widen substantially tomorrow.

Laxman made Mumbai pay for a chance that went abegging off the bowling of medium pacer Paras Mhambrey. Nilesh Kulkarni dropped the sharp chance at second slip when the batsman failed to get hold of an attempted drive with his score on 73. Kulkarni lulled Laxman into another false stroke a bit later, an intended flick off his legs resulting in a leading edge which flew just over cover.

That apart, Laxman gave the Mumbai attack little encouragement, posting his century in exactly four hours. Laxman's hundred, his second in consecutive innings at the Wankhede Stadium, following his century in the Ranji Trophy final in April, was scored off 180 balls and included 14 boundaries. Kulkarni and Pawar bore the brunt of Laxman's assault, the Hyderabadi's punitive blade taking full toll of any lapses in length as he drove, cut and pulled with studied ease. The only impediment to Laxman's at the wicket was a touch of cramp late in the day but a quick rub from the physio had his blood pumping again.

As the morning's play commenced, Mumbai would have been keen to dislodge Murali Kartik from the crease and expose the middle order without further ado. They successfully completed that niggling task in the fifth over of the day when Kartik flailed at Santosh Saxena and Samir Dighe gathered the resulting edge with little fuss. Laxman looked in ominously good touch, getting his timing right and finding the gaps soon with unerring precision. With the batsmen in little anxiety against the seamers, Dighe decided to introduce the double spin attack of Kulkarni and Pawar in the 16th over of the innings.

With only one specialist bat to follow in Jacob Martin, both batsmen seemed aware of their responsibilities and took their time to gauge the purchase off the wicket for the spinners. A cat and mouse game developed as the spinners attacked with a close cordon and the batsmen patiently awaited the loose balls. There certainly was something in the wicket to exploit as Pawar and Kulkarni got the ball to bite off a good length spot and surprise both batsman and keeper. Laxman continued to play for the most part with a straight bat down the ground, cutting out any undue risks. Offspinner Ramesh Powar replaced Pawar from the pavilion end in the 25th over without really posing any discomfort. Dighe swapped ends interminably for all three spinners throughout the day but the breakthrough was far from forthcoming.

Kaif provided an able foil to Laxman until his dismissal off the last ball before tea. Kaif's fifty had come earlier in the session off 144 balls and the compact looking right hander handled the three spinners with assurance until the ball that got him out. On the stroke of tea, Kaif's sound judgement momentarily deserted him as he tried to cut a Pawar delivery that was pitched too full for the stroke and looked back to see his stumps in a mess. His knock of 75, lasting a shade over four hours, was made from 193 balls and included ten boundaries.

The wicket and the subsequent 20 minutes of rest in the cool environs of the pavilion must have given some succour to the home side. But that little flicker of hope was quickly and ruthlessly smothered by Laxman and Jacob Martin in the final session. Martin was off the blocks with a extra cover drive off Kulkarni in the first over after the break and quickly made himself comfortable at the crease.

Mumbai used their last throw of the dice by summoning the new ball in the 90th over but Laxman immediately got Saxena away to the midwicket boundary, so symbolic of the inadequacy of all the resources that Mumbai marshalled. The only glimmer of hope is for Laxman's concentration to be fatally impaired by his enforced absence from the crease until play gets underway tomorrow, something that did happen when he resumed on 346 against Karnataka on the third day of the Ranji semifinal last season.