Connoisseurs of Test cricket will have an almighty smirk on
their face tonight looking towards the IPL fanatics and its ilk. No artificially
created excitement, no manufactured adjectives and no forced super over would
have produced the drama we witnessed at Trent Bridge today. The day started
with England as clear favourites and they won at the end, but nobody could have
imagined what actually happened in between. As it happened throughout the Test
match, the momentum fluctuated wildly, before a lucky lunch break and judicial
use of DRS finally settled the matter for England.
For all I can remember for a long time, this is a an Ashes
series which England started as an outright favourite and there were even talks
of a 10-0 results over the two legs in favour of England. Personally I don’t think
the gap between these two teams is as big as it is made out to be, especially
with the appointment of Darren Lehman, someone who knows the dynamics of how
things work in the Australian Test team, prior to the series. As much as
England are delighted to win such a close match, when the dust settles and euphoria
subsides, they will look back and realize that only 14 runs separated the
sides. After four and a half days, 385 overs and 40 wickets, only 14 runs
separated the two teams, and that is not how an outright favourite wins by any
means.
By the end of second day, thanks to the debutant Ashton Agar’s
heroics, Australia had their noses in front. Looking for a big lead over
England’s first innings of 215, the Australian top and middle order collapsed,
only to be rescued by the mammoth last wicket stand of 164 between Hughes and
Agar, the latter missing a deserved century by 2 runs. And to think that they
had England on the ground with 218 for 6, a lead of only 153 runs, Australia
must be kicking themselves for letting them off the hook. Bell played his best
innings of an Ashes test, ably supported by Prior and Broad in particular, and by
the time Jimmy Anderson was caught by Hughes, the target 311 looked over the
horizon.
The fifth day started with England needing 4 wickets to win
and their fans in full flow. They never panicked until Brad Haddin’s calculated
attack on Finn and Pattinson’s brave handling of Swann brought the target down
to less than 50, after small but handy contributions from Agar and Siddle.
England knew that they needed only one wicket to win but that never seemed to
arrive. I was very surprised when England took the option of extending lunch by
half an hour in search of the last wicket, when everybody around the ground
could really see the momentum shifting towards Australia, slowly but
decisively. What they needed was to go back to the dressing room and think with
a clear mind rather than trying to finish it in a hurry. It just takes your
heart to beat a tad faster for your best laid plans to go awry. By the time
England realized it, it was almost too late and Stuart Broad had to fake a ‘stone
in my shoe’ act to remove and re lace it to avoid an extra over before lunch.
Aleem Dar had none of it and duly signalled for another over, and with that it
all came down to 1 wicket or 20 run at lunch. At this point, this was a welcome
distraction for England who got the opportunity to regroup. In hindsight, they
would not have extended the session for half an hour, and in all probability Australia
would have won the Test match without that lunch break. That is the real beauty
of Test cricket, with its ifs and buts. Over 5 days, with all the breaks, with
follow-ons, with new balls, it offers a theater of infinite possibilities.
The last few minutes of the match were played as if in slow
motion. Anderson’s off-cuttor was inside edged, albeit a tiny one, to Prior who
duly convinced his not-so-convinced caption to go for a review. From Haddin’s
reaction and the slight sound, it looked out but the third umpire took an
unbelievably long time, just to conform to the rule of being sure without a
doubt to overturn the field umpire’s call. And when Aleem Dar raised his left
index finger, the ground, where deep breaths were clearly audible until 5
minutes ago, erupted. Perhaps it is fitting that the last moment of the match
is decided by DRS, as it was a talking point throughout the match. As much as
it almost did its purpose, eliminating clear howlers, it also showed its
drawbacks in ‘broad’ daylight. Australia was furious when Stuart Broad edged to
second slip and stood his ground, but they were helpless as they had already
used their quota of 2 unsuccessful appeals. Imagine if England did not have an
option of review for the last wicket and Australia goes on to win it, it would
have been a gross injustice. It is high time ICC finds an alternative to the
limited number of times DRS can be used, else an ugly situation is bound to
occur sooner.
The words Edgbaston 2005 were used a million times in the
last hour of play. I will be happier if I can get to use them all through this
series. Here is hoping for a drama filled and action packed 4 more Tests.
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