Pak on revival mode after Ganguly's field day

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Bangalore: Replying to India’s huge first innings score of 626 all out, Pakistan were 86-one off 27 overs in their first innings at stumps on the second day of the third and final Test at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.

Indian skipper Anil Kumble struck in his third over when he had Yasir Hammed leg before the wicket for 19 with the Pakistan score reading 59 after the inexperienced new ball attack did not get much purchase from the wicket.

The only silver lining for the visitors was their other opener Salman Butt reaching a personal milestone of 1000 Test runs when he scored his 29th run. Butt, who looked in solid form, was batting on 50 off 85 balls with nine hits to the fence while stand-in captain Younis Khan was batting on seven at stumps.

Earlier, Sourav Ganguly, who scored his maiden double century and Irfan Pathan, who got his first Test hundred, helped their team pile up 626.

Ganguly, who had scored a hundred in the second Test at Kolkata, was in irresistible form treating all the Pakistan bowlers with disdain. The nearest the visitors came in getting the southpaw’s wicket was when he had a misunderstanding with his partner Pathan and was stranded in the middle when on 184 but unfortunately for Pakistan the bowler failed to collect the ball.

Apart from that near mishap, the Maharaja set the stadium on fire, with some lively shots all-round the wicket and reached his double ton with a drive off Arafat, which fetched him a couple of runs after a 469 minutes stay at the crease facing 324 balls hitting 26 fours and a six.

This is also the second double hundred by the Indians in this series, the first coming from the blade of opener Wasim Jaffer at Kolkata.

With the Pakistanis handicapped without the services of their ace bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who did not get a bowl even though he fielded for most part of the day, Ganguly and Pathan made the most of it scoring runs at a brisk pace.

Ganguly’s marathon innings came to an end when leg spinner Danish Kaneria bowled him for 239 while trying to sweep after facing 361 balls in a stay of 523 minutes at the wicket hitting 30 boundaries and two sixes.

The two left-handers also added 178 runs for the seventh wicket off 220 balls in 145 minutes with Pathan’s share being a healthy 90 even as the hosts registered their highest total at Bangalore surpassing the previous best of 541 for six against Sri Lanka in 1993-94.

Pathan, who was more attacking than his senior partner, was the last man to get out when he skied an attempted lofted shot to wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal off Kaneria for 102, which came of 132 balls in 177 minutes including ten boundaries and four sixes. In fact the Baroda star reached his century with a huge six off Kaneria after skipper Anil Kumble (4) and Harbhajan Singh (4) left in quick succession to reduce the host to 620 for nine and Pathan four runs short of his coveted hundred.

All-rounder Yasir Arafat became the eighth Pakistani to take five or more wickets on debut, and the first against India, when he finished with five for 161 while Kaneria and Sami took three for 168 and two for 149 respectively.

Ganguly bettered his highest Test score of 173 he got in Mumbai against Sri Lanka a decade ago.

Day One Report