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India opener Gautam Gambhir was left stranded on 95 not out as India completed a successful first day in the second Test against Zimbabwe, at the Harare Sports Club on Tuesday.
The left-handed opener played a flawless innings, knocking around 17 boundaries in a 116-ball effort, to step on the threshold of his second Test century in ten Tests.
India closed the day on 195, a first-innings lead of 34.
Gambhir was well-supported by Virender Sehwag (44) at the start, and then blossomed under the guidance of Rahul Dravid. The Indian vice-captain was also close to a personal landmark, finishing on 49 not out.
Earlier, Irfan Pathan claimed career-best figures of seven for 59 as Zimbabwe collapsed to 161 in the afternoon session after being put in to bat by Sourav Ganguly.
Resuming on 79 for five after lunch, the hosts crashed within an hour, adding only 86 runs to their tally.
Pathan, in the process, overhauled his best figures of six for 51, against Bangladesh in the first Test last year.
Charles Coventry was the only batsman who fought off the Indian bowlers, scoring an aggressive 37 from 32 balls.
India named the same eleven that did duty in the first Test in Bulawayo while Zimbabwe brought in debutant Waddington Mwayenga in place of Gavin Ewing.
Zimbabwe innings
Morning session: (29 overs, 75 runs, 5 wickets)
India captain Sourav Ganguly won the toss and put Zimbabwe in to bat. The strip at Harare Sports Club did not afford as much swing as the one in Bulawayo, but had good bounce.
In the past, the toss did not prove very decisive at Harare. Of the 25 Tests played on the ground, teams batting first won nine games while those fielding first won eight.
Irfan Pathan opened the bowling to a conventional packed slip cordon on a fresh first-morning pitch. The first two balls were pitched outside the off-stump and shaped further away from the right-handed Brendan Taylor. The batsman used the width the second time to drive the ball through the covers for four.
The third delivery held its line and Taylor poked at it with his feet glued to the ground. He edged the ball to Rahul Dravid at first slip, as India tasted success in the first over. (4-1)
Umpires Aleem Dar and Daryl Harper were called into action early on as India's left-arm opening bowlers, Pathan and Zaheer Khan, approached the danger zone on the pitch on their follow-through. Though the umpires didn't warn them they had a quick word with them.
As the Zimbabwe batsmen were trying to regroup, Pathan struck with two wickets in the 11th over of the innings.
He had maintained a tight line and length to Perry Duffin (12). The persistence paid off as the batsman edged the ball leaving him and VVS Laxman dived in front of Dravid, at first slip, to complete the catch. (31-2).
After softening Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu with a chest blow, Pathan claimed his second wicket in three balls. Taibu also couldn't resist the temptation of chasing a delivery slanting away from him and ended up edging the ball to the wicketkeeper. (31-3).
Dion Ebrahim, who had looked comfortable against Zaheer, also fell to the malaise, on 14. The Baroda speedster had been angling the ball away all the while, but Ebrahim comfortably avoided it as it was dug in short and sailed well over the stumps.
With Zaheer hitting a fuller length, Ebrahim was forced into the drive. The ball flew off the edge and Dinesh Karthick intercepted it with a sharp diving catch. (31-4).
Zimbabwe's batting line-up had been beheaded in the space of two overs. Pathan and Zaheer also put in a disciplined effort, not giving away a single no-ball in 15 overs.
Hamilton Masakadza, looking positive despite the mess, punched the ball for four through covers to bring up the Zimbabwe 50 in the 16th over.
Heath Streak and Masakadza chipped away at the Indian bowling, which looked innocuous in the form of Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble now.
The Indian leg-spinner settled in after giving away 11 runs in his first over. However, he looked flat and pitched the ball too far outside the leg-stump to give away easy runs.
Streak, who had ploughed his way 14, fell to Harbhajan Singh in the penultimate over before lunch after a 44-run partnership with Masakadza.
He tried to turn a flighted delivery from the off-spinner down the corner, but the ball took the inside edge and scraped the pad, before lunging into the hands of Gautam Gambhir, at forward short-leg. (75-5)
Gambhir had been alert and quick in the close-in positions throughout the first session and finally had his effort show on the board.
With their most experienced player back in the pavilion, Zimbabwe have a tall task ahead if they have to make a match of this.
Pathan ended the session with figures of 3 for 18 from eight overs.
Post-lunch session
Zimbabwe innings: (15.2 overs, 86 runs, 5 wickets)
Charles Coventry, who came in for Streak, began edgily after lunch. The second ball from Harbhajan slid off the face of his bat and flew to first slip. However, it was too high for Dravid to grasp and went away for two runs.
Pathan again dealt Zimbabwe a blow in the first over of his new spell, picking the wicket of Masakadza. The batsman was trapped in front of the stumps to a ball that swung in. (83-6).
Masakadza was out before adding a single run to his score of 27 before lunch. His 70-ball knock included four boundaries.
Pathan dished out a fiery over next to Andy Blignaut, who was unable to read the pace and swing on the ball. The Indian pacer was right on the button and got the ball to shape away from the left-handers. But he was also coming perilously close to the danger area on the follow-through in his quest for late swing.
An interesting battle unfolded as Pathan tried to pepper Coventry with short balls, but the batsman proved upto the challenge. After the first one fizzed over his head, Coventry anticipated the second one and leaped onto it. He sent the ball flying over the fine-leg boundary, where it disappeared in the empty stands.
The next one was on target and pinned the batsman. Pathan drifted on the leg-stump next and saw Coventry flick the ball for four as Zimbabwe collected 12 runs from the over.
Andy Blignaut survived two close chances in successive overs from Harbhajan and Pathan. The left-hander tried to cut the off-spinner over point; Pathan dived to his left, got his fingers to the ball but could not latch on to it. He then let go a difficult caught and bowled chance.
Blignaut was not third time lucky, as Karthick held on to the nick off Pathan two balls later to give the paceman his fifth five-wicket haul in Tests (122-7).
The bespectacled Coventry though refused to bottle his aggression and slammed 37 from 32 balls, including four fours and a six, to emerge the team's top scorer. He came down the pitch and heaved Harbhajan for four before his innings came to an abrupt end.
In an attempt to sweep the off-spinner, the ball caught the top-edge and ballooned in the air behind the `keeper. Dravid, at first slip, ran backwards to pocket the ball. (136-8).
Pathan had Blessing Mahwire leg before wicket in the next over. (138-9).
With Zimbabwe's deck of cards seemed ready to collapse, Keith Dabengwa and Waddington Mwayenga provided the final flurry, hitting 16 runs from Harbhajan's over.
Dabengwa hit three fours, two off Pathan, and Mwayenga one four and a six before the hosts sunk in at 161 in the 45th over.
Dabengwa (18) was the last man out, edging Pathan to Laxman at second slip as Zimbabwe's first innings ended in three hours.
India innings: (8 overs, 43 runs)
After a maiden first over, Virender Sehwag registered the first runs for India with a tentative stroke that ran away for four past the third-man boundary.
Heath Streak caused a few problems early on, especially with Sehwag trying to flay at the ball, but Blessing Mahwire's inexperience was exposed as he was taken for 32 runs in his four overs.
The first five overs cost Zimbabwe 18 runs, but the Indians sharpened their bats thereon and smashed 35 runs in three overs.
The home bowlers fed Sehwag on the off-side and the batsman scored 23 runs there. He hit two boundaries through backward point and a couple more straight back past the bowler.
Sehwag, on 20, survived a very close leg-before shout against Streak. The ball pitched on middle and off and dipped in slightly. It hit the Indian batsman on the knee roll and the height may have seen umpire Harper turn down the loud appeal.
Gautam Gambhir, who didn't get as much strike, looked solid at the other end, scoring 14 from 16 balls.
At tea, India were 43 without loss.
Post-Tea session: (43 overs, 152 runs, 1 wicket)
Sehwag flicked Streak for a boundary past fine-leg on the first ball after the break. The Zimbabwe bowler, drifted down the leg side and Sehwag made the most of the opportunity.
All-rounder Andy Blignaut was introduced into the attack in the next over, but he bowled wide on either side of the wicket and was taken off for 16 runs in the over. Gambhir flicked him off the pads for a four to start with and Sehwag finished off with a couple boundaries, one down fine leg and the other past gully.
India had now taken their run-rate past six runs per over, scoring 66 runs in 10 overs.
Sehwag, on 44, looked like running away with the game. Streak put the brakes on the Delhi player. The in-swinging delivery cut the batsman into two and took the inside-edge. The ball brushed the pads on the way, because of which it leaped comfortably to wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu. (75-1).
Streak looked in good rhythm, swinging the ball either way at good pace. The experienced Zimbabwean also caused a few problems for vice-captain Rahul Dravid early on.
The minor hiccup caused by Sehwag's dismissal was overcome as Zimbabwe's attack lacked quality at the other end and India reached 100 in the 18th over.
Gambhir continued the Delhi scare for the hosts as he pounded the boundary line regularly. The left-hander completed his fourth Test fifty, in 52 balls, with a drive through extra cover. It was his tenth boundary of the innings, with seven of them having come in the arc between long-off and fine-leg.
Gambhir is also strong off his legs and he punished anything pitched slightly on the on-side. And with him doing all the damage, Dravid could take his time to settle in. The 32-year-old, after struggling in the ODI series, had laboured to 77 in the first Test at Bulawayo.
Though the right-hander had a hard time piercing the field for ones and twos, he kept the account ticking with an occasional boundary. He scored 14 runs from 39 balls, three of which came in boundaries.
Dravid got a body blow from Mahwire on 34 as the ball crashed onto his chest as he attempted a pull. The batsman though did not let it bother him and launched into a back-foot drive in front of point.
Zimbabwe were able to bring down the run-rate to five runs per over, with Mahwire putting in a more disciplined effort and the batsmen sizing up left-arm spinner Dabengwa and debutant Mwayenga.
Gambhir, after cooling off a bit on completing his half-century, shifted up a gear by picking two boundaries off Mwayenga in the 33rd over. In a calculated move, he then stepped down to Dabengwa and lofted the ball over mid-on and past the ropes.
Dravid turned away the ball to square leg for a single to bring up the 100-run partnership with Gambhir, with a share of 44 runs.
The 23-year-old Gambhir hardly played a false shot in the innings and never let his concentration slip. When the left-hander was stranded on 95 in the last over, Dravid helped him keep his cool.
Streak bowled out an intelligent over, sensing Gambhir's nerves for a dash at his second Test hundred.
Dravid closed the day one short of his 38th Test fifty.