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Untitled Document
 Dravid gives England a chance to save Oval Test
13th Aug 2007 08:48 IST
Agencies
Despite having the hosts at his mercy, Indian captain Rahul Dravid's baffling decision not to enforce a follow-on threatens to boomerang as England grabbed the opportunity with both hands and began the battle to save the third and final Test at The Oval in London on Sunday.
Entrusted with the task of defying history by scoring 500 runs in a minimum of 110 overs, England, in their second essay, reached 56 without loss on the penultimate day with openers Alastair Cook (27) and Andrew Strauss (23) in the middle. A win might require a miracle but the hosts can hope to bat out the entire final day Monday to save the match.
Though left with a mountain to climb, the English opening pair found going rather easy and milked the Indian attack with consummate ease on the penultimate day.
Dravid's decision not to enforce a follow-on was a clue to the negative mindset of the Indian captain who, it seemed, would be happy to settle for a draw rather than go for an outright victory. India are already 1-0 up in the three-match series.
The decision was all the more surprising since the weatherman had predicted rains on the last two days that will surely rob the Test of some valuable time.
The Indian side also took long time before declaring their second innings at 180/6 just an hour before close.
Sourav Ganguly (57), VVS Laxman (46 not out) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (36) were the batsmen to do well for India after England sliced through the top order reducing India to 11/3 in the seventh over.
India, after amassing 664 in their first innings, had taken a huge first innings lead of 319 dismissing England for 345 runs Sunday morning.
In was rather intriguing as Dravid decided not to enforce the follow-on as his team batted a second time and immediately courted disaster losing Wasim Jaffer (0), Dinesh Karthik (8) and Sachin Tendulkar (1) with just 11 runs on the board by the seventh over.
Jaffer was the first to go to a bizarre leg before decision by umpire Ian Howell for a duck against James Anderson in the third over of the innings. Karthik followed him in the next over, caught at second slip off Chris Tremlett.
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