 Jaffer puts India in control in Kolkata
30th Nov 2007 19:04 IST
Agencies
Pakistan's gamble to include Shoaib Akhtar, who had not fully recovered from a viral infection, proved quite costly as the temperamental fast bowler could manage to bowl just nine overs during the day.
None of the Pakistani bowlers could really make much of an impact as the Indians scored at a brisk pace to compound the misery for stand-in captain Younis Khan, who led the team after Shoaib Malik was ruled out of the match because of an ankle injury.
The Indian innings suffered an early reverse when Karthik returned to the pavilion off Sohail Tanvir's very first ball. The batsman edged a delivery that was angling away and Younis made no mistake in taking the low catch at second slip.
However, that did not affect the hosts a lot as Dravid unleashed a barrage of classy strokes with a cut, a pull, a steer and a majestic cover drive to bring the 30,000 crowd at the Eden Gardens to its feet.
But the centrepiece of the Indian knock in the opening session was Jaffer, who seemed in fine fettle. Precise timing and beauty of his shots made batting look so graceful and tormented Tanvir by hitting four beautifully executed boundaries in the bowler's seventh over, which produced 16 runs.
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