 Ganguly's counter-attack keeps India afloat in Kanpur
12th Apr 2008 20:00 IST
Agencies
The stylish Laxman, who joined the action after Jaffer's dismissal, immediately made his intentions clear by opening his account with a glorious straight drive off Morkel. He was even more severe in Morkel's next over as he thrashed him for three boundaries, one of them going through the slips cordon to the third man boundary.
While Laxman kept the scoreboard moving with a flurry of boundaries, Rahul Dravid was more circumspect at the other end as the uneven bounce of the track made batting difficult.
The duo added 78 runs for the third wicket before Morkel again swung the balance in South Africa's favour by evicting Dravid and Laxman in quick succession when he was brought back into the attack.
Dravid was dismissed by a ball that reared up sharply, hitting him on the wrist before ballooning up to AB de Villiers who took a simple catch at gully.
Dravid was in pain as he held his wrist while taking the long walk back to the pavillion.
The stylish Laxman, who seemed to be far more comfortable in the middle, took a single off Paul Harris to notch up his 33rd Test half-century and his first at Green Park but the celebrations by the sizable crowd was short-lived as he perished soon after.
Laxman was bowled by an incoming delivery by Morkel whose second spell figures read 4-0-12-2. Laxman's knock came off 103 balls and contained seven boundaries.
Laxman was given a reprieve when he was on 43 with Jacques Kallis dropping a difficult catch at first slip, Harris being the unlucky bowler. But that lapse did not prove to be costly as the batsman could add only seven more runs.
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