There was nothing flashy about the way in which India close in on Pakistan’s total on the second day of the first Test here on Friday. For the most part of the day, they slugged it out in old-fashioned manner, and it needed the contrasting duo of VVS Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni to bail the hosts out of a deep hole.

India garnered 228 for six at close, mainly due to the steadfast approach of Laxman and Dhoni and their 115-run sixth-wicket partnership.

Earlier, India had brought curtains down on the Pakistan innings at 231, after they had resumed at 210 for eight.
The brilliance of Shoaib Akhtar and Sohail Tanvir made the top-order Indian batsmen hop as they returned to the pavilion at regular intervals. At that stage, a collapse was very much on the cards, but Laxman and Dhoni allayed any such fears with a stubborn partnership.

Ability to adapt
The highlight of their alliance was the manner in which they changed their game to suit the situation. Both Laxman and Dhoni are dazzling stroke-makers, but they perforce had to bat in a subdued way.

It can be a stiff task for unadulterated stroke players, but the duo responded to the challenge in superb fashion. They took their time to settle in and even after that, there was hardly any show of extravagance from them. But there were some shots that only the stylist from Hyderabadi can play. Two straight drives off Tanvir that sped to the fence past the bowler testified to the glory of Laxman's batsmanship.

Dhoni too did not hesitate to put way the loose balls to collect the boundaries, and it was the Jharkhand batsman who reached his fifty ahead of his partner. But the ankle twist that he had suffered in Jaipur came back to haunt him at a time when he appeared set for a big one.

In obvious discomfort, Dhoni tried to step down the track to Danish Kaneria, but could only manage to snick one to Kamran Akmal behind the wicket.

Skipper Anil Kumble and Laxman survived a few overs before the umpires offered light to the batsmen with 13.4 overs to go. The hosts were too glad to accept the offer.

Till Laxman and Dhoni joined forces, India's chances of overtaking the Pakistan total looked bleak. In fact, the game belonged to India till nearly an hour past lunch, with their batsmen all set to run Pakistan weary. But the hunter became the hunted in the space of just six overs as Akhtar and Tanvir put the hosts through the wringer.
The ordeal started with Akhtar trapping Wasim Jaffer in front of the wicket. The Mumbaikar's attempt to turn a fast and straight one to the on-side did not succeed as umpire Simon Taufel upheld Akhtar's shout for leg before.
The Rawalpindi pacer had earlier showed the exit sign to Dinesh Kaarthick as well.

Rahul Dravid was playing his first international game in a while. The Bangalorean looked in pristine touch as illustrated by three classic hits to the fence off Tanvir.

Just as he looked primed for a big knock, Tanvir knocked his stumps over, and the unorthodox left-arm seamer castled Sourav Ganguly to cast a spell of silence in the Indian dressing room. Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik's strategy to use Akhtar in short bursts paid off handsomely as the paceman was able to bowl with a lot of fire in all his three spells.

Before the twin blow, Sachin Tendulkar fell victim to a yes-no situation with Dravid after facing just one ball.

Quick end
In the morning session, it was a matter of time before India applied the finishing touches to Pakistan’s innings. Misbah-ul-Haq and Mohammad Sami were in mood to gift their wickets to the Indians.

It took a bizarre run out to end Misbah's resistance.

He jumped into the crease to avoid a throw from Kaarthick at covers, but the ball hit the stumps with the batsman still airborne. After that, Kumble did not need too much time to wrap the innings.

SCORE BOARD
PAKISTAN (I Innings, O/n: 210/8):
Butt b Zaheer 1
(21m, 20b)
Hameed b Kumble 29
(95m, 66b, 4x4)
Younis c Patel b Zaheer 7
(31m, 19b, 1x4)
Yousuf lbw Ganguly 27
(69m, 43b, 5x4)
Misbah (run out) 82
(313m, 243b, 6x4, 1x6)
Malik c Dhoni b Patel 0
(17m, 12b)
Akmal b Kumble 30
(66m, 50b, 5x4)
Tanvir lbw Harbhajan 4
(15m, 16b, 1x4)
Akhtar b Kumble 2
(6m, 7b)
Sami (not out) 28
(177m, 101b, 3x4, 1x6)
Kaneria b Kumble 0
(5m, 2b)
Extras (B-6, LB-12, W-2, NB-1) 21
Total (all out, 96.2 overs) 231

Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Butt), 2-35 (Younis), 3-59 (Hameed), 4-76 (Yousuf), 5-83 (Malik), 6-122 (Akmal), 7-137 (Tanvir), 8-142 (Akhtar), 9-229 (Misbah).

Bowling: Zaheer 20-5-45-2 (w-2, nb-1), Munaf 24-5-61-1, Kumble 21.2-6-38-4, Ganguly 14-5-28-1, Harbhajan 15-1-37-1, Tendulkar 2-0-4-0.

INDIA (I Innings):
Jaffer lbw Akhtar 32
(99m, 55b, 6x4)
Kaarthick c Akmal b Akhtar 9
(25m, 11b, 1x4)
Dravid b Tanvir 38
(111m, 73b, 8x4)
Tendulkar (run out) 1
(4m, 1b)
Ganguly b Tanvir 8
(21m, 9b, 1x4)
Laxman (batting) 57
(172m, 107b, 7x4)
Dhoni c Akmal b Kaneria 57
(129m, 93b, 8x4)
Kumble (batting) 7
(41m, 24b, 1x4)
Extras (B-7, LB-8, W-1, NB-3) 19

Total (for 6 wkts, 63.2 overs) 228
Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Kaarthick), 2-71 (Jaffer), 3-73 (Tendulkar), 4-88 (Ganguly), 5-93 (Dravid), 6-208 (Dhoni).
Bowling: Akhtar 13-2-36-2 (nb-1), Tanvir 19.2-4-75-2 (nb-2), Sami 14-1-58-0, Kaneria 17-3-44-1 (w-1).