Dravid exposes England's failings in attack with masterful century

India 236-2 v England

Spoilt by Test cricket in which the scoreboard rattles along at four runs an over and where losing wickets in the chase of quick runs is an acceptable tactic, yesterday's play at Headingley was a throwback to a bygone era when runs and wickets were given away resentfully.

The first day of the third Test between England and India was short of the sort of cricket that will get a healthy Headingley crowd immediately looking at next year's diary and booking early tickets for the 2003 extravaganza. Yet it was the hard, attritional, give 'em nowt sort of stuff that the folk round here have laid claim to.

However, it was not England who prospered in such traditional surroundings but India's batsmen, who prized their wickets nearly as much as the intellectual property, and personal commercial rights, they are fighting over with the International Cricket Council.

For putting them in such a strong position, on a pitch that offered help to every bowler that bowled on it, the visitors have Rahul Dravid and Sanjay Bangar to thank. Following the early loss of Virender Sehwag – who edged an airy-fairy push at a Matthew Hoggard away swinger to Andrew Flintoff at second slip – this pair showed magnificent concentration and self-control in adapting their stroke-play to the difficult conditions they encountered.

The ball nipped around all day and at times bounced steeply – especially when Alex Tudor was bowling uphill from the Football Stand End – but, through standing tall, watching it closely and limiting their shots, Dravid and Bangar were seldom drawn into playing loosely at deliveries they could leave alone.

Their partnership of 170, a record for the second wicket against England, was just what their captain Sourav Ganguly would have wanted after winning the toss. With his side on 236 for 2 at the close, he will have slept well last night, grateful that he has selected his two spinners.

For the second Test match in a row Dravid was in brilliant form and, while his hundred at Trent Bridge will be considered a match-saving affair, yesterday's, his twelfth in Test cricket, could well prove to be a matchwinner. Despite nasty blows to his hand and his forearm that required treatment, there was a calmness and reassurance about the 29-year-old at the crease. Like all class players, his batting suggested that, no matter how difficult the conditions were, he was in control. Playing with the straightest of bats, he spent most of the day vigilantly watching the ball harmlessly fly through to Alec Stewart behind the stumps.

After failing to make the most of helpful conditions on day one in the last Test, Nasser Hussain – who selected the spin of Ashley Giles and the seam of Tudor ahead of Dominic Cork and Stephen Harmison – will be just as aware of the shortcomings of his bowlers, as they consistently banged the ball in short of a length and failed to make the batsmen play enough.

Rather than become bored, though, Dravid held firm and, like a predator lying in wait, let the bowlers come to him. Then, with an effortless clip through square leg or an exquisite drive through extra cover, he pounced and mercilessly dispatched England's hapless attack to the boundary.

During his chanceless innings, where the closest England came to dismissing him was a run-out chance when a Michael Vaughan throw brushed the stumps but failed to dislodge the bails, Dravid became only the seventh Indian batsman to pass 5,000 runs in Test cricket. By the close of play he had moved on to 110 not out and currently stands as the highest Test run scorer this year with 823.

His partner for most of the day was Bangar, an all-rounder who owes this opportunity to the fact that India want to play two spinners yet keep balance to their side. The part-time opener who is playing in only his second Test match – his debut came against England in Mohali during last winter's tour – batted with a composure to belie his inexperience.

Travelling around England with a copy of Sunil Gavaskar's autobiography in his kitbag, this was an innings from Bangar which the scorer of 10,122 Test runs would have been proud of, and it was a surprise when he gloved a short ball from Andrew Flintoff down the leg-side to Stewart.

For Flintoff, who showed little sign of discomfort during his 14 overs, this made up for dropping the right hander when he was on 53 at second slip off Tudor, who was the pick of England's attack.

Bowling solely from the Football Stand End and using a shorter run-up than during his last appearance for England, Tudor bowled a fuller length and made the Indian batsmen play more often than his colleagues. On a couple of occasions he extracted searing bounce out of the pitch, one ball whistling past Bangar's nose and flying over Stewart's head for four byes.

However, such moments of optimism were few and far between and, with Sachin Tendulkar looking good on 18 not out, one feels England's hard work has just begun.

HEADINGLEY SCOREBOARD

India won toss

INDIA ­ First Innings

S B Bangar c Stewart b Flintoff 68

298 min, 236 balls, 10 fours

V Sehwag c Flintoff b Hoggard 8

30 min, 23 balls, 1 four

R S Dravid not out 110

333 min, 247 balls, 16 fours

S R Tendulkar not out 18

65 min, 46 balls, 3 fours

Extras (b13 lb7 nb12) 32

Total (for 2, 364 min, 90 overs) 236

Fall: 1-15 (Sehwag) 2-185 (Bangar).

To bat: *S C Ganguly, V V S Laxman, A B Agarkar, ÝP A Patel, A R Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan.

Bowling: Hoggard 22-8-48-1 (nb3) (10-4-20-1, 6-2-13-0, 2-1-6-0, 4-1-9-0); Caddick 21-5-51-0 (nb4) (6-1-13-0, 3-1-7-0, 4-2-9-0, 3-0-9-0, 5-1-13-0); Tudor 21-10-49-0 (nb3) (12-7-15-0, 2-1-2-0, 6-2-23-0, 1-0-9-0); Flintoff 14-3-34-1 (nb2) (4-1-9-0, 3-0-14-0, 1-0-2-0, 6-2-9-1); Giles 12-2-34-0 (5-1-8-0, 3-1-2-0, 2-0-17-0, 2-0-7-0).

Progress: First day: 50: 108 min, 24.5 overs. Lunch: 58-1 (Bangar 22, Dravid 17) 28 overs. 100: 184 min, 43.1 overs. Tea: 132-1 (Bangar 51, Dravid 51) 59 overs. 150: 266 min, 65.2 overs. 200: 309 min, 76.2 overs. New ball taken after 81 overs at 213-2.

Bangar's 50: 228 min, 166 balls, 7 fours. Dravid's 50: 205 min, 153 balls, 6 fours. 100: 301 min, 220 balls, 14 fours.

ENGLAND: R W T Key, M P Vaughan, M A Butcher, *N Hussain, J P Crawley, ÝA J Stewart, A Flintoff, A J Tudor, A F Giles, A R Caddick, M J Hoggard.

Umpires: E A R de Silva and D L Orchard.