The hour that will live forever

In the evening gloom of Headingley two batsmen, one great and the other very good indeed, decided to transform the Third Test. The end of a perpetually gloomy second day was approaching when Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly unfurled a sequence of breathtaking strokes.

For almost an hour they supplied an irreproachable example of what it means to take apart bowlers. Unforgettable deeds have been performed at this ground – sometimes they seem to run at least one a Test – but this joined them immediately in the pantheon.

At 5.58pm England took the third new ball. At 6.09pm, with four of five bulbs aglow on the meter, the batsmen were offered the light, which they declined. At 6.14pm there were five lights on. At 6.56pm play was suspended for the day.

In the 68 balls which were bowled in that spell, including a no ball and one which took a wicket, India added 96 runs. They went from 488 for 3 to 584 for 4. Any side subjected to this kind of blistering attack in a one-day match would feel terminally aggrieved. This was a Test.

It was marked not only by its big hitting, of which there was a multitude – nine fours and five sixes – but by its constantly cheeky running, designed to irritate beyond distraction a side who had been in the field for two days. Tendulkar and his captain were glorious. The old ground was dark but they illuminated it.

It went like this. After 162 overs, Nasser Hussain, England's captain, decided they should take another new ball. Matters had hardly gone their way over the first two days but some swift inroads would curtail the tourists' advantage. Besides, it was dark and Hussain must have toyed with the notion of being able shortly to seek the sanctuary of the dressing room. That was the only way England were about to gain any respite, but it was not arriving in a hurry.

Matthew Hoggard took the first over. It was pretty uneventful. Five runs were scored. There was no indication that India meant business. They had spent the match simply grinding the home side down. There had been the odd flourish. No more. No need.

The second over with the new ball was bowled by Andrew Caddick. The first ball went towards point, briefly in the air. No chance, no run. Caddick cajoled the second into rearing at Ganguly. He could only fend it away and it looped towards first slip. Since edges usually fly in that direction, it was an agonising delay while the ball arrived. You cannot practice slip catches like this. Robert Key dropped it. No more runs came. Then Hoggard bowled a maiden.

Around now the umpires gave the batsmen the chance to go off for bad light. On the scoreboard, four of the lightbulbs which give a guide to how poor the daylight has become were on. At Trent Bridge a fortnight ago, England scampered off with only one light showing.

Through the gloom you could swear that Ganguly almost sneered as he refused the offer. And at the same time a light came on in the batsmen. "We decided that in the last 10 to 15 overs that we needed some quick runs," understated Ganguly later. "We had to carry on because the match is interestingly poised." They did not exchange many words but now they clearly declared war. Drinks were taken.

Caddick's next over went for nine, including consecutive fours at the end; Hoggard, struggling as well for his length, conceded six. Caddick went for 11 including a stunning six by Tendulkar, stepping across his stumps and heaving it into the corner of the new Headingley Lodge. It tested the hideous concrete and the concrete was not found wanting.

Hoggard and Caddick, England's opening bowlers do not forget, had another over each in tandem. Twenty-four runs came. Ganguly, out for 99 at Trent Bridge, was there again. Not for long. Ashley Giles was brought on to slow the pace of the ball. It went quicker. Ganguly started the over on 99 and finished it on 120. Four, six, six, four, the new Western Terrace peppered. Key was not in the slips any longer. Nobody was.

Alex Tudor came on. His second ball went for six. Caddick was brought on at the Kirkstall Lane end for Giles. Five runs.

And then Tudor struck with the first ball of the new ball's 12th over. Ganguly, being outrageous, stepped back and saw his stumps splayed. The new batsman, VVS Laxman, arrived. India prepared to resume. There were seven overs left.

But suddenly they departed. Nasser Hussain had intervened on behalf of the fielding side – which is not necessarily permissible under law 3.9(b)(ii) – and the umpires decreed that the light was too bad to continue. It was a coruscating 58 minutes of cricket. And nine balls later, on Saturday, Tendulkar, too, was out.