Weather played spoilsport as the second and final test match between India and England ended in a draw yesterday in Mohali with the hosts claiming the series by 1-0. The game, largely marred by fog in the uneasily cold city saw some splendid performances from the Indian batsmen and bowlers alike. English captain Kevin Pietersen was once again left high and dry as his team lost the test series a fortnight after India whitewashed them in the 7-ODI series cut short to 5.

That the test will not end up conclusively became apparent on the fourth day as play started to get delayed because of bad weather. On the final day, game started two and a half hours later than the scheduled time. That was when skipper Dhoni made his mind to not play for a target but let Gambhir and Yuvraj complete their centuries. Gambhir fell short of his ton by 3 runs when he was clean bowled by Swann at 97 while Yuvraj Singh was run out at 86. Dhoni was caught and bowled by Monty Panesar as India finally accumulated a 403-run target for England to be achieved in 23 overs of play remaining. England were 63-1 when the day was called with Andrew Strauss (21*) and Ian Bell (24*) still playing.

Zaheer Khan was adjudged the Man of the Series for his spectacular stint with the ball. This is his second consecutive award after he was awarded the same title in the ODI series against England last month. Rahul Dravid who had been struggling with his performance of late also found form as he hit a suave hundred in the first innings. Gautam Gambhir retains the maximum limelight as he’s in the best of his form, having made 774 runs in the past four test matches.

Dhoni however, remains unfazed by the outcome. Critics are skeptical of his decision to declare the innings later than required but India were leading the test series anyway and quoting Dhoni, “we did not want to give England any chance to win the game.” With this series finishing on a high note, India have all their time to themselves till March. It’s a long break for a team who is usually over-played and a certainly very well deserved one.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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