Laudable show - India beat England by 5 wkts at Lord's

By A. C. De Silva

FLASHBACK... The impact of India's historic first Test victory at Lord's was not allowed to reverberate through the pavilion corridors for very long. No sooner had Kapil Dev, who led his team to a thoroughly impressive win by five wickets, being nominated "Man of the match" by Ted Dexter, an old England captain.

India must be properly saluted. Indeed in his first public utterance in his new job Gatting was generous in his praise. India played good cricket and just about held the initiative from the moment that Kapil Dev won the toss and made his insertion. Gatting's complaint was that England had not played as badly as everyone seemed to suggest even though it had lost.

If Kapil Dev's win in his 21st Test has lengthened his tenure of the Indian captaincy, the skipper's job has become subject to a short lease in England, especially in the event of failure.

And, frankly, why not? Selectors have a duty to try and find a winning formula and although many may not have agreed with some of their individual decisions they have not ducked the major issue as Kapil Dev pointed out on the balcony at Lord's that he too had to face the West Indies when none can beat and also bad weather, both against Australia and Pakistan.

Seasoned campaigners

Indeed it seemed that the Indian side's preparation for the Lord's Test, the earliest ever played in England, would have been quite ruined by the number of days cricket lost to rain on the tour so far.

What has saved the Indian party is the fact that so many of the players are seasoned campaigners who have often been in England.

Furthermore, in Raj Singh they have an experienced Manager with a light touch, who has been this way before, and is much loved by English people wherever he goes. So this win, following on the achievement of winning the one-day series albeit by a narrow statistical margin, is just a reward for those concerned with the management of Indian cricket.

Coming on to the match, we may never know how defensive Kapil Dev was really put in. He may have wanted to shield his batsmen. If so, he would have given England's bowlers too much credit. Botham might have done well but after his erratic efforts in the West Indies even that is not certain.

Although he should not have been picked Robinson made a few but Gooch dug in to try and recover some real form.

He had to bat for three hours before runs began to flow and by then little Chetan Sharma had scurried his way to two of his five wickets.

Chetan removed Gower and Gatting quickly to put India right back in the game and when Lamb's technique let him down again, this time by playing forward too stiff a left knee, England's innings was on the floor.

Pringle gave Gooch real help but the England opener was despatched, slightly tired, by the last ball of the first day and Pringle could not take charge against accurate bowling on the second day morning.

Man of the tour

A total of under 300 was simply not enough. However, the wicket had some movement in it and if the dashing Srikkanth was the only wicket taker on the second day, England and particularly the revitalised Dilley, were unlucky not to do better. They had their luck on the third day when Indian wickets fell all too regularly around the extraordinary figure of Vengsarkar who, when all his said and done, became not only the truly historic figure of the game but of the tour.

No doubt he will get praise enough elsewhere. Lord's is not an easy ground. For the nervous it can be unsettling and the staring eyes in the long room have never signalled love and affection even though their applause can be genuine and heartfelt.

Three times Vengsarkar has run this gauntlet session after session and three times he has reached the coveted hundred. In terms of temperament it is a staggering achievement for a visitor from overseas.

It is said now that Bradman would have completed three centuries on his four tours had he not had to face Venty on a sticky wicket after a weekend's rain back in 1934. Vengsarkar's runs are in the book and the England players there too, none better, note. No English player has hit four, are all in the highest class.

Hobbs, Hutton, Compton, Boycott and John Edrich, all of them among the greatest.

So helped by little more and Maninder Singh, Vengsarkar established a lead of no great substance but one which was made formidable by Kapil Dev's bowling on the fourth morning, the spell which turned the match desisively and earned him the award ahead of his leading scorer Vengsarkar. Dexter was right in his choice.

The Indian captain bowled straight, straighter than the English bowlers. He made the ball move both ways and varied his pace. He produced a killer ball for the first wicket, knowing only too well Robinson's weakness against the fast lifter. This was quite simply match winning bowling and all the more remarkable for being delivered by a man whose knees are supposed to have gone.

Gatting and Lamb made a few, perhaps enough to earn Gatting the captaincy and Lamb, his retention. But this time Gooch and Pringle both failed and So did Gover.

The tail was cut off by Shastri and Maninder Singh whose figures were astonishing in modern cricket - 4 for 30 off a combined total of 40 overs. They may be Bedi, either of them. But Bedi never played a better role for his team and nor did any other left-hander given that whilst the pitch helped bowlers a little, it helped none overmuch.

Thus India had only 134 runs to make. Kapil Dev saw this as a real, given India's Test record till then, and he was right to treat the day with caution.

Dilley bowled well and shot out the two openers. Mohinder Amarnath became hopelessly bogged down as if there was a psychological barrier to winning and Vengsarkar had to show the way.

When Azharuddin was run out and Vengsarkar beaten and bowled, the match still had to be won. However, Shastri punched Edmonds through the covers and Kapil Dev after one sweep, hit the left hander cross batted into the grandstand for six which put the cap on the performance very neatly.

For captain and vice-captain to be at the wicket together at the end will have been an unforgettable experience for them both.

SCOREBOARD
		
ENGLAND – 1ST INNINGS
G. Gooch b Chetan Sharma		       114
T. Robinson c Azharuddin b Maninder		35
D. Gower c More b Chetan Sharma			18
M. Gatting b Chetan Sharma			00
A. Lamb c Srikkanth b Chetan Sharma		06
D. Pringle b Binny				63
J. Emburey c Amarnath b Kapil Dev		07
P. Downton lbw b Chetan Sharma			05
R. Ellison c Kapil Dev b Binny			12
G. Dilley c More b Binny			04
P. Edmonds not out				07
Extras (lb-15, w-1, nb 7)			23
total					       294

Fall of wickets: 1-66, 2-92, 3-92, 4-98, 5-245, 6-264
		 7-269, 8-271, 9-287
Bowling: Kapil Dev 31-8-67-1
	 R. Binny 18.2-4-55-3
	 Chetan Sharma 32-10-64-5
	 Maninder Singh 30-15-45-1
	 M. Amarnath 7-1-18-0
	 R. Shastri 10-3-30-0

INDIA – 1ST INNINGS
S.M. Gavaskar c Emburey b Dilley		34
K. Srikkanth c Gatting b Dilley			20
M.B. Amarnath c Pringle b Edmonds		69
D.B. Vengsarkar not out			       126
M. Azharuddin c and b Dilley			33
R.J. Shastri c Edmonds b Dilley			01
R.M.H. Binny lbw b Pringle			09
Kapil Dev c Lamb b Ellison			01
Chetan Sharma b Pringle				02
Kiran More  lbw b Pringle			25
Manninder Singh c Lamb b Emburey		06
Extras (lb-5, w-1, nb 9)			15
total					       341

Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-90, 3-161, 4-232, 5-238
		 6-252, 7-253, 8-264, 9-303
Bowling: G. Dilley 34-7-146-4
	 R. Ellison 29-11-63-1
	 J. Emburey 27-13-28-1
	 P. Edmonds 22-7-41-3
	 D. Pringle 25-7-58-3

ENGLAND – 2ND INNINGS
G. Gooch lbw b Kapil Dev			08
T. Robinson c Mohinder b Kapil Dev		11
D. Gower lbw b Kapil Dev			08
M. Gatting b Chetan Sharma			40
A. Lamb b Shastri				39
D. Pringle c More b Kapil Dev			06
J. Embureyc and b Marinder			01
P. Downton c Shastri b Maninder			29
R. Ellison c More b Binny			19
G. Dilley not out				02
P. Edmonds c Binny b Maninder			07
Extras (lb 6, w-1, nb-3)			10
Total;					       180

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-23, 3-35, 4-108, 5-113
		 6-121, 7-164, 8-170, 9-170
Bowling: Kapil Dev 22-7-52-4
	 R. Binny 15-3-44-1
	 Chetan Sharma 17-4-48-1
	 Manninder Singh 20.4-12-9-3
	 M. Amarnath 2-2-0-0
	 R. Shastri 20-8-21-1

INDIA – 2ND INNINGS
S.M. Gavaskar c Downton b Dilley		22
K. Srikkanth c Gooch b Dilley			00
M.B. Amarnath lbw b Pringle			08
D.B. Vengsarkar b Edmonds			33
M. Azharuddin c run out				14
R.J. Shastri not out				20
Kapil Dev not out				23
Extras (b-1, lb-9, nb-5, w-1)			16
Total (for 5 wkts)			        136

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-31, 3-76, 4-78, 5-110
Bowling: G. Dilley 10-3-28-2
	 R. Ellison 6-0-17-0
	 P. Edmonds 11-2-51-1
	 D. Prnigle 15-5-30-1