Swann starts England fightback

Dec 20 2008

England finally prised out Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid to kickstart a fightback as they took four wickets for 19 runs in the final Test.

The tourists' hopes of bouncing back from their disappointing first-Test defeat in Chennai to level the series at the PCA Stadium seemed remote while Gambhir and Dravid were forging a 314-run second-wicket stand.

But a three-wicket haul from off-spinner Graeme Swann - followed by Andrew Flintoff's first success of the match - reduced India to 347 for five by mid-afternoon of the second day.

Resuming on 179 for one, Gambhir (179) and Dravid (136) extended their partnership to establish India's second-wicket record against England - and their second-highest for any wicket.

But just as they both seemed set to accelerate and power India to a daunting total, they fell in a four-over spell from Swann - who followed up by also claiming the prized wicket of Sachin Tendulkar.

Former India captain Dravid, who resumed overnight on 65, was the first to reach his milestone with a clip off his legs for a single off James Anderson to bring up his 26th Test century.

Gambhir reached his first landmark shortly before lunch when he progressed to 142 with a two off Paul Collingwood's first over of the series, reaching 1,000 Test runs in 2008 in only eight matches.

But India's second-highest stand for any wicket against England was finally broken when Gambhir attempted to hit Swann over the top and gave a looping catch to Alastair Cook at point.

Just four overs later Dravid fell in similar manner when he also tried to hit Swann over the top but mis-hit the shot high in the air for Monty Panesar to take a well-judged catch at mid-off.

Tendulkar lasted just six overs before attempting to sweep Swann and falling lbw for 11 and sensing the momentum was with England, all-rounder Flintoff powered in and earned another lbw against VVS Laxman.