Quick wickets revive India hopes

FIRST TEST, Delhi (day four, lunch): Pakistan 231 & 247; India 276 & 4-1

India skittled out the remaining five Pakistan wickets for only 35 runs on the fourth morning in Delhi and will require 203 to win the first Test.

Resuming 167 runs ahead at 212-5, Pakistan lost Kamran Akmal driving to point for 21 in the first full over of the day with no addition to the total.

Sourav Ganguly soon struck twice in an over and the innings ended as last man Danish Kaneria was run out first ball.

India then lost Dinesh Karthik in the first over and reached lunch at 4-1.

The Pakistan sixth-wicket partnership had threatened to put India out of the game but the game continued to fluctuate when Akmal was unable to control his drive and was comfortably caught off the outside edge by substitute fielder Yuvraj.

After some brief resistance from Sohail Tanvir, Zaheer Khan collected his second wicket of the day when Harbhajan Singh took a composed catch running back towards square-leg.

Misbah-ul-Haq, who made his maiden Test fifty in the first innings, moved within five of another when he tried to advance down the wicket to Sourav Ganguly, surprisingly given the new ball in the middle of the 83rd over.

He mis-hit his lofted drive and Karthik ran back from mid-on to take an excellent catch.

The batsmen crossed and Mohammad Sami flicked the next ball for four to take the lead over 200, but with the final delivery of the over Sami played an ungainly swipe across the line and Wasim Jaffer made no mistake with the steepling chance at mid-wicket.

To complete the erratic collapse there was a farcical run-out.

Kaneria pushed a delivery from Anil Kumble into the covers and had got halfway down the wicket in pursuit of a single before Shoaib Akhta sent him back.

Even though Sachin Tendulkar's throw was not accurate, Mahendra Dhoni was able to flick the ball back onto the stumps with Kaneria well short of his ground.

But Shoaib quickly made amends when he seamed the sixth delivery of the India innings away from Karthik who got a regulation edge through to keeper Akmal to keep the match on a knife-edge.

Source: BBC Sport