Irfan Pathan continued to torment hapless Zimbabwe with a fine exhibition of swing bowling as India put themselves on the threshhold of a crushing victory in the second and final Test today.
The left-handed Pathan and Zaheer Khan made amends for India's unimpressive batting show by scything through the hosts' top order to take their team within sniffing distance of their first overseas series win in 18 years.
After conceding a first innings lead of 205, the hosts were gasping at 39 for four at stumps on the second day which saw the visitors take complete control of the game at the Harare Sports Club.
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The home team was still tailing by 166 runs and with three full days left, it was just a matter of time before Saurav Ganguly and his men wrapped up the match for a 2-0 series triumph.
Resuming at the overnight score of 195 for one, the Indian batting did not really flourish as they lost the remaining nine wickets for the addition of just 171 runs, being dismissed for 366 about an hour before the scheduled close of play.
Paceman Heath Streak did the bulk of the damage as he returned with career-best figures of six for 73 but his efforts were quickly forgotten as the Zimbabwean top order batting collapsed yet again.
Rahul Dravid (98) and Gautam Gambhir (97) were unlucky to miss their centuries but none of the other Indian batsmen could get going on a track which provided some assistance to the seamers.
Streak tormented the Indians all day through with his nagging line and movement on a wicket which seemed to have deteriorated by more than a few degrees on the second day. Streak finished with his seventh five-wicket haul and the best in his 65th Test as he recorded figures of six for 72. He received good support from his fellow medium-pacers, particularly Blessing Mahwire (2 for 86) who cleaned up Rahul Dravid with a peach of a delivery.
Dravid, who has shown a tendency to get out bowled in recent months, once again fell the same way when he tried to drive Mahwire hard down the ground and had his leg stump pegged back.
Dravid in all batted for 321 minutes and faced 183 balls hitting 10 fours in his 98 runs.
The left-handed Gambhir was another batsman who faced the dreadful fate as he chose to drive at a widish delivery from Mahwire and was consumed behind the stumps by Tatenda Taibu.
India made only 52 runs from the first two hours and another 71 runs between lunch and tea as the Indian batsmen were seriously tested bythe conditions and bowlers.
The visitors lost three wickets in the first session which also included the dismissal of Ganguly (16) who flirted with an away-going delivery and was caught behind the stumps.
Yuvraj Singh (25) was beaten a number of times during his scratchy innings before he walked across his stumps to flick Streak and lost his leg-stump. As has been seen in recent times, the Indian tail wagged again with Pathan once again making a favourable impression with his batting.
Pathan made 32 from 45 balls with five fours and got useful support from Harbhajan Singh (14 not out) as India made sure they at least finished 205 runs in front.
Zimbabwe were not expected to do better than the Indians on the treacherous surface and they were 21 for 4 within no time before Hamilton Masakadza (11) and Streak (6) stopped the slide.
Both Pathan and Zaheer picked up two wickets each but the talking points were themarvellous diving catches which Yuvraj and Anil Kumble picked up at the point and gullyregions.
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PTI
