Just One Night

India are tantalisingly close to its first-ever Test win in Pakistan, who were was forced to follow-on andthen left staring at defeat after Anil Kumble took six wickets on the penultimate day of the Multan Testtoday.

On a humiliating day for the hosts, the Indians quickly knocked off the last four wickets of Pakistan'sfirst innings, enforced the follow-on and then left them on a pathetic 207 for nine in the second innings. Thevisitors are still ahead by 61 runs and need to take only the last Pakistani wicket on the final day to recordtheir first win in 52 years.

The under-rated Indian bowling attack took a total of 13 wickets during the day but a brilliant unbeaten 107 byvice-captain Yousuf Youhana forced the match on to the fifth day although play was extended by half an hour today.

Kumble's six for 71 in the second innings, his 24th five-wicket haul in Tests, followed his two for 100 inthe first innings. The ace leg-spinner was ably supported by the lion-hearted Irfan Pathan who scalped twofirst innings wickets (to end with four wickets in the first innings) and one in the second.

The disciplined Indian bowling, coupled with some inept batting by the home side, put India on thethreshold of a historic win.

The seasoned Kumble, returning to the Test squad after a two-month break due an injury, showed he is still aforce to reckon with as he produced a mesmerising spell to break the backbone of the Pakistani batting.

Standing tall among the ruins, Youhana unleashed a flurry of strokes towards the end of the day in desperation andgiving him company at close of play was last man Shabbir Ahmed who was yet to open his account.

The visitors have an entire day tomorrow to claim the remaining wicket and gain a 1-0 lead in this historicthree-match series.

The Indians did their best to wrap up the match today itself but Youhana launched a counter attack with a barrage ofboundaries to notch up his 11th Test century.

Earlier, the home team plunged into trouble straightaway after the lunch break as they lost Imran Farhat (24), TaufiqUmar (9), captain Inzamam-ul Haq (0) and Yasir Hameed (23) in quick succession to allow the Indians to take a firm grip onthe match.

After being bundled out for 407 in the first innings, about half an hour before the lunch break, the two Pakistaniopeners -- Farhat and Umar -- seemed determined to give a solid start to their team, playing watchfullyagainst Pathan and L Balaji.

The Indians did not allow the absence of pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who bowled just one over during the pre-lunchsession and did not take the field again due to a muscle strain, to hamper them as they went about taking wickets atregular intervals.

The Pakistani openers took the score to 33 before Kumble struck the first blow by evicting Farhat wholooked the more aggressive of the two batsmen. The left hander went for a drive but only succeeded in edgingthe ball to Parthiv Patel behind the stumps.

In his very next over, Kumble inflicted another blow by getting rid of Umar who offered no stroke andwas trapped leg before wicket to a sharp delivery.

But the biggest jolt for the home team came a few minutes later when captain Inzamam, who has been intremendous form, got run out for a duck to give the visitors a firm control of the game.

Inzamam failed to reach the safety of his crease as Yuvraj Singh's direct hit from the mid-on region hit thestumps, reducing Pakistan to a precarious 44 for three by the 21st over.

The in-form Hameed and Youhana tried to perform the salvage job before part-timer Yuvraj joined the partyby claiming the prize-scalp of Hameed for 23. He went for a shot on the on-side but failed to control it andVirender Sehwag held on to a well-judged catch in the short fine leg region.

Youhana and Abdul Razzaq managed to survive till the tea break, taken with Pakistan on 91 for four, but the visitors came backstrongly and kept beating the two batsmen persistently, Pathan being the luckless bowler on a number of occasions.

However, Kumble brought an end to Razzaq's resistance with Aakash Chopra taking a brilliant reflex catch at forwardshort leg. A few overs later, Pathan trapped Moin Khan leg before wicket to compound the misery of the hosts.

The penultimate day's play began in dramatic fashion as the Indians snared up three of the last four wickets withinjust 10 minutes of play. But the they were frustrated by the last pair of Sami and Shabbir and it wasonly about half an hour before the lunch break that they managed to break their stubborn resistance.

Pathan fired the first salvo in the morning by claiming the wicket of Razzaq off the very first ball with a rising delivery which took the edge and Patel latched on on to an easy catch behind the wickets. Razzak's 47included six boundaries and came in 140 minutes.

The young paceman from Baroda struck again in the very next over by removing Saqlain Mushtaq who had himself to blamefor his dismissal as he played a rash stroke. Saqlain tried to hit a rising delivery but could not control his shot andspooned a catch to Zaheer at mid-off.

Sachin Tendulkar tightened the noose around the hosts by claiming the wicket of Shoaib Akhtar to reduce Pakistan to 371for nine by the third over of the day. Shoaib went for a forward defensive shot but could not keep the ball on theground and Tendulkar gleefully accepted a simple return catch.

The last wicket pair of Sami and Shabbir prolonged the inevitable by defending stoutly and added 37 vital runs to thetotal before Kumble finally sent Sami back by dislodging his stumps for 15.

PTI