England-India draw second Test
Alastair Cook was the only England batsman to lose his wicket
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Tuesday, 23, Dec 2008 10:45
England and India played out a draw in the second Test match in Mohali after the tourists reached the close of play on 64-1, chasing a victory target of 403.
The hosts' batsmen Yuvraj Singh (86) and Gautam Gambhir (97) added 99 runs to the overnight total of 134-4 with some elaborate shots, including three remarkable sixes from the middle-order man.
And despite declaring on 251-7, when Gambhir was caught by Ian Bell off the spin of Graeme Swann just short of his century, India could not break down England's solid defence.
Only Alastair Cook (ten) lost his wicket as the game petered out to a draw after tea, with fellow opener Andrew Strauss (21 not out) and Bell (24 not out) still on the field.
In the morning, Yuvraj and Gambhir continued from where they had left off on the fourth day after a two-hour delay due to fog - playing some expansive shots to try to move the scoreboard on quickly to set up a declaration.
However, with the opener creeping towards a century India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni appeared to be distracted and allowed him to stay out and attempt to notch his ton.
At the other end, Yuvraj played some blockbuster strokes as he made his 86 from just 93 balls before being run out by some excellent fielding from Bell.
Dhoni came in and was quickly sent back to the pavilion after lobbing an easy catch back to the bowler - Monty Panesar - from only his second delivery faced for the spinner's lone wicket of the day.
The India captain's desire to win the match was brought into question as he decided to keep Gambhir at the crease.
However, this decision backfired when the opener fell three runs short of his ton and the declaration came as his wicket fell to Swann following Bell's excellent catch.
Having been set an unrealistic victory target of more than 400, the tourists never looked likely to attempt a chase and played out the rest of the afternoon session to finish on 31-1 despite Cook's dismissal.
The final session of the day last no more than 15 overs as both sides realised the match was only ever going to end in a draw, meaning India win the two-match series 1-0 following their win in Chennai earlier this month.