Bangalore, Dec 11: Reaffirming his arrival on biggest stage of world cricket in a big way Misbah ul Haq ensured that Pakistan remain in hunt on a unbelievably awkward Day 4 pitch in Chinnaswamy stadium Bangalore. Misbah faced 322 deliveries and batted for four sessions on the way to his 133 not out. Just when it looked that India’s dubious record in Chinnaswamy would come back to haunt the home team it was rookie Ishant Sharma who wrapped up the Pakistan innings in a clinical bowling spell claiming five wickets.

As the game progressed the penultimate day saw the batsmen ruling the roost as the dynamic duo of Ganguly and Dravid hit 63 and 32 runs respectively to guide India to a total of 131 runs without any further loss of wickets. The total helped the home team take a lead of 220 runs at stumps of the fourth day.

The experienced pair of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid pulled and cut elegant strokes to power India past 100 runs. Ganguly scored his 30th Test fifty in the process. He achieved another milestone of being the only Indian batsman in 2007 to score more than 1000 runs. He was aptly supported by Dravid who batted well in the last session of play of the fourth day.

Yasir Arafat continued with his good form with the leather as he got in-form Wasim Jaffer LBW to a fuller length delivery angling into the left hander. He departed after scoring 18 runs. India were 26 runs for the loss of two wickets, and the duo of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid took charge. They took the total to 63 runs amidst some brilliant stroke play.

Speedster Shoaib Akhtar drew first blood as he uprooted the off stump of opener Gautam Gambhir with a tearing fast delivery. The batsman departed after scoring 5 runs as Indian scorecard read 17 runs for the loss of a wicket. Rahul Dravid walked in to fill the slot.

Pacer Ishant Sharma made his presence felt as he got his maiden five-wicket haul in his first Test match against Pakistan. He ripped off the Pakistan batsmen’s resistance and played a pivotal role in getting the visitors all out for 537 runs. Misbah-ul-Haq remained unbeaten at a score of 133 runs and his knock proved to be a crucial one for his team.

Sharma claimed his fourth wicket in the form of Shoaib Akhtar. The Delhi seamer dug one short into the pitch and Akhtar was left with no reply but to lob an easy catch in the hands of Sharma’s state mate, Gautam Gambhir. He could score just a run as Pakistan were 529 runs for the loss of their penultimate wicket.

Sharma took his third wicket of the match as he clean bowled Mohammad Sami. The new batsman departed after scoring just 1 run as Pakistan were 527 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. The tempo was up once again on the Indian front as only the tail enders were left to be wrapped up.

Sharma made the long awaited breakthrough as he claimed the wicket of Yasir Arafat. The debutant dragged the ball back to his stumps giving the Delhi seamer his first wicket in the form of a clean bowled. Pakistan were 525 runs for the loss of 7 wickets with his departure.

Misbah-ul-Haq proved to be the wrecker-in-charge for Pakistan as he kept the clouds of a defeat at bay, hitting another century in the consecutive match against India. He powered the visitors’ total to 515 runs as the match seemed to be headed towards a draw. He was supported by debutant Yasir Arafat on the crease with spinners bowling in tandem.

Kamran Akmal was bamboozled by a flat trajectory delivery that got him out of the crease as Dinesh Karthik made a swift collection of the ball and stumped him. He departed after scoring 62 runs and in the process, helped his team avoid follow-on. Pakistan were 432 runs for the loss of 6 wickets with his departure.

Prior to this, Akmal scored a valiant half-century to help Pakistan cross 400 run mark. His effort was manifested with prime understanding of the circumstances as he gave the much required support to Misbah, building up a crucial partnership with him.

Pakistan started off their campaign against India on the fourth day of the final Test match on a cautious note. The overnight batsmen Misbah-ul-Haq and Akmal milked the Indian pace attack for some precious runs and inched closer to avert the follow-on scare.

The day begun with Pakistan trailing behind the Indian total by 257 runs, needing to add 57 runs more before the follow-on danger could be averted. This point kept in mind, the batsmen latched onto any loose deliveries and dispatched some good boundaries to help Pakistan reach 392 runs in less than ten overs of the first session’s play.

Pakistan 1st innings: Salman Butt c Karthik b Ganguly 68, Yasir Hameed lbw b Kumble 19, Younis Khan b Harbhajan Singh 80, Mohammad Yousuf c Yuvraj Singh b Pathan 24, Misbah-ul-Haq not out 133, Faisal Iqbal c Gambhir b Sharma 22, Kamran Akmal st Karthik b Harbhajan Singh 65, Yasir Arafat b Sharma 44, Mohammad Sami b Sharma 1, Shoaib Akhtar c Gambhir b Sharma 1, Danish Kaneria c & b Sharma 4 Extras: (b 35, lb 26, nb 15) 76 Total: (all out; 168.1 overs; 705 mins) 537 (3.19 runs per over) FOW: 1-59, 2-149, 3-221, 4-227, 5-288, 6-432, 7-525, 8-527, 9-529, 10-537 Bowling: IK Pathan 37-14-80-1, I Sharma 33.1-10-118-5, A Kumble 44-12-116-1, SC Ganguly 10-2-20-1, Harbhajan Singh 38-7-131-2, Yuvraj Singh 6-2-11-0

India 2nd innings: W Jaffer lbw b Yasir Arafat 18, G Gambhir b Shoaib Akhtar 3, R Dravid not out 35, SC Ganguly not out 63 Extras: (lb 6, nb 6) 12 Total: (2 wickets; 37 overs) 131 (3.54 runs per over) FOW: 1-17, 2-26 Bowling: Shoaib Akhtar 9-3-21-1, Mohammad Sami 11-1-36-0, Yasir Arafat 9-2-38-1, Danish Kaneria 8-0-30-0