India v Zimbabwe
2nd Test, Nagpur, 25-29 November, 2000
INDIA WON BY 9 WICKETS

FLOWER BLOSSOMS

Andy Flower [below receiving man of the match, and series awards] continued in the form he showed in Delhi, by grinding out a respectable draw for the tourists on another batsman friendly pitch.

India had set up camp on mount run mountain, with 600 plus declared as openers Das and Ramesh set the ball rolling batting most of the first day. The tourists did not quite have the fight to reach their follow-on peak as their last four wickets fell for 23, leaving them 28 short of safety. Grant Flower remained 106*.

Sourav Ganguly duly sent them back in a gain with plenty of time to play with Zimbabwe had an even bigger mountain to climb. But climb they did, and 161 overs later they remained 503-6, with Andy Flower relentlessly plowing onwards on 232*.At 61-3 the game was poised to go either way,when Campbell was joined by Andy Flower, and a 209 run partnership put the game nearly safe.

Campbell completing his first Test hundred in his 47th Test, not a bad time to do it! When he went, the tourists were only 42 ahead, but Viljoen and skipper Streak were not about to throw it away, and India were defied to the bitter end.

Zimbabwe gained valuable experience, and will have to work with their spinners to really compete on the subcontinent tracks, as for Andy Flower, he moved into the top three in the world after a stunning series and an impressive year amassing over 800 runs in the calendar year.