Mark Butcher made two fifties in a Test for the first time at Ahmedabad - but despite a dodgy stomach, his 92 today was nowhere near as nauseous a knock as his first-innings 51. On the first day Butcher scored almost 60% of his runs behind square on the off side but here he was much more fluent. He swept the spinners time and time again, while his runs behind square on the off side were mostly the product of soft hands and subtle deflections; in the first innings they came mostly off the edge.

This innings was less manic than the first, and was defined by greater confidence and assurance. In the first innings Butcher stepped out of his crease only once; today he did it 16 times. In the first innings, boundaries - many of them streaky - accounted for 70% of Butcher's runs, whereas today it was only 39%, as he efficiently worked and manoeuvred the spinners around for ones and twos. It could easily have been the absent Graham Thorpe. Who said Butcher can't play spin?

Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com

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