It was another masterful exhibition of spin bowling by Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble on a wearing, fourth-day pitch. Harbhajan, especially, was outstanding. His figures bore an uncanny resemblance to his fifth-day spell at Nagpur, when he ran through Zimbabwe with 4 for 8 in 10.4 overs. The pitches at both venues were similar – there were cracks on a good length around the off stump, and a bowler who could pitch it there consistently was likely to be rewarded.

Harbhajan did that, on both occasions. At Nagpur, he landed it on a good length 95.3% of the time; today, 95.7% of his deliveries were on target. That he maintained the level of accuracy for 31 overs made today's performance even more special. Anil Kumble wasn't far behind either – he landed 88.7% on a good length.

Harbhajan's line was flawless, too. Knowing he was getting appreciable turn, he bowled 86% of his deliveries outside off, and only 6.5% on off stump. Harbhajan drew a false stroke from the batsmen once every four balls – that is, 25% of the time, the batsmen edged, played and missed, or were rapped on the pads. The corresponding figure for Kumble was 23.1%.

Together, Harbhajan and Kumble gave the Zimbabweans absolutely no respite. An on a spiteful track, the batsmen had no answers.

S Rajesh is sub-editor of Wisden.com in India.

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