KOLKATA, Dec 1: India continued their relentless domination of the second Test as Saurav Ganguly and Vangipurappu Laxman joined Wasim Jaffer in piling up more misery for Pakistan on the second day at the Eden Gardens here on Saturday.

Ganguly (102) and Laxman (112 not out) emulated Jaffer (202) in notching up their first centuries against Pakistan as India amassed a mammoth 616-5 declared.

Faced with a tricky 65-minute period with their backs against the wall, Pakistan began confidently and promisingly until Yasir Hameed’s frail technique in combating spin provided the Indians an early breakthrough.

Anil Kumble’s fifth ball, a top-spinner, trapped Yasir plumb in front of the stumps as the opener flung his right leg across with the bat nowhere in sight. After that setback, Salman Butt (26 off 58 balls, four fours) and stand-in Pakistan skipper Younis Khan (3 off 18 balls), survived until stumps to take the touring side to 50-1, requiring a mammoth 367 to avert the follow on.

Having been at the wrong end of the stick on the first two days, Pakistan are now left with the arduous task of batting at least the next two days to make a fitting reply to Kumble’s men.

With the pitch showing slight signs of crumbling - one noticed puff of dust when Kumble and Harbhajan Singh were operating in tandem - it would take a Herculean effort from the Pakistanis to keep the series alive until the Bangalore Test.

In what was replica of their Friday’s awesome display, India marched on merrily in their quest of making sure they bat only once in the game. It was an objective that was achieved with ease as they surpassed their previous highest total against Pakistan at home – 539-9 declared at Madras (now known as Chennai) in the 1960-61 series.

Historically, it was also their third biggest total at Eden Gardens after 657-7 and 633-5, both times declared and both against Australia in 2001 and 1998, respectively.

The second new ball, which was two and a half overs old at the start of play on the second morning, gave Pakistan a flicker of hope when Sohail Tanvir’s first delivery of the day finally accounted for Jaffer after the opener duly completed his second Test double century by steering Shoaib Akhtar to the third man boundary.

Jaffer fell four short of equaling his best Test score – 212 against West Indies at St John’s in June 2006 – after resuming at 192. The 29-year-old’s breathtaking knock was of the finest of recent times as it consumed only 274 balls in a stay of 402 minutes with 34 dazzling boundaries adorning it.

Ganguly and Laxman, both in the midst of staving the mounting campaign for Yuvraj Singh’s inclusion in the Test XI, were no mood to let the golden opportunity of scoring easy runs against the wilting bowlers goes astray.

Their partnership, which was already worth 76 by lunch, blossomed in the afternoon session with the first hour yielding 70 runs in 16 overs.

Shortly afterwards the great moment arrived for which the Kolkatans had waited for 11 long years when their most revered son obliged a meager turned out of around 35,000 with his first century in eight Tests at the Eden Gardens and overall his 14th in 98 Tests.

The joy on Ganguly’s face was unrestrained as he jumped into the air after pushing Kaneria into the cover for a single to reach the coveted three-figure mark in six minutes under four hours off 144 balls

But Ganguly, who had laced his fine innings with 14 well-timed boundaries, got relaxed and provided Salman Butt with his maiden Test scalp when the part-time off-spinner enticed the 35-year-old left-hander into giving a swirling catch to Sohail Tanvir deep on the offside. That dismissal terminated a rollicking fifth-wicket stand worth 163 off 233 balls in 168 minutes.

Laxman, understandably slowing down as he moved into the 90s, registered his 10th century in this his 85th Test, pulling Shoaib Akhtar towards square leg for a single. It had taken the 33-year-old wristy right-hander from Hyderabad 233 minutes and 158 balls to get the milestone that was embedded with 14 fours.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, uncharacteristically, played a sedate hand before striking Salman Butt for 6, 4, 4 to bring up his seventh half-century before Kumble finally called halt an hour after the tea interval.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say except for Sohail Tanvir’s two wickets and nothing has gone Pakistan’s way with both Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami looking spent force right from their first overs on Friday respectively.

Scoreboard

INDIA 1st innings (overnight 352-3)

W. Jaffer c Akmal b Tanvir 202

D. Karthik c Younis b Tanvir 1

R.A.Dravid c Akmal b Kaneria 50

S.R.Tendulkar b Kaneria 82

S.C.Ganguly c Tanvir b Butt 102

V.V.S.Laxman not out 112

M.S.Dhoni not out 50

EXTRAS: (B-8, LB-5, NB-3, W-1) 17

TOTAL: (for 5 wkts decl, 152.5 overs) 616

FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-138, 3-313, 4-375, 5-538

BOWLING: Shoaib 24-2-84-0 (1w), Sohail 39-6-166-2 (1nb), Sami 29-2-99-0 (2nb), Kaneria 50-7-194-2, Yasir 4-0-24-0, Salman 6.5-0-36-1.

PAKISTAN 1st innings:

Salman Butt not out 26

Yasir Hameed lbw b Kumble 21

Younis Khan not out 3

TOTAL: (for 1 wkt, 16 overs) 50

FALL OF WKT: 1-38

BOWLING: Zaheer 1.2-0-2-0, Patel 3-0-22-0, Harbhajan 6.4-2-14-0, Kumble 5-1-12-1.

UMPIRES: Billy Doctrove (WIS) and Rudi Koertzen (RSA)

TV UMPIRE: Amish Saheba (IND)

MATCH REFEREE: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)