KOLKATA, Dec 3: Barring any histrionics a draw seems to be the likely result in the second Test here after Misbah-ul-Haq’s grand 161 not out ensured India bat again on the penultimate day of the second Test at the Eden Gardens on Monday.

Thanks to Misbah’s truly magnificent hundred that came off 351 balls, Pakistan finished just 160 behind India on the first innings, taking their overnight score from 358-6 to 456 all out.

India then extended their overall lead to 301 by reaching 141-2 in their second innings when stumps were drawn for the day about six overs early because of the fading light. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Saurav Ganguly, both promoted in the order to press on the accelerator, were at the crease with 28 and 24, respectively.

Dinesh Karthik, overdue for runs after three straight failures in thus series, rode his luck for 84 minutes before a wild heave at Danish Kaneria cost him his wicket, Misbah calmly holding the top-edged mishit at square-leg.

Wasim Jaffer, in the groove following his double ton in the first innings, played attractively for a 75-ball 56 (eight fours) when an ungainly slog sweep sent him on his way, as the ball from Kaneria crashed into the stumps after pitching outside the leg stump.

Kaneria, appearing in his 50th Test, was extremely unfortunate not to pick up Ganguly as well as Shoaib Akhtar made complete mess of an easy catch in the deep. The leg-spinner finished the day with two for 41.

A draw here will obviously boost the confidence in the Pakistan camp, a point that was endorsed by Misbah at the press conference after the close of play.

“Definitely that would give us psychological advantage over India before the Bangalore Test. Batting won’t be easy tomorrow because the pitch is taking turn. In fact, we encountered some problems today with some deliveries turning and bouncing,” the in-form Pakistan batsman said.

“This match has so far been memorable for me. I couldn’t have asked for a better present for my son [Faham] who celebrated his second birthday on Sunday. I enjoyed every bit of it,” Misbah, whose marathon knock included 13 fours and one six, added.

Misbah, 108 overnight, carried on from where he left on Saturday, and together with night-watchman Mohammad Sami held on until lunch unscathed while collecting 60 runs that eventually took Pakistan past the follow-on mark of 416.

For the second time in the series, the Misbah-Sami stand frustrated the home team. Having partially saved Pakistan’s first-innings at Delhi from the shambles of 142-8 when these two added 87 for the eighth wicket, they annoyed the Indians for 259 minutes.

But after toiling all morning for the first opening, India needed just 33 more deliveries to get rid of the remaining four Pakistan wickets which fell like ninepins for the mere addition of eight runs after Misbah and Sami added 91 in 260 balls..

Sami was lured into playing recklessly at Vangipurappu Laxman, who was surprisingly brought on to bowl part-time off-spin, and holed out, to Jaffer at mid-off.

Misbah was left high and dry as Sohail Tanvir, Shoaib Akhtar and Kaneria deserted him in quick succession, all of them going for ducks.

Harbhajan then recorded his second five-for – his 20th such haul in 59 Tests – against Pakistan; Shoaib caught at slip and Kaneria losing his leg-stump bail. The 27-year-old off-spinner had generally looked the more threatening of all the slow bowlers and thoroughly deserved his 5-122 in 45.1 overs.

Scoreboard

INDIA 1st innings 616-5 decl

PAKISTAN 1st innings (overnight 358-6)

Salman Butt c Dravid b Harbhajan 42

Yasir Hameed lbw b Kumble 21

Younis Khan c Dhoni b Patel 43

Mohammad Yousuf b Harbhajan 6

Misbah-ul-Haq not out 161

Faisal Iqbal lbw b Kumble 0

Kamran Akmal b Harbhajan 119

Mohammad Sami c Jaffer b Laxman 38

Sohail Tanvir c Dravid b Kumble 0

Shoaib Akhtar c Dravid b Harbhajan 0

Danish Kaneria b Harbhajan 0

EXTRAS: (B-8, LB-7, NB-10, W-1) 26

TOTAL: (all out, 151.1 overs) 456

FALL OF WKTS: 1-38, 2-77, 3-85, 4-134, 5-150, 6-357, 7-448, 8-449, 9-452

BOWLING: Zaheer 25.2-8-69-0 (5nb), Patel 21-4-85-1 (1w), Harbhajan 45.5-9-122-5 (1nb), Kumble 47-14-122-3 (3nb), Tendulkar 7-1-32-0, Ganguly 4-1-9-0, Laxman 1-0-2-1.

INDIA 2nd Innings

W.Jaffer b Kaneria 56

D.Karthik c Misbah b Kaneria 28

M.S.Dhoni not out 28

S.C.Ganguly not out 24

Extras (LB-2, NB-3) 5

Total (for 2 wkts, 36 overs) 141

FALL OF WKTS: 1-75, 2-95

BOWLING: Shoaib 9-0-24-0 (2nb), Tanvir 9-0-41-0 (1nb), Sami 5-1-28-0, Kaneria 12-0-41-2, Butt 1-0-5-0.

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

TV UMPIRE: Amish Saheba (IND)

MATCH REFEREE: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI).