India leg-spinner Anil Kumble moved closer to the 500-wicket mark by clean bowling England batsman Paul Collingwood before poor visibility disrupted play on Friday in the second Test match.
Kumble (2-42) pushed a ball through Collingwood’s defence to dislodge the stumps on the second day, which saw bad light and intermittent rain limit play to 63 minutes, despite an early start.
England were 200-5 in their first innings when umpires Darrell Hair and Simon Taufel, both Australians, decided to call off play after several inspections with their light-meters.
Not a single ball was bowled in the afternoon and evening sessions, disappointing the spectators who waited patiently for play to resume.
Skipper Andrew Flintoff was unbeaten on 26 and Geraint Jones was on seven when bad light forced the teams to return to the pavilion.
Play was also disrupted on Thursday, and eight hours of play has been lost during the match’s first two days.
Resuming on the overnight score of 163-4, England lost Collingwood for 25 after he had added just six runs.
Playing in his 105th Test match, Kumble is now just two wickets short of becoming the fifth bowler in Test-cricket history to break the 500-wicket barrier. When he gets there, he will also be the first Indian and world’s third spinner in the exclusive club.
Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne, Sri Lanka off-break bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, Aussie paceman Glenn McGrath and West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh are the only other bowlers to have snared more than 500 wickets in Tests.
Collingwood’s patient three-hour knock contained three boundaries off 77 balls, while skipper Flintoff has scored all but two of his 26 runs from six boundaries. — Sapa-AP