India v Australia-2008-09, Test-2 (Mohali)-Day-4

Score line: -

India (1^st innings):- 469-10 (129.0 overs, Sourav Ganguly 102 (225 Balls), Mitchell Johnson 3-85)

Australia (1^st innings):- 268-10 (101.4 overs, Shane Watson 78 (156 Balls), Amit Mishra 5-71)

India (2^nd innings):- 314-3 declared (65.0 overs, Gautam Gambhir 104 (138 Balls), Cameron White 1-48)

Australia (2^nd innings):- 141-5 (46.0 overs, Michael Clarke 42* (95 Balls), Harbhajan Singh 3-23)

Report Sheet of the Day: - Australia 8 % - India 92 %

Match-Report:-

Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties. This was a day when Australia have played embarrassing cricket. It has largely been India being the aggressor, while Australia have remained over-confident with a thought that putting one-or even two boundary fielders guarantees you a win against this Indian team; they have kept with it-and are due to pay a heavy prize tomorrow unless a glorious uncertainty turns up to save them.

Well, I will keep it very short today, because there was nothing much to write about. Aussies started with their “new-age” approach and it was all at sea. They started off by just one slip and two boundary-fielders. And Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were up for it. Both ran their singles hard, kept hitting the 2’s & 3’s when ever the opportunity presented itself. Ricky Ponting was as defensive as he could be today. He introduced White early in the morning, only to take him off straight away when Sehwag & Gambhir feasted his one over for 15 runs. Mitchell Johnson came on, and off he went, after a few expensive overs.

Only the statistics tell the full story though. 130 runs for the loss of the two openers in 26 overs; the team rattling along at a 4.8 run-rate that would have done Australia proud in its pomp; a lead of 431 already going into lunch. Mitchell Johnson had given 72 off his 14-and his ineffectiveness against Right-Handers finally was for all to see. Peter Siddle looked the best of the lot, and with a little bit more luck-could easily have had a couple more. The bloke bowls at superb pace, coupled with the ability to move the ball both ways without noticeable difference in his action. Brett Lee has been dispatched for 237 runs for his 4 wickets at an average of 59.25, and is looking like an astonished kid lost in a crowd. All the Aussie bowlers leaked runs. With the umpires also giving Australia some headaches (an appalling Not Out decision was given when Sehwag had clearly hit the ball and was taken cleanly by Haddin. Asad Rouf must be doubly dumb to not have heard the nick. Indians meanwhile, seem to have taken a cue from Michael Clarke’s infamous refusal to walk after he was caught at slip-in Sydney this January.) Sehwag finally got out, to a fine ball from Peter Siddle which moved just a touch away to take the edge, and Sehwag was finally on his way for a crucial 90. (1-182)

The match, by then was already out of Australia’s control. Dhoni came in and smashed a few…meanwhile Gambhir (he was extremely lucky with a few close shaves in the morning), finally got his first Test match hundred against Australia-a feat which he should have achieved in the 1^st innings. He too got out the Ganguly way, trying to loft White, and was held easily at long-off. (2-224)

Dhoni, moved Ganguly up the order-possibly to keep the Left-Right hand combination going. Ganguly, to his credit, played a few glorious shots despite being troubled by his tennis elbow midway through his knock. The damage was already done by then, and he too fell, playing a tired lofted shot off a visibly ineffective Lee…caught by Michael Clarke at point. (3-290)

Sachin Tendulkar came out, and strolled a few runs before the dreaded declaration finally came, 314-3 declared. About 15 minutes too late, or was it?

Meanwhile, an interesting observation. Australia’s over rates in the past few years (especially since Warne departed) have been woeful. And their over rate in the morning was shoddy even by those low standards. The over-rate was repeatedly shooting between 12.0 to 12.5 an over, and Shane Watson missed his run up so many times to prompt the then commentating Sunil Gavaskar to have yet another dig at the Australian sportsmanship.

So, the Australian openers came out. Surprise, surprise, It was Shahid Afridi & Simon Katich coming out to bat. The real Matthew Hayden was hiding somewhere in Australia and Shahid Afridi, somehow, was looking exactly like Matthew Hayden. He started off by playing a classic T20 heave against Zaheer Khan, the ball dropping just ahead to the sprinting long-off. The there was a run chase on. Aussies were playing to score 516 off 50 overs and off they went. A lot off beautiful shots mixed with some lucky ones. A straight drive off Zaheer & a back foot punch off Ishant stood out.

But then came the bowling change that changed everything in the matter of minutes. Harbhajan was given the final over before tea. He bowled a loopy off-break, which straightened after pitching-and just caught Hayden sweeping across the line-hit plumb in front of off-stump. The appeal was upheld by Asad Rouf and Hayden was gone after a great T20 innings. Seriously, this strange knock had more to do with desperation rather than a tactical move. (1-49)

“Thou shall Follow”-said Simon Katich, and off he went as well, in the same over. The bowl itself was not special-well flighted, loopy, pitching on good length just out side his off-stump. Katich lunged forward nevertheless and played a classic on the up drive-albeit it was insane. The ball looped up in the air, and Tendulkar plucked out a magnificent catch with a full length dive. And there went wind from the Australian sails. (2-50)

Mike Hussey came and looked honest. Trying to keep defending good balls and looking to get off strike to settle down…and then had a brain explosion. He tried to pull a shooter from Harbhajan-again not unplayable-and was caught so plumb in front that he walked. Australia in deep trouble. (3-52)

Then it was the turn of Ishant Sharma to rock Australia with a beautiful and hostile spell of fast bowling. He kept pitching it up to Ponting, allowing him to settle down in his stride, and then came the Jaffa. An in-cutter, which seamed in appreciably from good length. Ponting lunged forward, the ball went through from the gap between bat & pad, and the off-stump lay flat on the ground. Ricky Ponting just stood at the crease stupefied after Ishant Sharma had darted another delivery into him to make a mess of the stumps. Ponting, by common consensus the best batsman in the world over the past half decade, had fallen to Ishant for the fifth time in five Tests and his expression was not too dissimilar from that of a boxer subjected to a knockout punch. (4-52)

Ishant had not done yet. Another beauty, this time to Shane Watson. Watson did his usual style of staying back in his crease. But the ball again, moved of good-length, and seamed just enough to miss the defensive prod. Again, plumb in front. Watson was not going to rescue Australia this time. (5-58)

Both Ponting and Shane Watson were beaten by prodigious inward movement and it was hard to imagine that they were playing on the same pitch where Australia's bowlers had been caned for 214 runs (42 overs) earlier in the day. Meanwhile, Michael Clarke came and survived a few hostile overs from Sharma. This bloke is rapidly growing to be a great fast bowler. Both Clarke & Haddin played with gusto & determination to remain not out at the end of the day…but their act just looks to be set to go down the gutter unless they do a miracle (like VVS Laxman-281 in Kolkata-2001).

In the end…last rites to be performed by India. They should be able to pull it off before lunch tomorrow. Any longer than that and the Aussies would have done well. Zaheer Khan didn’t look in rhythm today…not getting the reverse-swing that made him so lethal in the 1^st innings. Indians will hope that he turns it on tomorrow, otherwise Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, & Amit Mishra might just have to labor a bit longer. Harbhajan & Ishant remain the key, as do Michael Clarke & Brad Haddin. I really hope that India beat Australia tomorrow, not because I’m an Indian, but because Australia deserve to lose this game-quite badly too.

Some observations:-

(1) Amit Mishra hasn’t had much luck so far in the 2^nd innings. He has bowled some real beauties but just missed the edge or the stumps. Thankfully, India have too many runs to play with, so he will just keep tossing it up.

(2) Johnson has looked seriously over-rated as a Test match bowler so far. He can’t swing the ball into the right-handers; it’s just the left-arm angle, which can be easily covered.

(3) Play on all 4-days has followed a very similar but interesting pattern. Every day, India have dominated the 1^st & the 3^rd session, while the middle session has generally gone with Australia…India will hope that the game isn’t stretched till 2^nd session tomorrow.

Pitch: - Just slowing down, but it’s not happening as rapidly as it did in Bangalore. The pitch though is very dry. And the turn remains sharp. There is no sign of uneven bounce, and ball hasn’t reversed as appreciably as it did in Australia’s 1^st innings. But 5-wickets are just too little to play with a minimum of 90 overs to go. And if Harbhajan & Mishra bowl long spells, India might even end up bowling 92 or 93 overs. Can’t wait for tomorrow. Hopefully, there is some eye-catching play in store for us.

India v Australia-2008-09, Test-2 (Mohali)-Day-3

Score line: -

India (1^st innings):- 469-10 (129.0 overs, Sourav Ganguly 102 (225 Balls), Mitchell Johnson 3-85)

Australia (1^st innings):- 268-10 (101.4 overs, Shane Watson 78 (156 Balls), Amit Mishra 5-71)

India (2^nd innings):- 100-0 (23.0 overs, Virender Sehwag 53* (71 Balls))

Report Sheet of the Day: - Australia 12 % - India 88 %

Match-Report:-

So, it’s official. Australia have messed up big time (for once) with the bat and now the Indians have rubbed it in. As the 3^rd day started, I started wondering how many more the dropped catch of Mike Hussey will cost India. Although the last time this happened-Hussey went on to add another 144 runs as India suffered big time in Bangalore-I just had a funny feeling that Hussey just can’t do that again.

Australia though, needed another Hussey-150 atleast, to even get close to the Indian total. So, as the 3^rd day began-every Aussie supporter started thinking positively-claiming another classic Hussey knock. Hussey though, started off well, both He and Watson started in a positive fashion-putting away loose balls from Mishra & Zaheer for maximum. Zaheer was again getting appreciable reverse-swing.

MS Dhoni though, as a captain has a tendency to bowl his bowlers in shorter spells. He quickly gave the old cherry to Ishant Sharma, and straight away it was apparent that he was hurrying both the batsmen. Watson for a couple of time used his pace intelligently to steer the ball to the 3^rd man boundary. But Ishant, finally rewarded India with their most prized wicket they could have hoped for, snaring Hussey just after the master completed his 50 (and was looking good for lot more). The ball was on a good-length, Hussey shaped to steer it to point, but just at a precise moment it swung away from him (a little bit reverse), result: a nice edge to Dhoni who completed an easy catch. (5-130)

The man who could have pushed Australia close to 400 was gone and they were now staring down the barrel. What has been more surprising for this game has been the static feet of the Aussie batsmen. Hayden, Ponting, Clarke, and Haddin-all good players who have been pinned to the crease have struggled. Harbhajan & Mishra capitalized by bowling beautifully flighted, classic Off-spin & Wrong-one respectively (Haddin & White both were bowled-nothing can be more satisfying for a spin bowler) to put Australia in a potentially humiliating position at 7-167.

Then came the partnership that somewhat saved Australia’s face. Brett Lee struggle initially against both spinners, but then settled down. By then Shane Watson had suddenly become a senior batsman. He didn’t try to shield Lee-who has improved his batting against the spinners, playing for NSW. Lee immediately started stepping out against the spinners. While Watson, was staying fully back in his crease (A tactic which Damien Martyn so successfully employed in 2004-05). Both strung together a healthy partnership.

After tea, Dhoni changed tactics. He again gave the new ball to Ishant Sharma. Who this time, seemed rather ruffled & out-of-focus (probably by not getting a potential LBW against Watson). He made a mistake by pitching it short-and Watson cashed in. Indian supporters were just beginning to relive the partnership between Symonds & Hogg-before Harbhajan produced a wicket out of nowhere. He bowled an off-break, but with the seam pointing towards mid-wicket rather than fine-leg. Result? The ball drifted away from Lee-but didn’t turn back in. Lee groped fro it, lunging full forward and playing for an off-break. The ball took the edge & Rahul Dravid at 1^st slip did the rest. (8-240)

Then, it was Amit Mishra show. He bowled a flipper, which didn’t turn enough, and Watson was LBW. (9-262) And Peter Siddle’s short but painful stay at the crease was ended by another well disguised wrong one. Siddle cluelessly lunged forward, and was comprehensively stumped. (10-268)

A 5-for for Amit Mishra which will give headaches to both the Australian Team management & Indian selectors.

A follow on was never on. Dhoni would have done it if India had got a lead of close to 300. But with only 201 behind-there was every chance of someone “waking up” from the Aussie top-4, and playing a long innings against some tired bowlers. So, sensibly-India decided to bat again, and make Australia bat in a hopeless situation.

Indian openers & Australian fielding started off in contrasting fashion. While it was all aggression and alertness on behalf of the Indian opening pair of Virender Sehwag & Gautam Gambhir-Ricky Ponting’s “aggressive” tactics were once again on view. As soon as one boundary was hit by Gambhir in the 1^st over, one sweeper was out, with one less slip. A short-while later there were 4-boundary riders on view with one or no slips at all. Perhaps, it was inevitable considering the huge lead for India. But it surely would have made sense to give his bowlers some chance of getting the batsmen out. Both batsmen are aggressive, they are not only boundary hitters-they are pretty swift between the wicket and can play a lot of innovative shots. As expected, Ponting’s “new-age aggressive, and we’re the only ones taking the game forward”-approach failed spectacularly. India are now sitting pretty with 300-run lead with all 10-wickets in hand with 2-days of play still left.

In the end…India holding the game in full command. They have all the aces. For the declaration part-India will want to score 250-atleast to pile on the agony on Australia. To do it quickly, they will need atleast one from Sehwag or Gambhir carrying on for another session atleast. Both Sehwag & Gambhir won’t get a better opportunity to score a Test Hundred against Australia. India, ideally should score 300 runs before declaring. 100-in the morning session, and then another quick 100 in the afternoon by promoting someone like Dhoni up the order. Australia on the other hand can do two things:

(1) Sit back & try to save boundaries with their “new-age aggression”.

(2) Try & get Sehwag & Gambhir out early in the morning. That will go a long way towards slowing India down.

Some observations:-

(1) Brett Lee & Peter Siddle started getting appreciable Reverse-swing late in the evening. But too little, too late unless they bowl an excellent spell in the morning.

(2) Johnson, as expected has proven ineffective against the right-handers. He is just not swinging the ball into them (something he successfully did when Australia toured India for 7-OD matches last year). Unless he does that, he will be spanked. He remains a good bowler to Left-handers though.

(3) Peter Siddle is again the man to watch out. Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag will be jumping up & down at the prospect of facing White & Clark tomorrow morning.

(4) And while on swing, here’s a curiosity: at some point in the telecast, they showed the Indian ball alongside an Australian one that had weathered the same number of overs. The former was almost perfect—very smooth, very shiny down one side, and very rough on the other [clearly, the team has learnt to work on the ball as a unit, as the Pakistanis did in their pomp]. The Aussie ball in contrast was scuffed all over—clearly, little care had been taken to work on one side. A curiosity that a team that is otherwise known to put considerable thought and effort into best practices is lacking in this vital aspect.

Pitch: - Remains quite dry. It will be interesting to see pitch crumbling a bit more on the next few days in full sunshine. Lee & Siddle have already started getting reverse-a sign of pitch getting increasingly abrasive. Zaheer & Ishant’s grin widening. The pitch is getting slower but it’s not too slow like Bangalore yet, but the bounce is remaining sharp-a thing Indian spinners will relish. I will save my observations for the end of the 4^th day.

India v Australia-2008-09, Test-2 (Mohali)-Day-1

Score line: -

India 311-5 (85.0 overs, Sachin Tendulkar 88 (111 Balls), Mitchell Johnson 3-70)

Report Sheet of the Day: - Australia 38 % - India 62 %

Match-Report:-

COMMIT THE ARC, COMMIT THE CHAMPION!

I won’t say that because Sachin Tendulkar officially became the leading run-scorer in world-cricket, I won’t say that because Tendulkar scored an almost flawless innings (until he played that waft in Siddle’s bowling and was caught), I will say that because he rounded off a “sandwich”-style day for India, and thwarted the Aussies just when things were beginning to fall apart for the Indians. A day, when an almost tricky collapse was sandwiched by two sessions of superb batting.

A strange silence followed both the captains when they walked out at the toss. It has been pretty amusing to hear a lot of statements about aggression and team planning, and obviously a lot of chest-thumping from both teams about “who won the most points at Bangalore”. For the record that matters, Stuart Clark sat out with an elbow injury, and Anil Kumble finally sat out-after a drama equal to a traditional Hindi movie. On a surprisingly dry surface, India’s captain-in-waiting MS Dhoni won a crucial toss, and batted first.

When Brett Lee started with the new red SG ball, two things became apparent-There wasn’t enough moisture left in the surface to make it move in the 1^st hour, while the Indian openers (especially Gautam Gambhir) had learnt from their mistake of being crease bound against all bowlers-which they did at Bangalore. Lee ran in, pitched it at half-volley length around Gambhir’s front-pad, and Gambhir played a gorgeous straight-drive…the tone was set. Lee, somehow, just couldn’t get his rhythm going, with Gambhir immaculate with his footwork and actually taking the bulk of strike. Lee, somehow, likes to bowl at the right-handers at the start-especially so because that allows him to develop a nice shape of the ball going.

Peter Siddle, a young Victorian fast-medium bowler was given the new ball, and he immediately looked good. He looks a strongly built guy, consistently hitting the 140’s, and his stock ball is the away-swinger to the right-handers. He did try out a couple of in swingers to Virender Sehwag; hit Gambhir on the helmet with his first ball; bowled a beauty of a ball to Sehwag-but that was about it for Australia for that spell. The ball wasn’t moving too much sideways, and Sehwag-Gambhir duo went on a clinical rampage. India raced off-to a 50-run start, something these two openers have made a habit of, and immediately Ricky Ponting reverted to his usual ploy, sweepers on the off-side. What it did was to allow both openers to run singles at ease-tap the ball on both sides of the wicket and milk the bowling. But as Ricky Ponting often says (like a holy cow)-He was trying to be aggressive and take the game forward…so, we should just shut up & don’t question him.

Sehwag, though, has the amazing ability to give you an absolutely beautiful dream when he is going, and then just throw cold water on your face by getting out in an irritating way. He did it again, flicking a pretty innocuous (and harmless) delivery from Johnson straight to Brad Haddin behind the wicket. (1-70)

Rahul Dravid came in, and again looked set to play a fluid innings. He middle a few, hit a glorious straight-drive off Johnson; he looked like a player who was trying extra hard to score a “big one”. Mohali has traditionally been the citadel of the Indian batsmen-apart from Gautam Gambhir, India’s other top 5-batsmen have done reasonably well here with each one of them having a 50+ batting average here. Dravid (and Gambhir as well) seemed to have found an antidote for Australia’s new style “aggressive” approach; Dravid got out against the run of play. Trying to cut a good-length ball from Lee, which was also not wide enough to cut, he dragged the ball from outside his off-stump, and hitting his leg-stump. He tried to cut the ball on the front-foot, instead of playing it conventionally from the back-and across-movement (far more efficient than this modern way)…and started off a series of Brain-Explosions for India. (2-146)

Two balls later; Gambhir played at another harmless ball-Johnson bowled a straight ball which just moved a shade away (maybe from a crack), Gambhir nicked it (inexcusable after you have played 140-odd balls) and wasted a fantastic opportunity to score his first Test-hundred against Australia. (3-146)

Now it was trouble for the Indians; Laxman & Tendulkar at the crease, both new against a reared up Lee & Johnson. VVS Laxman came in and immediately was away with a crisp shot for 2. All thought “It’s VVS now, one more special hundred against Australia.” Sachin Tendulkar at the other end was looking pleasingly aggressive. But a Laxman classic was denied again-again a pretty harmless ball, outside leg-stump and going straight, Laxman flicked it too fine and was well caught by Haddin. Johnson ecstatic for one more bonus. (4-163)

Sachin was watching at the other end with an almost bemused look. He looked woken up-ready for a match-turning innings…finally he got Sourav Ganguly (who again took his own time to arrive and then get settled to irritate more Aussie columnists). The master nodded in appreciation, and the repair work began. Few crisp shots were hit to the boundary, and he finally crossed the milestone every Indian craved him for-and became the highest run-scorer of all time surpassing another genius-Brian Lara. All the Australian player shook hands with honor-it was a beautiful moment of a fierce contest-A champion team saluting a champion. Wonderful gesture.

Sourav Ganguly at the other end was finally getting in his groove, almost without anybody’s notice. With Michael Clarke & Cameron White looking as harmless as Rahul Dravid’s off-spinners, both batsmen grew in confidence & brought India back on track. Slowly, they regained the lost momentum, & suddenly Australia looked clueless. The milestones came quickly. Meanwhile, India were 236/4 (65.0 overs) at drinks, and when actually the second new ball was taken, they (read Tendulkar) had the game in command. Sachin meanwhile seemed anxious to get to a hundred and became surprisingly static with his footwork against Siddle (who again bowled a lion-hearted spell). He stayed rooted to the crease and wafted to a nice away-seaming ball from Siddle, and the edge was again efficiently caught by Hayden at first slip. (5-305)

MS Dhoni did surprise a few by sending Ishant Sharma to block Lee & Siddle. He did it well, and Sourav Ganguly-by remaining not out-has made sure that India hold all the aces into Day-2.

In the end…India just inching ahead of Australia by having a stroke player like Ganguly not out. India are by no means safe. Dhoni will have to play an innings of substance to stretch India’s total to 450 or more. A few observations:

India have the advantage that the ball is new and it won’t reverse until maybe lunch. If Ishant & Ganguly can stay till then, Australia might just be chasing leather.

Australia’s over-rate continues to be pathetic, which forces them to bowl Clarke & White for much longer than they deserve to. India will look to capitalize when that happens.

Brett Lee remains an enigma; he seems to try hard enough, but just doesn’t look close enough to getting a wicket-India would be wary of a hostile burst from him. He is due for it.

Mitchell Johnson continues to get gifts from the Indians. To be honest, he is a bowler who is a lot more dangerous to left-handers than right-handers. He struggles to attack stumps to right-handers and will consider himself extremely lucky to end up with 3-wickets including two right-handers. Ganguly-a left hander-should be wary of him though, while Peter Siddle will be the one to watch out for the right-handers.

Pitch: - An unusually dry surface. It hasn’t been rolled much, with not enough water given. There is very little or no sideways movement for the fast bowlers, which means the role of Indian spinners, becomes doubly crucial. The out-field is very green including the side pitches, so reverse swing isn’t as big a factor as it was at Bangalore. Zaheer Khan & Ishant Sharma have their work cut out. There is a bright sun-shine for a full day which means this pitch won’t get any better for batting. And Australia’s thin bowling means that they will need a lot of reverse-swing with uneven bounce to really trouble India in the 3^rd innings-unless somebody bowls a dream spell. This pitch is the ideal one for Matthew Hayden (My prediction: he will score 40+ runs when Australia bat.)…will all these happen? We will know soon.

It’s getting a bit cold out there

Well…and I thought three days between two Test Matches was too little a time to get some flashy statements going. Any case, some of the posts last days have made for an interesting reading with a cup of hot tea.

The changing times in cricket:- In this article, Harsha Bhogle analyzes the inflammatory situation created by the so called “deal” between IPL & the Sri Lanka cricket board about players’ financial status as well as England’s angst on being the world cricket’s “Emperor of the Past”. Some well written issues here. Read it, and have your share of say by posting comments.

Ricky Ponting’s so called comments about Zaheer Khan have been particularly amusing, considering that Zaheer’s comments have particularly been justified by stats as well. Let’s say, the first thing starts about Ponting’s comments about the “draw” thingy. Here is what Ponting said in a previous press-conference:” We were the only ones in the game trying to take the game forward. We played aggressive cricket. I am not surprised by the way they played, the Indian team does play a lot of drawn games."

The last two comments have been downright rubbish. Australia had first use of a wicket which only got worse as the days wore on. As far as Indians were concerned, they were behind once they bowled first…their record at Bangalore also tells you about their vulnerability at the venue. Yet Australia crawled at less than 3-an over. The pitch wasn’t flat, but on far more testing pitches in the past, Aussies have blasted their opponents away. What was more amusing was their approach in the second innings when they could have scored a lot quicker…as Haddin & Watson showed late in the day. They could also have declared overnight, which they didn’t. And I suspect that even that 5-over declaration on the final morning was prompted more by the grey clouds than his faith in his bowlers’ ability on a 5^th day pitch. As for the draw thingy, let’s get the stats right. For the record, Ponting may well realize that in 2008 so far, Australia have played 7-tests and drawn 3 of them-a draw percentage of 42.86 % (which includes 3-tests against West Indies). India, on the other hand, have played 10, and drawn 3-a draw percentage of 30.00%. Ricky, can you clarify PLZ?

For more of the cleaning stuff, read this excellent post on Cricket 24x7. Some excerpts: -

Verbal warfare begins!: - “For the record Ricky, in 2008 so far, 3 out of Australia's 7 tests have ended in draws while 3 out of India's 10 tests have ended in draws. I know my arithmetic, and it’s easy to see who has the higher ratio of draws!

Playing for a draw isn't necessarily a negative mindset, especially if you're trying to squeeze out the best possible result from the match situation. I guess India could point fingers at the way Australia played at Adelaide and say that Australia were focused on getting a draw and a 2-1 result. Maybe we should focus on your team scoring at 2.8 runs an over in the first innings at Bangalore and not taking 10 wickets while having 83 overs to bowl on a deteriorating pitch in less than ideal light conditions for batting. Australia had an opportunity to bat when the pitch was at its best for batting and bowl last when it was at its worst for batting. The first innings run rate was despite having 6 wickets in hand at the end of the first day and the failure to get India all out will be exaggerated by the fact that India were 24/2, having lost the two batsmen who really mattered in that situation, and nearly 5 more hours to play out!

This isn't about who the better side is. The obvious answer, at this point in time, is Australia. Australia have been the gold standard for over a decade now. India aren't quite there yet. The side needs another quick bowler, a good backup spin option, and capable replacements for the middle order. It is work in progress. Part of the learning curve is to fight it out for a draw. They failed to do it at Sydney earlier this year, and on several other occasions in the past. A draw is a far more acceptable start to the series. Once Australia got 430 on the board, it was always unlikely that Australia would be in the backseat.

While Zaheer was tempting fate when he spoke about Australia being unable to take 20 wickets and the defensive cricket, he is obviously right about your spin options. It has been Australia's fault that no young spinner has broken through for such a long time. There have been many opportunities for Australia's selectors to provide more chances for Cullen, Hauritz and White to bowl alongside Warne. Yet they kept recalling MacGill, picking Hogg, and then McGain, leaving Casson to wonder what he did wrong.”

Nothing left to say for me…so, waiting for the game to begin-have a great day…and PLZ keep posting comments on my blog.

India v Australia-2008-09, Test-1 (Bangalore)-Day-5

Score line: -

Australia 430-10 (149.5 overs, Mike Hussey 146 (276 Balls), Zaheer Khan 5-91)

India 360-10 (119.0 overs, Zaheer Khan 57 (121 Balls), Mitchell Johnson 4-70)

Australia 228-6 (73.0 overs, Shane Watson 41(72 Balls), Ishant Sharma 3-40)

Report Sheet of the Day: - Australia 40 % - India 60 %

Match-Report:-

When the day began, everybody was drawing parallels of this game with that (in) famous encounter between the same opponents this January-at Sydney. Everybody was asking: Would India crumble again? Would Ponting declare as conservatively as he did at Sydney?

All questions were answered with “No.” As Watson & Haddin came onto bat, there intent seemed to be of having a 10-over slog-out at the Indians. Haddin looped the first ball he played back to Kumble; Kumble missed another half-chance. And looking at it, you can’t help but feel that we have watched the swansong of Kumble-the gladiator of Indian cricket.

Watson & Haddin slogged a few, ran hard between the wickets. But Watson apparently went a bit too far-straight drove Ishant Sharma for a beautiful shot. But the bowler got his revenge the very next ball-a prodigious in-swinger pitched on a good-length, Watson shaped to slog, got an inside-edge & the leg-stump was pegged back. (6-203)

Haddin & White then waved their bats for another quick-fire 25 runs and Australia finally declared at 228-6. A lead of 298, which meant India, had to score 299 runs off a possible 83 overs.

The Indian openers then came out, looking visibly tense. Australians on the other hand, were looking fired up & quite chirpy. However, it was clear that Lee was running in with better rhythm than he had done in the whole game. He was running in hard-hitting the deck with that beautiful shape away from the right-hander. He drove Virender Sehwag early in to a half-drive, got the edge-and Brad Haddin made a meal of it. Sehwag though, wasn’t gonna hurt Australia badly with this life-line. The next ball he faced was from the ever-accurate Stuart Clarke-angling on to leg-middle & straightening at the last moment. Sehwag shaped for a flick, got a very fine edge-which was safely pouched by Hayden at first slip-a good, low catch. (1-16)

Rahul Dravid came in, and continued with where he had left in the first innings. He was batting confidently, coming full forward or right back & smothering every tiny little movement or variation in bounce. His wicket came against the run of play-but was a result of smart bowling from Lee & even smarter captaincy & catching from Ponting. The ball was angling in-Dravid played a flick which was travelling fast, and Ponting at short mid-wicket caught it like a hawk. (2-24)

Now, hearts were pumping fast, & everybody (including me) thought the Sydney fiasco was at it again. Tendulkar & Laxman were the biggest culprits that afternoon-falling to a brilliant spell from Stuart Clark. But this time, a different Tendulkar came out. Confident, quiet and accumulating, sometimes even bull-headed in defending everything. Gautam Gambhir on the other hand-was trying his hardest to negotiate everything. And a very very slow but equally important partnership commenced.

After lunch, it was Johnson who assumed his battle with Gambhir & finally snared him with a well disguised Slower-Yorker-Gambhir played all around it-and was bowled. (3-77)

VVS Laxman came out; both he & Sachin Tendulkar are named as Australia’s nemesis, turning their best performance when faced with the Baggy green. They, in fact, played so defensively & without risk, that there isn’t much to write about it. Both completed a dogged half-century stand, and almost sealed a draw before sachin-distracted by light, played a tame & lazy off-drive off Cameron White, the ball looping up straight to Michael Clarke at short-mid-off. He was frustrated to a great deal, missing a well-earned half-century by just one-run. (4-138)

Sourav Ganguly came & started positively. He survived some initial scars. And finally sealed a draw along side VVS Laxman.

In the end…A closely fought draw. From the moment Australia won the toss, they were ahead for the most part of the game. But India fought all the way; never allowing Australia to run away with the game. I’ll post a review of this whole game tomorrow & SWOT analysis of both the sides carrying to the next game at Mohali. Bye for now.

Pitch: - Was an old-fashioned slow turner. There was jump-turn & bounce, but the pitch was considerably slow. Wasn’t too much help to the faster bowlers from the surface. The fast bowlers only relied on reverse-swing & variable bounce.

India v Australia-2008-09, Test-1 (Bangalore)-Day-4

Score line: -

Australia 430-10 (149.5 overs, Mike Hussey 146 (276 Balls), Zaheer Khan 5-91)

India 360-10 (119.0 overs, Zaheer Khan 57 (121 Balls), Mitchell Johnson 4-70)

Australia 193-5 (68.0 overs, Shane Watson 32(67 Balls), Ishant Sharma 2-27)

Report Sheet of the Day: - Australia 48 % - India 52 %

Match-Report:-

Well…It could have been a great day for India had they fielded better; it could have been a great day for Australia too if they had dismissed the remaining two Indian tail-enders quickly and scored runs quicker in return. Neither happened, but India almost did what they wanted to: their tail hung around for a sufficient amount of time to eat up most of the opening session, then all their bowlers bowled beautifully to peg Australia back with some consistent, hostile & aggressive bowling. So they end up the day-4 on a relatively better note than when they started.

It was known to everybody that Zaheer Khan; Anil Kumble & Ishant Sharma can all annoy the hell out of the opposition; because They all have the ability to hang around and they can also play the boundary shots. So when Kumble & Zaheer walked out to bat; there was an air of buzz & expectation around the ground. Can Australian bowlers mop up the job in 30 minutes or less? Can both tail-enders hang around till lunch-if not lunch, then can they eat up sufficient time out of the first session?

They did just that. As Mitchell Johnson said yesterday in an interview, the Aussies were going to concentrate on bowling a normal line & length, like bowling to a batsman. I must say-that seemed to be working. Zaheer Khan kept playing and missing, Kumble kept staying shunted on the back foot; and looking to cover the line of the ball-which seemed to be the advice they had got from the dressing room. In between, Zaheer hit a stylish boundary and kept picking up singles whenever the shot missed a fielder. Kumble kept defending, mixed with some Chinese & French cuts; he was fast becoming the new obnoxious little weed for Australia.

Before this game, Zaheer was seen practicing extra hard to bat against Ishant Sharma, and bowling machine. Maybe that has now proven its worth. Zaheer duly completed his half-century, an extremely good effort. His was a steely innings, with very little no. of runs scored behind the Wk. At the other hand; Lee was replaced by Watson, who started bowling his usual in-cutters. Kumble was struggling a bit against that to hang his bat in front of his pad-and was duly given LBW when the ball hit him straight in front around the knee-roll on the off-stump. (9-343)

Zaheer meanwhile, marched on. He seemed to have got confidence in Ishant Sharma-who was intent on covering the line of the ball and defending with a dead bat. Because his first tendency is to stand tall & cover the line (just like Kumble bats); he usually struggles a lot against the Short-Ball (again, just like Kumble). He was hit on the grill by Watson, but kept battling on. And his determined knock was ended by the spin of Michel Clarke…it was a harmless ball, pitching as almost a Yorker, Ishant promptly misread the length, missed the ball, and had his middle stump knocked out. (10-360)

Job well done by the Indian tail, now the onus was squarely on the bowlers. When the Aussie openers came out, they seemed intent on defending and not risking their wickets, and it looked like a silence before the storm. Was the storm coming? Twat, twat, twat, Lunch !

After lunch, it was a strange Australia coming out to bat. Matthew Hayden wafted his bat at the first ball, very wide and immediately looked a player in tension. Zaheer was again moving it both ways, a phenomenon that he has mastered since his return to the Indian team last year. As the new SG ball doesn’t move too much, it was perhaps the effect of the cloud color. Ishant Sharma-at the other end was quite steady & tight. Australian batsmen seemed intent on avoiding an imaginary 5-th day collapse by the way the were playing. Simon katich seemed like he was given the sheet anchors role-supplemented by Hayden the aggressor. Hayden however, looked constantly struggling to attack the hostile bowling by Zaheer, and was perhaps a touch unlucky to be given out-he was a fairly long way forward, the ball hit him around the off-stump & kept swinging in-it was perhaps just clipping or even missing the leg-stump, never mind, Zaheer got his man again. Not surprisingly, a decision by Asad Rouf. (1-21)

It must be mentioned that umpiring in this game has been debatable in a big way. Asad Rouf has been The Bowler’s Umpire; he seems intent on giving anything that he thinks has a remotely fair chance of a dismissal. Grandpa Rudi Koertzen on the other hand, has been The Batsman’s Umpire; he has been steadfastly reluctant in raising his finger, sometimes even to straight-forward dismissals. And yet, both umpires so far, have ended up with their fair share of howlers. Let’s hope, day-5 doesn’t add onto those howlers.

Ricky Ponting came, and instantly he looked refreshingly positive. He played some good strokes, and looked immediately full of intent-with a clear target in his mind. Unfortunately for Australia, he got out against the run of play; his leg-side flick ending up straight into Laxman’s hands at short-straightish-mid-wicket position. It was smart field placement from Mahendra Singh Dhoni (acting Captain in Kumble’s absence), and some good-purposeful bowling by Ishant Sharma. Round-1 to India. (2-49)

Harbhajan Singh, meanwhile, was looking more and more relaxed & confident. He had already troubled Ponting with some sharp off-breaks, and by now was giving the ball a lot of air, changing the pace intelligently. Katich, was looking more like a racing car with punctured wheels. He finally showed a willingness for urgency, lofting a loopy ball by Harbhajan to the long-off boundary…but it was Harbhajan, who won the battle, having katich already dropped at short-leg in his bowling, he bowled a quick off-break around good-length, katich played it with a lunge forward-was fooled by the length, playing with hard hands and lobbing up a tame catch to Laxman at silly-point. (3-99)

Ishant Sharma meanwhile, was impressing everyone by his working up of Clarke. He squared him up on three successive outgoing balls, while Mike Hussey was already playing his game at the other end. Clarke’s strange innings was ended by Sharma, with another smart Off-Cutter-which bounced, Clarke played early & looped up a tame catch to Virender Sehwag at mid-off. (4-115)

Harbhajan was by now using Loop, Turn, bounce, Pace and everything he could get from an abrasive surface-he was having a fantastic duel with Mike Hussey, almost a battle within a battle. Hussey was reading Harbhajan’s off breaks well-Harbhajan too learned from his mistake in the first innings and was looking a lot more threatening from round-the-wicket. When he bowled a good flighted off-break on off-stump, Hussey quickly slog-swept him for four-Round-1 to batsman.

But Harbhajan won the battle. He bowled a top spinner, just on a good length and angling on to hit the top of off-stump. The ball-to Hussey’s dismay, came in after pitching as he shaped to leave the ball-and the middle stump was rattled…a quality spinner working over a champion, and defeating him. (5-128)

Someone has said, “Attack is the best form of defense.” Brad Haddin, & Shane Watson almost saw that it was too difficult to defend, and started to accumulate runs quickly. They kept playing the big shots, capitalizing on India’s shoddy and at times clueless fielding. And finally, brought Australia back on the declaration mode. Watson survived a dead plum shout by Zaheer, the ball was delivered from round the wicket, continuing with the angle, and was hit below the knee-roll just on the off-stump. A decision given by whom? No prize for guessing-Koertzen. So, after a see-saw day, Australia finally ended up thinking back on declaration terms-but a touch too late, India on the other hand-frustrated on a lost opportunity.

In the end…Australia might just rue the period with Simon Katich batting, when they could (and should) easily have scored an extra 30-40 runs which would’ve given them a precious extra time to bowl at the Indians. Indians, were left to rue at “What might have been”, had it not been for their poor batting on the 3^rd day & shoddy fielding in the whole game. Looks like Australia might have a crack at India tomorrow with 80-odd overs to bowl. A draw should be a near certainty-especially with Australia’s thin bowling line-up & lack of a quality spinner. Unless of course-India collectively lose their heads.

Pitch: - Looks an abrasive surface. But it is slow enough for the batsman to stand on the back foot against bowlers like Stuart Clark. Lee and Johnson should be the key tomorrow, unless Clark bowls a spell of his life. The pitch is very rough, so reverse swing will come into play as early as 20^th over. But it’s not difficult to hang around if you are willing to wait for bad balls, and have a good defensive technique. The odd ball is keeping low, but shouldn’t be a decisive factor because the pitch is getting slower with every session.

India v Australia-2008-09, Test-1 (Bangalore)-Day-3

Score line: -

Australia 430-10 (149.5 overs, Mike Hussey 146 (276 Balls), Zaheer Khan 5-91)

India 313-8 (101.0 overs, Harbhajan Singh 54 (110 Balls), Mitchell Johnson 4-62)

Report Sheet of the Day: - Australia 71 % - India 29 %

Match-Report:-

When the day began, all the focus was on whether India (read Sehwag) could survive the early burst & then chase the Aussie total. When the day ended though, it was about whether India (read Kumble & co.) could eat up enough time to topple an Aussie surge for an amazingly dominated victory.

In yesterday’s match report, I had predicted this:-

1. India would be very much disappointed to have allowed Australia to score 430, when they shouldn’t have been allowed to go past 350. Those 80 extra runs were given by allowing Mike Hussey to play his game, and (as always) fielding poorly. Those 80 runs now…have become a precious gold to Australia, and have given them an unbelievable advantage which could yet prove to be the difference between the two teams.

2. As I said, it was Lee and Mitchell Johnson who were going to be the key, who can make the ball reverse-swing at pace, not somebody like Stuart Clarke-who essentially is dependant entirely on seam or swing movement (a precise reason why he is not in the league of Glenn McGrath yet).

3. The new SG ball is very different from a new Kookaburra ball, it swings very less, so it’s not as dangerous as it seems. It’s actually the old SG ball (about 25-30 overs old), which can prove to be difficult to handle with its reverse-swing, an art which was displayed today by Johnson and briefly (& surprisingly) by Watson.

Session-1: Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag started quite confidently. Neither Lee nor Johnson looked menacing, although Lee seemed to have improved upon his line-which was too straight yesterday. Today he just concentrated on that outside the off-stump line…and was actually lucky to get Gambhir against the run of play. The ball was pitched on a short-of-good length angling to middle stump, ball hit a crack and just straightened enough to beat the bat. Gambhir was shaping for a flick down the leg side, played all round the ball, and was struck dead-in-line on the back leg. (1-70)

Sehwag on the other hand, had settled down and was looking quite relaxed-picking up singles. At the other end, Dravid had come and immediately looked a man on a mission. There was a big stride forward on every possible opportunity, the ball hitting the middle of the bat, and there was some intent on show even when Dravid defended the ball. This is when though, the good brief period ended for India.

Johnson was bowling from around the wicket, I can not help but think that it’s a bit tough to get used to him with this angle & his slinging action. He bowled a pretty harmless ball-a wide half-volley swinging further away, Sehwag just had a brain explosion, he threw his bat at it (to be fair to him, he does go after these sort of balls)-got a very healthy edge, and Hayden actually took it very well, it was flying. (2-76)

Gary Kirsten would’ve saved some choice words saved up for some of the Indian betters today. Sachin Tendulkar came up, & immediately looked in good touch. He faced Lee confidently, and was actually looking quite positive with good long strides. At the other hand, Johnson had just picked up some really good bowling form, he was hitting the line of stumps more often, getting some sharp bounce and bowling some beautiful cutters. Things about this pitch has been that the off-cutters & leg-cutters have actually bounced sharply-making them difficult to handle. While the Back-of-Hand slower balls that Lee has bowled, have rather stayed down.

Tendulkar looked clueless against three slower balls, and finally fell with a fourth one. Johnson, in the midst of a beautiful & intelligent spell, got Sachin to play to a slower half-volley (very difficult to pick with his slinging action), the ball looped up, waiting to be caught. Tendulkar waited for a possible bump-ball issue, but finally went, furious with himself. (3-94)

VVS Laxman came and looked strangely out of place. He kept pushing and prodding, finally edging another accurate ball from Johnson, pitching and moving slightly away on a length. (4-106)

It was perhaps no surprise that it was Dravid who looked close to impeccable on the pitch, settling down after surviving Johnson very well. Sourav Ganguly, to his credit, looked quite solid. From a seemingly safe 2-76, India were suddenly staring at a follow-on. Situation was perfectly tailor-made for a Dravid special. He kept hitting singles, mixed with a few fine leg-glances. Ponting got Watson in the attack, and IPL special was intent to move the ball into Dravid. Mr. Wall completed a well crafted 50, and was done in by Mr. Dubious Asad Rouf. He was well forward, and there was a possible inside-edge + Height issue. Anyway, the ball was good, and perhaps deserved a wicket. (5-155) Watson looked a father with a baby just born-celebrating like kid having got a piece of ice-cream.

Now it was a backs-to-the-wall situation for India. Mahendra Singh Dhoni looked intent on defending. Dhoni survived a very good-hostile 7-over burst from Lee. Ganguly, on the other hand looked like waiting for a loose ball-unless dead defensive. Finally, it was the Australian over-rate which came to India’s help. An over-rate of 12 was increasingly getting punishable, Punter finally turned to Puppy for some rapid overs. He was turning the ball quite sharply even with 90 KPH speeds, with the ball occasionally jumping up or staying down. He finally gave Australia a bonus by getting Dhoni bowled with a sharp-turning delivery. But was perhaps helped by Dhoni’s penchant to maneuver the ball everywhere rather than playing straight. (6-195)

Indians were now looking hopeless. Ganguly meanwhile, carried on, seemingly intent on latching onto anything loose on Michael Clarke. At the other end, it was surprise, Harbhajan Singh coming ahead of Anil Kumble. I just feel he was sent by Kumble to capitalize on the spin of Michael Clarke. Harbhajan is a clean striker of the ball; he is aggressive at the start of his innings, and then settles down for singles. Anil Kumble, on the other hand, starts out by defending everything, and then opens up after settling down-which could have played straight into Australia’s hands. So, the decision to send Harbhajan, not surprisingly, worked wonders.

Ganguly looked largely untroubled before falling to yet another brilliant burst of bowling by Johnson. The ball came in from a length and struck plumb in front, and although it was a marginal decision (once again Asad Rouf), it looked out from naked eye-and the ball deserved the wicket. (7-232)

Then on, first it was rain-then mayhem for India & anguish for Australia. Zaheer Khan initially looked a bit clueless against White, but was helped by White continuing for a bit too long, and Harbhajan already settled down. Johnson was taken off with the rain, and then it was all Harbhajan & Zaheer show. As soon as Australia took the new SG ball, Harbhajan targeted Lee. New SG ball doesn’t swing much, and on a slow turning track, it was coming nicely onto the bat. Once having got settled, Zaheer got into the act. He looked worked up by something being said to him by Hayden or Haddin, but after that he was a batsman transformed. He and Harbhajan literally tore Stuart Clark apart. Although Zaheer benefited from a very close LBW shout by Clark, the ball seamed in from a length and hit the front pad plumb in front. The only thing that saved Zaheer was perhaps that the ball had too much distance to travel before hitting the stumps.

As Clark doesn’t have too much pace, Harbhajan & Zaheer stood outside the crease & repeatedly showed a touch of contempt by walking down and slogging hard. Immediately Clark was taken off-not before he learned a lesson or two about bowling in India-and was replaced by the half-decent Watson. Watson was getting a nice shape into the right-hander, occasionally getting extra bounce, but repeatedly bowled too wide of both sides of the wicket. Zaheer promptly greeted him by an upper cut and a heave down the wicket.

Australia finally got their man: Harbhajan chased a fairly wide half-tracker by Watson, the shot was on, but Harbhajan was defeated by extra bounce-edging the ball to Haddin, but not before he had irritated Australia again (this time with a bat). (8-312) Anil Kumble came, and kept defending…good thing for India is that they still have 3-pesky tail-enders left to bat-all of them can be a nuisance.

In the end…India have escaped from a huge embarrassment, but only just. It will be very crucial that how much time the Indian tail-enders can eat up in the first session. The lead is 117-which can still be very handy for Australia. But if the Indians can add another 30-40 runs, they can still think of an outside chance of a victory. The pitch isn’t very conducive for quick runs-if the bowlers keep their head, so it won’t be too easy for Australia either. Indians currently need a slice of luck, and one session of batting. If they manage that-the game looks a cracker, if not-Australia might just run away with the game.

Pitch: - Finally showing signs of uneven bounce. The turn is increasing to be a real handful on day-5. Ball has started jumping up & down while also turning sharply. This might just be the surface that Harbhajan relishes. As the surface has become more & more abrasive, reverse-swing will come into play as early as the ball 20-25 overs old. Time for Indians to show some steel and fight Australia for every inch. Aussies would surely looking for a quick 250 (if they get a big-enough lead), and then inviting India to bat before the end of the 4^th day.

India v Australia-2008-09, Test-1 (Bangalore)-Day-2

Score line: - Australia 430-10 (Mike Hussey 146 (276 Balls), Zaheer Khan 5-91), India 68-0 (18.1 overs, Virender Sehwag 43* (55 Balls))

Report Sheet of the Day: - Australia 70 % - India 30 %

Match-Report:-

350 was the total that India would have set as maximum for themselves to chase, 400 was the minimum that Australia would have settled for. Indian seamers were bowling well on a strange surface; Australian batters determined to avoid a collapse…and in between there was some attritional cricket & a stylish hundred from Mike Hussey.

It was apparent that Indians were looking quite determined to take an early wicket. There seemed to be a sense of purpose with the way Ishant Sharma& Zaheer Khan started, although the fact that the new SG ball isn’t really known for swing or seam movement, seemed to have caught up with Zaheer. He wasn’t really swinging it back into the right-handers, and that set the tone for the day.

Indians would have hoped for an early bat in the day, when Ishant sent down a working over to a hopelessly rusty Shane Watson, lining him up with a lifter which crashed into the pads, and then bowling a fuller ball, which had Watson groping and playing too late-the ball hit the off-stump about ¾ the way up…so it wasn’t a low bounce…and the fact that Watson was on his front foot, proved he just was too late on the ball. (5-259)

Hussey then impacted his ire on Zaheer, who was visibly unable to swing the new cherry. Two boundaries in one over quelled the early nerves for Australia, and Haddin on the other end, was just happy pushing & prodding his way with occasionally playing a shat against the spinners. Session-1 to Australia.

After lunch, it seemed obvious that the Indians had started to feel the pressure. Sharma was given the older ball…hoping for a reverse, but Haddin was playing a surprisingly dogged hand. Perhaps against his nature, he was playing like a tail-ender, occasionally groping for balls. Sharma literally fooled him with a very cleverly disguised slower-ball…and gave India a much-needed break-through. White too...Didn’t last long, and exposed a few questions about the merit in playing an extra batter like White in place of a potentially handy bowler like Siddle or Bollinger.

Brett Lee then wheeled away with Hussey as the end looked near to the Indians. Again, it was surprising to see how much the Indians allowed Hussey to play his game. He was picking up singles at will…sometimes on the last ball of the over, with no effort to put a ring of the fielders inside the circle. When that was corrected, Lee had settled down, as the Indian shoulders dropped. Session-2 to Australia.

Zaheer Khan finally ended the misery by slicing through the tail with an exhibition of superb reverse-swing that happens with the older SG ball. Lee and Johnson were promptly cleaned up, looking clueless against incoming balls, Hussey ending his own innings in an ugly way by inside-edging the ball and uprooting the middle-stump.

Lee looked again clueless with his superb opening spell where he rarely allowed Gautam Gambhir to put bat to bowl….by bowling each ball his first over down the leg-side. On the other hand Clark was wheeling away. Moving the ball off-the seam with an occasional straighter one. Virender Sehwag to his credit played him with a reasonably straight bat. As always happens with a Sehwag innings, there was a flurry of boundaries mixed with some stupid singles. Gambhir was playing a some what sedate innings, looking surprisingly clueless against Clark.

As the day ended abruptly with a surprising combination of sunlight & rain, combined with a stoic defense from Sehwag. Session-3 to India, by a big way.

In the end…India would be very much disappointed with not being able to bowl Australia out for a much lower score, somewhere around 350. They allowed Mike Hussey to play his normal game, and although Sehwag has started confidently, one wonders how long he will last. Indians need to play the whole of day-3 and a good part of day-4, to put the pressure back on Australia.

Pitch: - Very very strange pitch. Looks deteriorating enough to make the bowlers smile. Yet no exaggerated seam or swing movement-unless the ball starts reversing. The ball is turning, but the turn is very slow. Bounce is getting lower with every session; no delivery has jumped alarmingly, so the batters are safe. It’s time for the Indians batsmen to capitalize on the thin Australian bowling line-up. Lee & Johnson can reverse-swing the ball at pace, watch out for them. An unpredictable day-3 awaits.

India v Australia-2008-09, Test-1 (Bangalore)-Day-1

Score line: - Australia 254-4 (Mike Hussey 46 * (115 Balls), Zaheer Khan 2-39)

Report Sheet of the Day: - Australia 55 % - India 45 %

Match-Report:-

Ricky Ponting would have spent sleepless nights or two (praying that he won the toss) after looking at the pitch at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Having seen the interview of the Pitch Curator, the pitch had its soil imported from WACA in Australia, and it was nicely rolled to become a batting beauty on the first two days of the game. Well, he did win the toss and no guesses, batted first.

Zaheer Khan is known to swing the new cherry both ways, but the movement he got with the new SG ball (Which is more known for its prodigious reverse-swing) was a bit surprising. Matthew Hayden started off shakily, and was given an ordinary decision to be given out. (0-1) the replays showed that his bat hit his pad, not the ball, though the delivery by Zaheer was a good one, and you need such luck when you are up against the Aussies.

But every cloud has a silver lining. Next man in was Ricky Ponting, having a seriously pathetic record in India. The difference this time was, however, that he didn’t have to face a Spinner bowling with a softer Ball.

Indians must have felt a little bit of nostalgia after watching Ishant Sharma bowling a wonderful spell to Ponting (reminiscent of that famous spell in Perth in January). He cut the ball back into the batsman, and surprisingly didn’t bowl too many Full length Balls. He did keep it tight though, and with a little bit of luck could have got Ponting. But as you would have it, Ponting hung on to it, and settled down to play a determined and Flawless innings. Sharma however, looked a bit clueless bowling to Katich, and repeatedly strayed down the leg-side.

Harbhajan, started off by shooting the ball down the leg side at Ponting’s pads, from then on, it was Ponting all the way. He cut, slog-swept, and drove both the spinners, with Kumble troubling him with an odd unplayable ball. Katich on the other hand was playing a surprisingly dogged hand. And Aussies went into Lunch with the score 75-1.

Ishant Sharma started off ordinarily after Lunch. And was lucky to get Katich playing at a fairly wide ball-swinging further away. (2-166) With Mike Hussey also in a “Thou shall not pass” mode, it was left to poor old punter to do the bulk of scoring. Hussey repeatedly misread Kumble-who was bowling well without appropriate reward, on the other hand Ponting was motoring to a Hundred.

As they say, umpiring errors do even out in the game. Rudi Koertzen, who looks like a grandpa having a paid holiday, failed to see a close-call for a caught-&-Bowled for Ponting. Poor old Kumble has looked a shadow of himself after the Australia tour, and looked visibly worked-up after Rudi didn’t call for replays. Kumble has bowled well, with few deliveries squaring up Ponting & Hussey. To be honest, he looked a better bowler against the left-handers today, repeatedly beating Hussey. Ponting duly completed a flawless Hundred, and looked a bit worked up as well…not surprising with newspapers everyday dissecting his record in India.

Again, a bad decision evening out an equally Bad one. Harbhajan was visibly looking a bit tense, bowled an off-cutter, Ponting shaped for a half-lap-half sweep shot, was hit in line, with the ball hitting perhaps the fourth stump. Asad Rouf has a record of giving debatable LBW decisions, this time he obliged, and Harbhajan must have felt relieved that the wicket of Ponting overshadowed an ordinary outing for the day. (3-226) Harbhajan is at his best when he bowls that Off-Stump line with speeds between 79-85 KPH, this time, he repeatedly went over the 86-KPH mark, often darting the ball wide of Off-Stump or down the leg-side. Ponting though, played him smartly, taking an off-stump guard, and whipping him to the on-side whenever the ball was inline with the Stumps.

Lara Bingle might get worked up, but Michael Clarke does have a bit of a love affair with the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. His all previous outings here have ended in brilliant hundreds. Indians would have had a bit of “Oh no…not again” feeling after watching him batting comfortably against Sehwag, & Harbhajan. Kumble came and gone, with a spoiler of an over bowling three long-hops. As the overs ticked, Fans started pouring out with a “Would be 260-odd for 3” score line in their minds. But as often happens in India-Australia matches, there was drama right on the second ball of the last over, Zaheer trapping “Mr. Puppy” plumb in front with a peach of a ball, this time for just 11-runs (Lara Bingle rejoicing), ending his love with Bangalore. (4-254)

In the end…Australia would be happy seeing the score. 400 is the bare minimum for Australia with a thin Bowling line-up. Indians would be happy to keep the run-rate down to less than 3-an over and still picking up 4-wickets. Australia do have a long batting though. India would do well to bowl then out around 350. Can’t wait for Day-2.

Pitch:- Looks a good test-Match wicket. Nicely rolled, with enough Pace & bounce to play your shots. Should turn more and more as the game goes on, and Australia will rue dearly that they don’t have a specialist spinner to capitalize the conditions on the 4^th & 5^th day. The bounce is getting a bit lower, and the Pitch should get slow come the 3^rd day. All depends on how Indian batsmen perform, because they do have the firepower to bowl Australia out twice on the Pitch.