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India 311 for 5 (Tendulkar 88, Gambhir 67,
Ganguly 54*) v Australia
Mohali: India's batsmen sandwiched a middle-order wobble in
the afternoon with excellent batting during the first and
third sessions to inch ahead of Australia on the first day
in Mohali. A brief passage of play, during which India lost
three wickets for 17 runs, threatened to undo the 104-run
platform built in the morning but Sachin Tendulkar, who became
Test cricket's highest run-scorer, and Sourav Ganguly ensured
that the initiative wasn't lost by batting the majority of
final session. Unlike the pitch in Bangalore, which had variable
bounce from the start, the surface at the Punjab Cricket Association
Stadium was true. There was hardly any swing or movement off
the pitch, and the ball came on to the bat, and sped off it.
It allowed the batsmen to drive on the up, or hit through
the line. Australia's bowlers failed to bowl disciplined lines
during the first session. However their more accurate methods
brought them success and at tea, given the outstanding batting
conditions, Australia held the edge having reduced India to
174 for 4. Another wicket would have made it their day but
they were blunted by Tendulkar and Ganguly who scored at nearly
four an over without any risks. Tendulkar broke Brian Lara's
record off the first ball after tea, steering Peter Siddle
to third man but, once the seemingly endless fireworks subsided,
India needed a much more substantial contribution from him.
It was Ganguly, however, who set the pace initially. He had
taken 17 balls to get off the mark before tea but after the
interval he hit the ball through gaps in the offside with
precision, driving Shane Watson and Peter Siddle for three
boundaries between point and cover. He milked that region
for 41 of his runs and apart from a stumping against Cameron
White - Rudi Koertzen did not refer it to the third umpire
- and a couple of uncertain wafts against the second new ball,
his innings was calm. By the end of the day, Tendulkar was
batting so confidently that he dispatched the first ball with
the second new ball, bowled by Siddle, through cover with
a back foot drive. He tried to repeat the shot the next ball
but inside edged the ball past his stumps. His third attempt
to push the new ball through the offside 15 minutes before
stumps landed in Matthew Hayden's hands at first slip and
gave Siddle his maiden Test wicket. It ended a 142-run stand
and helped even the balance between the teams. Before that
error in judgement, however, Tendulkar had scored runs all
round the ground and wasn't tied down by any bowler. He was
severe on Siddle, against whom he scored 29 off 20 balls,
driving him twice past mid-on for four and steering him to
the third-man boundary. He also scored at a strike-rate of
above 75 against Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson, who was once
again Australia's best bowler. When Ponting brought on Cameron
White, Tendulkar attempted to unsettle the legspinner by charging
down the pitch and lofting down the ground. He brought up
his fifty - his 50th in Test cricket - and also became the
first batsmen to score 12,000 Tests. Before those records
fell, however, Australia were regaining ground lost during
the morning session. Their bowlers rectified mistakes made
during the morning session but the wickets were largely due
to lapses from the batsmen. Johnson was largely responsible
for the fightback. He ended Virender Sehwag's charge in the
morning, caught down the leg side, and dismissed Laxman in
a similar manner after lunch. In between those wickets he
contained Dravid by bowling full and wide with seven fielders
on the off side, and induced an edge from Gambhir as he tried
to drive another full delivery through cover.—Agency |
