Another Test abroad, another batting disaster in need of chronicling.
India has struggled over the last year to put together an innings of any
substance on tour, and it was no different at the Sydney Cricket Ground
on a hot, dry Tuesday.
What must have been maddening — for both the team and its supporters —
was that the conditions for batting weren't diabolical. The ball swung
and nipped off the surface, especially in the first session.
But as M.S. Dhoni (57 n.o.) and Sachin Tendulkar (41) showed, it was
actually a good wicket for batting, once its freshness had evaporated.
Australia's seamers moreover weren't as consistent as they were in
Melbourne. They did enough, however, to exploit the mental frailty of
batsmen searching for confidence. India was bowled out for 191 not long
after tea on the first day of the second Test.
Zaheer strikes
Zaheer Khan responded as he so often has. The left-armer sent back
Australia's top three to ensure India remained in the contest. But Ricky
Ponting (44 batting) and Michael Clarke (47 batting) drove the home
team forward with a 79-run partnership. By stumps, Australia had made
116 for three.
Tuesday's first over wasn't what India would have had in mind after winning the toss. Gautam Gambhir's dreadful tour continued.
He shaped to play James Pattinson's third ball to leg, closing his bat's face in the process.
Although the delivery was within the left-hander's body-space, it had
some angle on it — Pattinson's wide position at the crease had created
it.
The extra bounce Australia's pitches have contributed to the wicket — a
leading-edge, high on the bat, to first slip. Rahul Dravid steadied
matters for a while, leaving well the delivery that shaped away from
him. But Peter Siddle got one to hint back.
Dravid readjusted his front foot, but he had left it too late. His hands pushed out to compensate. Short-leg was in play.
Virender Sehwag was himself at the other end, waving a flirty bat in
between clouting boundaries. He had made 30, with four fours, when
Pattinson, in an excellent second spell after a mixed first, struck.
The length was perfect for the occasion, full enough to catch Sehwag on
the move, but not so full that it could be driven. The line was tight,
permitting the batsman no room to free his arms.
Having eased Ricky Ponting's guilt — he had dropped Sehwag at second
slip — Pattinson removed V.V.S. Laxman, who, like Gambhir, failed both
times in Melbourne. The tall Indian No. 5 reached to drive a fullish
ball, but could do no more than snick it to third slip. He hadn't
covered the line and the movement.
Laxman's weakness
It's a weakness of Laxman's game, when he is yet to settle, but seldom
has an Australian bowling unit taken such advantage of it.
Tendulkar appeared on another plane, his mastery in contrast to the rest
of the batting till then. Virat Kohli looked the best he has at this
level.
Australia's bowlers, in pursing a straighter line, hoping to get him
‘lbw' like in Melbourne, strayed marginally. It was enough for Kohli to
wrist these deliveries for runs.
But before the partnership could turn threatening, it was ended by
Siddle. First came two bouncers. Perhaps aware that the sequence
betrayed a set-up job for the full ball, Kohli pushed forward. But it
was shorter than he anticipated, and it moved and bounced just enough to
gain the edge.
Tendulkar dragged a drive onto his stumps to leave the crowd
disappointed. They gave him another standing ovation while Pattinson
celebrated his fourth wicket.
The bowler mightn't have deserved a wicket with that particular ball,
but there was plenty of good work in the lead-up — notably, a wide,
run-denying line that tested Tendulkar's patience.
Captain back in form
Dhoni batted as well as he has overseas. From a back-lift shorter than
normal, he waited to play the ball as late as he possibly could.
Two pull-strokes and a cut-drive showed that Dhoni was at the height of his powers.
R. Ashwin helped him add 54 for the seventh wicket — India's only
half-century partnership — but the rest of the lower-order couldn't last
as long.
Hilfenhaus on fire
Ben Hilfenhaus turned nasty, trading his swingers for a discomforting short ball to finish with three wickets.
Siddle ended the innings with his 100th Test wicket.
Zaheer, who again showed his control of line, length, and movement,
became the second bowler to be on a hat-trick on Tuesday (Hilfenhaus was
the first).
Caught in the slips
David Warner and Shaun Marsh were caught in the slips, the former by
Tendulkar off a Laxman parry, the latter by Laxman himself.
Later, Ed Cowan was persuaded across his stumps and struck in front.
But Clarke chanced his arm and counter-attacked in Ponting's presence to ensure Australia finished the day in front.
Scoreboard
India — 1st innings
G. Gambhir c Clarke b Pattinson 0 (3b)
V. Sehwag c Haddin b Pattinson 30 (51b, 4x4)
R. Dravid c Cowan b Siddle 5 (33b, 1x4)
S. Tendulkar b Pattinson 41 (89b, 8x4)
V.V.S. Laxman c Marsh b Pattinson 2 (9b)
V. Kohli c Haddin b Siddle 23 (41b, 3x4)
M.S. Dhoni (not out) 57 (77b, 8x4)
R. Ashwin c Clarke b Hilfenhaus 20 (39b, 1x4)
Zaheer Khan c Cowan b Hilfenhaus 0 (1b)
Ishant Sharma c Cowan b Hilfenhaus 0 (6b)
Umesh Yadav c Haddin b Siddle 0 (10b)
Extras (b-3, lb-6, nb-2, w-2): 13
Total (in 59.3 overs): 191
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Gambhir), 2-30 (Dravid), 3-55 (Sehwag), 4-59
(Laxman), 5-96 (Kohli), 6-124 (Tendulkar), 7-178 (Ashwin), 8-178
(Zaheer), 9-186 (Ishant).
Australia bowling O M R W
Pattinson 14 3 43 4
Hilfenhaus 22 9 51 3
Siddle 13.3 3 55 3
Hussey 2 0 8 0
Lyon 8 0 25 0
Australia — 1st innings
D. Warner c Tendulkar b Zaheer 8 (6b, 1x4)
E. Cowan lbw b Zaheer 16 (28b, 2x4)
S. Marsh c Laxman b Zaheer 0 (1b)
R. Ponting (batting) 44 (62b, 5x4)
M. Clarke (batting) 47 (59b, 7x4)
Extras (lb-1): 1
Total (for three wkts. in 26 overs): 116.
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Warner), 2-8 (Marsh), 3-37 (Cowan).
India bowling O M R W
Zaheer 9 2 26 3
Yadav 8 1 42 0
Ishant 6 0 30 0
Ashwin 2 0 11 0
Sehwag 1 0 6 0
Keywords: India's tour of Australia
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