Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting administered a beat-down at the Sydney
Cricket Ground on Wednesday, a beat-down touring teams had come to
expect and fear during Australia's days of glory, but one that seemed
beyond the current side's ken.
India, behind in the second Test after a day, required its bowlers to
lift, its captain to create, its fielders to threaten. The last of the
demands wasn't entirely reasonable: this Indian team has more men to
hide in the field than it has toadying hangers-on.
But its bowlers have shown they have the skill to take wickets and M.S.
Dhoni, when given no option but to attack in the past, has proved equal
to the task of making imaginative decisions. With such affirmative
thoughts did Indian fans settle in their seats with chips and tea on the
second morning; they had to wait four-and-a-half hours for a wicket.
When Ponting steered Ishant Sharma to point, unable to get on top of the
extra bounce the harder second new ball allows, he had made 134, his
first Test century in nearly two years and 40th overall. His partnership
of 288 runs with his captain had punished India, rolled out for 191 in
the first innings. What had begun in a flurry on the first evening —
which Clarke was fortunate to survive — developed into a remorseless,
acquisitive alliance.
Excellent session
Wednesday's first session was excellent for Australia; the runs came at a
rate of more than four an over. The game settled into a monotonous
holding pattern after that, the transaction for runs freighted with not
the slightest risk, before Clarke and Michael Hussey advanced their
side's endeavour against the second new ball.
Clarke and Ponting got their half-centuries out of the way early in the
day, the former with a clip for three, the latter with a magnificent
back-cut four. During the partnership, the pair illustrated how
different methods can find success: for Ponting, the forward-press drove
his batting, the movement of the lower-body pulling the arms down from a
high back-lift; Clarke's bat-speed, on the other hand, was generated by
the wrists.
Neither was at the top of his game in the first session, though Clarke
had by far the better touch. India's bowlers made matters easier by
gifting both batsmen balls to put away.
With very little movement in the air and on a wicket prime for batting,
there wasn't the consistency needed to strain the making of runs.
Between them, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, and Umesh Yadav managed six
deliveries capable of taking wickets before lunch. But when these were
negotiated or eluded, there was nothing to fall back on.
There were two further problems for India. Dhoni's captaincy seemed to
confuse his bowlers: when he asked his two slips to take their positions
side by side at short mid-wicket, Umesh knew not which line to bowl.
The diffused fields, a dispiriting feature of his tactical tendencies
thus far, were in evidence as well, preventing pressure from building.
Ashwin struggles
R. Ashwin had a disappointing day. He bowled a decent off-break from
time to time, but struggled, as he had in Melbourne, to put a spell
together. Too often he strayed, to let the batsmen work him to the
on-side with ease. The fields Dhoni and he set aggravated the situation.
Thus did India fail to inconvenience the batsmen.
Ponting, who has had recent trouble with falling over, fought to resist
it. He has stripped his technique down over the last few weeks and tried
to drill in a more balanced position at the crease; but only after he
had passed 70 did the corrections appear unforced, instinctive. He had a
hairy moment on 99: in the anxiety to get to his century, he nearly ran
himself out. But Zaheer couldn't hit the stumps from mid-on.
Ponting smiled as he has rarely smiled in the public glare before, the
smile of a man who needs to grasp no more, to defend nothing. Clarke,
who had reached his 18th century before lunch, nearly fell over in
laughter as he saw Ponting muddied and relieved.
Raises the tempo
Clarke raised the level of play after second new ball was taken. He had
hit Ashwin for a forceful straight six, but the shots that happened now —
flash-fast cover-drives hit with the bottom hand, lacerating cuts
struck late, cracking pulls smashed in front of square — were of an even
higher quality, seen purely in terms of stroke-production. He gave a
tough caught and bowled chance to Ishant on 182, but it was a rare
lapse.
The Australian captain celebrated his first double century even before
it had been completed, whooping during the first run and punching gloves
with Hussey in the middle of the second. That he could take time off
from running between wickets to do this was an indication the control he
was in. By stumps, Clarke (251 batting) and Hussey (55 batting) had
extended Australia's lead to 291.
Scoreboard
India — 1st innings: 191.
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 c Tendulkar b Ishant 134 (225b, 14x4)
M. Clarke (batting) 251 (342b, 31x4, 1x6)
M. Hussey (batting) 55 (97b, 7x4, 1x6)
Extras (lb-12, nb-3, w-3): 18
Total (for four wkts. in 116 overs): 482.
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Warner), 2-8 (Marsh), 3-37 (Cowan), 4-325 (Ponting).
India bowling O M R W
Zaheer 26 4 106 3
Umesh 18 2 94 0
Ishant 22 0 106 1
Ashwin 28 4 103 0
Sehwag 14 1 38 0
Kohli 8 0 23 0
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