10:41: Pattinson tempts Gambhir with an overpitches ball outside
off, Gambhir is up to it and gets a four past cover with confident feet
movement. Clarke is at slip, and he appauds Pattinson despite the four.
Clarke reckons Gambhir will edge one of those soon.
10:34: Dravid looks good too. Rocks back to a short Hilfenhaus ball
and places it through cover and mid-off for four. Follows it up with a
flick through midwicket for another four.
10:29: Well the pitch has eased out, as the Australian innings
proved. So batting surely easier now, no extra bounce as was seen during
India's first innings. Swing down to a minimum too.
Huge moment for Gambhir, a fifty out of the blue when the chips were way down.
10:23: Gambhir reaches 50 with a streaky couple. Closes the face of the bat to a full ball from Pattinson, ball moves away and a leading edge falls just short of cover.
10:20: Gambhir continues with his attack, this time lifts Pattinson
over point for four. Great signs for Gambhir and India, with Gambhir
moving to 47. The team desperately needs him to find form again quickly.
10:12: Pattinson resumes and tempts Dravid with full balls
outside off. Dravid knows better than to fish at those with 3 slips and
gully in place. Leaves them well alone.
10:08: We're back and Dravid plays out a maiden over from Pattinson first up.
Can Dravid and Gambhir bat out the day and give its fans hope of a
miraculous escape? Can Gambhir regain form, similar to how Ponting
scored his first century in two years? All the answers in the post-Tea
session, coming to you at 10.05 (IST).
India still 415 adrift, though it is a matter of time rather than runs now.
Gambhir on 39 and looking good. That is the only positive for the Indians today. Feet are moving, some crisp strokes.
It's Tea and India finish the second session on 53/1.
09:40: And Shastri cannot help but ask the question every Indian
asks a foreigner - "Do you like Indian food?". Gillard says she does
like Indian food. Shastri fell for that just like Sehwag fell for the
cut shot.
09:38: Gillard talks about the good relations between India and
Australia. Shastri, meanwhile, reminds her that come the 2015 World Cup,
India will be the defending champions. Gillard says she is aware and
Shastri is happy.
09:35: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard comes to
commetary with Ravi Shastri. She says she is happy to be here on this
historic occasion of the SCG hosting its 100th Test. She congratulates
Clarke on his 300, and adds that the SCG is getting ready for the 2015
World Cup.
09:34: 10 minutes to go for Tea. Here comes Nathan Lyon.
Ujwal sees the funny side -
'The possibility of India losing before the end of the day is pretty
high. Can India and Australia play couple of T20’s in the remaining two
days? Indian players and Indian crowds need a confidence booster!'
09:22: Gambhir unwilling to be bogged down. 2 fours on the trot through the covers and he moves to 25 in 23 balls.
09:17: Rahul Dravid in a 'oh so familiar' situation. But even he
will not feel too good about India's state now. One thing for sure,
Australia will have to produce a brute to get him out. No gifting
wickets when it comes to Dravid.
Sehwag goes for 4, and he just cannot stop himself from cutting a wide
ball. He knows the plan to get him out at point, but he cannot resist.
Did not even try to get it over point.
09:09: Sehwag out! Hilfenhaus the beneficiary of good planning. Short
and wide, Sehwag can't help but slash at it, Warner at point picks up a
sharp catch. Carbon copy of Sehwag's dismissal in the second innings of
the first Test, even the front leg was lifted off-balance once again.
Gambhir under intense pressure to perform. He's got only 2 fifties since
the start of the England tour, that's 14 innings. His last century came
in January 2010 against Bangladesh.
09:02: Gambhir starts positively with 2 fours off Pattinson. Positive, but a bit risky flashing outside off.
08:52: Sehwag and Gambhir walk out.
Now it is up to the Indian batsmen to keep this series alive.
Clarke unbeaten on 329, he isn't interested in going after Lara's 400.
The Indian bowlers have been hit all over, with all 4 full time bowlers
going for more than 100 runs.
So Australia bat just a little past Lunch to declare on 659/4. Clarke
put at an end to the innings immediately after Hussey reached 150. He
obviously would have declared even earlier if not for Hussey's
milestone. Whatever the case, this still leaves India with a mountain to
climb.
The innings comes to a close, though I don't think the Indians will be
relieved to go off. 223 overs remain in this Test, India will have to
bat at least 180 overs to feel safe.
Australia declare! Lead of 468.
08:42: Hussey gets to 150. The crowd applauds.
Kohli had tweeted that the crowd said the 'worst things about your
mother and sister, the worst I’ve heard'. Australian crowds can be
pretty brutal on touring sides, just ask Michael Holding why he cried
after his maiden tour to Australia. That's right, it's all documented on
'Fire in Babylon'.
08:37: PTI reports - Virat Kohli has been fined 50 per cent of his
match fee after being pictured showing the middle finger to the
Australian crowd yesterday. The level two offence for breaching the
ICC’s code of conduct relates to “using language or gesture(s) that is
seriously obscene, seriously offensive and of a seriously insulting
nature to another player, player support personnel, umpire, match
referee or any other third person during an international match".
This partnership now goes past 300, and looks good for much more. What
can the Indians possibly do? It's actually better to allow Australia
bat, instead of triggering a collapse and getting them all-out quickly.
That way they will have less time to bat. I'm talking crazy now, but
it's beginning to make sense after just over 2 days of an Australian
pounding.
08:20: Looks like Clarke is not content with the 439-run lead. I suppose he wants more, maybe add to the 319 he's got.
Even if Australia declare at Tea today, which I would consider
prolonging the declaration more than necessary, India will have to bat
out 7 sessions to draw the match. That's a little over 200 overs of
batting. It is possible, but highly unlikely, given the recent form of
the Indian batsmen.
07:59: Clarke now has the sixth highest score by an Australian.
Bob Simpson, Don Bradman, Mathew Hayden and Mark Taylor some of the
legends above him in the list.
Look at Clarke's innings in context of this match. Came in at 37/3, with
India on a high. Then just shut out India with Ponting, and now the
lead is past 400. The series could well end because of Clarke's knock.
07:53: Michael Clarke with his 300! Flick through midwicket for four
and Clarke celebrates a massive milestone. There is a huge crowd here to
appreciate his innings, and he celebrates by taking off his helmet and
punching the air. This is the first time he is crossing 200, and makes
doubly sure by making a triple.
07:51: The part-time off-spin of Virender Sehwag is dealt with
disdain by Hussey. Drop it short, Hussey pulls for four. SLightly full
outside off, Hussey slog sweeps for four.
07:47: Clarke goes to 299 with a beauty! Straight and full from Ishant, Clarke drives straight back the bowler for four.
07:42: We're back with live action. Ishant Sharma is on.
Will Australia declare after Clarke gets his 300? Find out when we resume with the second session at 7.35 (IST)!
And there you go. As predicted yesterday, Australia close in on the
400-run lead by Lunch. Hussey gets his 100, Clarke on 293. Both are
still around so India's nightmare continues. They would have hoped for a
couple of early breakthroughs today, but nothing came. The bowling and
attitude of the Indians has been better today, but Clarke and Hussey are
in top class form. Both batting like a boss, with Clarke closing in on
the 300.
07:03: It's Lunch and Australia showing no signs of taking it easy on the Indians. 583/4 with a lead of 392.
Sehwag with (definitely) the last over before Lunch.
06:59: Ishant Sharma smacked for two four by Clarke in that over.
One through cover as usual, one to third man off an under-edge. Clarke
on 293 now, lead moves to 390.
Ishant Sharma to bowl in what should be the last over before Lunch.
06:52: Hussey on the attack. Dances down the track real quick to
Ashwin, he knows he's still not to the pitch but goess through with loft
over mid-off anyway. Ashwin slowed it down and gave more air on that
ball, but Hussey is confident he can do damage anyway.
06:42: Hussey gets his 100! That's his 16th hundred, and Hussey with
the third Australian century in this innings. Typical Hussey innings,
lots of singles and twos with quick running, and the boundary when the
ball is loose.
06:40: Hussey on 99 now. Chanceless innings.
06:30: Giant screen shows Clarke now has the highest score for an
Australian captain in Australia, beating Don Bradman. Clarke also moves
to the 8th highest score by an Australian overall. Mathew Hayden on top
of course, you'll remember the massacre against Zimbabwe when he made
380.
Clarke on 272 and there's nothing going to suggest he will not reach his 300.
06:23: Clarke in top touch. Umesh Yadav with the reverse swing,
floating into his pads, Clarke covers the line with his frontfoot and
whips it between deep midwicket and long on for four.
06:21: Michael Hussey on 92 now. Strong off-side play, be it the cut or drive. Field is back so he can score there at will.
06:19: Singles, singles, and more singles on offer. Gleefully
taken. Ashwin bowling, a slip and silly point with cover and mid wicket
on the edge pf the circle. All others on the boundary.
06:12: Heard from a friend in England that Ian Chappell has
lashed out at the Indian selectors yesterday on TV for not being brave
enough to prepare for the future by picking young batsmen. Hard to blame
the selectors really, there's no way you can drop Laxman, Dravid or
Sachin unless they decide to retire themselves. I'm saying this keeping
in mind what the selectors went through in their meeting before this
series started.
05:56: The length has changed from India today. Fuller and little
wide of off stump. Testing Clarke and Hussey, but they are still around
on 261 and 76 respectively.
05:34: Australia will most likely bat till they get a lead of
around 480, which could take till Tea today. If they are adamant about
batting only once and grinding the Indian bowling to dust, they could
even bat all day today, simply because there is still so much time in
this Test. But I'm hoping for an early declaration, say with a lead of
400. That way, the Australians can really send a telling message to the
Indians, that they don't believe the Indians can bat long enough to even
save a smaller lead.
05:28: Clarke absolutely murdered the bowling with his lovely
cover drives yesterday, regularly getting fours in the region. Dhoni is
up to the task today, bringing virat Kohli in at short-cover to Clarke.
There is a sweeper at deep-point, everyone else on the off-side is in
the circle, which is good to see.
05:27: Offie R. Ashwin comes in early in the day, around the wicket. Clarke defends and plays out the over without incident.
Boy, how good was Ponting yesterday? Never mind the unresponsive pitch
or poor bowling, the century was significant given the kind of pressure
he was in. S. Ram Mahesh talks to Ponting after his century yesterday, click here to read what Ponting said about playing under intense scrutiny.
05:22: Hussey starts from where he left off last night. It's those
impressive cover drives he employed so effectively yesterday. Zaheer
Khan this time, full and wide, Hussey leans forward and pierces a packed
off-side field for a four.
Yesterday was a terrible, terrible day for India. They handed Ponting a
century with some gift short balls and defensive fields, and then did
the same for Michael Clarke. And the day got no better after Ponting
left for 134, as Michael Hussey then came on and made an unbeaten fifty.
But most of all, the attitude of the Indians was a let down. The
bowlers were low on confidence, and the fielders looked jaded, defeated.
Imperative the Indians put up a fight today, just to show Australia
that they will not simply roll over and concede defeat so early in a
Test.
05:15: So the lead at 297 now, I reckon Australia can get a
400-run lead by Lunch today. All eyes on Clarke now though, he is 47 shy
of 300.
05:00: Start the day with overnight batsmen Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey. Clarke on 251, Hussey on 55
Promises to be another long, tiring day for the Indians. Let's see how
they hold up and what kind of fight and attitude they bring today.
Hello and welcome to The Hindu's coverage of the third day of the second Test between India and Australia at Sydney.
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