Australian batsmen had testing time on a dodgy Feroze Shah Kotla strip as they reached 94 for two at lunch, on the opening day of the fourth and final cricket Test, in New Delhi on Friday.
Opener Ed Cowan is batting on a patient 27 having survived a torrid time. Giving him company is stand-in captain Shane Watson, who is unbeaten on 16.
Ishant Sharma removed opener David Warner (0) and No 3 batsman Phillip Hughes (45) in two spells on a track where the odd balls took off dangerously from the good length spot while some of the balls kept low.
Even as Ishant and his new ball partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled well in tandem, one can’t rule out the fact that the behaviour of the 22-yard strip prepared by curator Venkat Sundaram was highlight of the first session.
Hughes, who found some form going his way during the second inning in Mohali, took the attacking route knowing well that playing a game of survival would be difficult on this track. He hit 10 boundaries in his 59-ball knock.
The left-hander hit some flowing cover drives off both Bhuvneshwar and Ishant. He dispatched a lot of length deliveries to the boundary but somehow never looked set partly due to the nature of the pitch.
Even some of the deliveries bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin rose awkwardly and frequently hit the handle of the bat.
In fact before his dismissal in the 21st over, Ishant softened up Hughes with a delivery that took off from the short of good length spot and hit him flush on grill of his helmet.
The delivery unnerved Hughes big time and two balls later, a delivery that landed on the same spot kept low and the batsman was played on.
Cowan and Hughes added 67 runs for the second wicket.
Watson survived a stumping appeal off Ojha’s delivery as he barely managed to drag his feet back in the crease.
A day earlier, Ishant spoke about him being more effective with the old ball but the lanky speedster decided to prove himself ‘wrong’ as he got a couple of wickets with the new ball.
For a change, he got a wicket in his very first over with a fuller delivery outside the off—stump, which Warner played away from his body with minimal feet movement.
Virat Kohli standing at second slip, finally held onto a catch having missed a couple of chances in Mohali.
Brief scores:
Australia: 94 for two in 28 overs (Phil Hughes 45; Ishant Sharma 2/21).
No comments:
Post a Comment