India vs Australia 2008-09: Day Three, First Test, Bangalore

India vs Australia 2008-09, Day Three 1^st Test at Bangalore.


Bare facts:

• Dates: 9^th Oct - 13^th 2008


• Time : Play at 9.30 am (0400 GMT); Coverage 8.30AM


• Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore


• Forecast:WeatherCity, Yahoo! OurCity, CNN-AccuWeather


• Live Telecast (Cable TV and Web): Neo Sports


• Current Weather: Yet to see


• Toss: Australia win the toss and elect to bat


• Pitch: Brown, hard. Consensus is win toss, bat first


• Stumps 2^nd: India 68/0 Sehwag 43* Gambhir 20*


• Australia 1^st: 430


• Performers: Hussey 146, Ponting 123, Zak 5/91, Ishant 4/77


• Umpires: Rudi Koertzen and Asad Rauf


• Scorecard

Australia didn't collapse as soon as spin was thrust upon them. Ricky Ponting will no longer have the unblemished record he had in India. Kumble and Harbhajan didn't pick 9 wickets between them. Zak and Ishant did not prove inadequate. There were a few generally believed myths destroyed out there since I left them at Lunch on the first day.

Records tell us Australia does not collapse in the first innings here - that is reserved for the second innings. If India get 100 on them in the first, this match is going only one way.

The lesser Australian bats were not expected to do well - they didn't, bar one - Haddin, who played a crucial role in resurrecting the innings with Hussey. The better Australian bats were expected to shoulder the burden, Ricky Ponting included - they did, bar two - Hayden who got out to a Zak peach and Michael "Pup" Clarke who fell for an even peachier Zak peach.

But Ricky came good - he kept his promise - he toughed it out when things were happening up to lunch and cashed in later to record his first test century in India. It was an important innings.

Equally important, if not more competent, was Hussey's innings. He is a commonsense player like Sehwag. Now don't get excited about the comparison - both play the ball in the same manner - if it is there to be played, play it. The difference is only in the execution, Hussey being a little more circumspect with his choice of strokes as compared to Sehwag, but no less dangerous and far more consistent. And that is saying a huge thing. The way he marshalled the innings with the lower order - brilliant stuff from Mike Hussey!

But Australia did not really get away. As a champion team with some inexperience strife, they did well to score 400+ in the first outing on a batting surface first up. The pitch has begun to act up now and I reiterate that if Sehwag lasts till at least lunch today, then this game is going one way - India's way.

It has been observed over the past year that Kumble no longer incises through the skin and walls of the opposition to get at the heart in double quick time. One recalls mentioning in one of the backposts that Kumble increasingly needs assistance from pitch and the a tall score to do that. However, he continues to be a browbeating customer for the batsmen and in the second innings is often dangerous.

Harbhajan is the one who should be stepping it up to younger-Kumble levels. he's bow;ling flat and fast like Kumble but with far poorer results. The uniformity of pace by him and Kumble was partly responsible for Australia settling in, particularly Ricky Ponting. There was no attempt to decieve in the air. However, credit to Ponting remains for playing purposefully.

The way the pitch is behaving ( I caught the late-night highlights yesterday ), the two could actually prosper with this method of bowling in the second innings. Even if India doesn't get that 100 up on Australia and ends up somewhere around, on either side, of Australia, they will matter in the third innings. Australia is sure to go for setting a target, irrespective of whether India is about par or 100 ahead. This pitch will fizz and strike day five, maybe also on day four. It already is like a precocious cobra, going for the ankles now and leaping up to the forehead then.

In fact, under such conditions, the performers of the first innings, Zak and Ishant could also be a handful. But first, Sehwag must play at least 50 overs today and weather must hold up.