India staring down the barrel at 150/6

Thatscricket.com October 7, 2004
By SUHRID BARUA

Bangalore: At the end of day II, Australian skipper Adam Gilchrist could well afford a broad smile. Ever since he called correctly, everything has gone according to plan. First, his openers piled on the runs and later in the afternoon the duo of McGrath and Kasprowicz ensured the visitors did not hand away the initiative to India.

The combo of McGrath and Kasprowicz put the ball in the right areas and were richly rewarded as the Indian top-order capitulated meekly. As things panned out, the Indians found themselves in a soup as they huffed and puffed their way to 150/6 at stumps with wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel on 18 and Irfan Pathan on 1.

Clearly, the Indians have a tough day tomorrow as they still need further 125 runs to avoid the ignominy of follow-on. With the wicket not an easy one to bat on, Patel and Pathan have to pull out something out of the ordinary if they have to take India past the follow-on mark.The day however, belonged to young Michael Clarke.

The blonde-haired right-hander was a picture of concentration and never showed the nervous energies an young lad would on his debut as he notched up a sparkling maiden Test century. The New South Welshman took his own time to gauge the pace and bounce of the wicket before bringing out on display his wide repertoire of strokes on either side of the wicket and treated the Chinnaswamy crowd to some exhilarating batsmanship as he batted his way to a stroke-filled 151.

The 23-year-old showed the application and temperament of an accomplished player as he drove, cut, pulled and swept Kumble and Harbhajan with aplomb. He also used his feet well against the spinners and stepped out to Harbhajan and Kumble carving them for a few boundaries.He became the 17th Australian to score a century on debut. Clarke's 151 was the sixth highest by an Australian playing in his first Test.

It was also the first instance of an Australian scoring a hundred on debut against India. He belted 18 fours and four sixes in his more than six hour's vigil at the crease. He forged a superb sixth-wicket stand of 167 with skipper Gilchrist, who also racked up a power-packed ton.

Skipper Gilchrist in his usual slam-bang style cracked a fine 104 and their partnership took the wind out of the Indian sails.

Stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist's 104 came off 109 balls, laced with 13 fours and three sixes. The Indian heads were dropping and they looked deflated as the Aussie duo sent the weary-looking Indian bowlers on the leather hunt and took the game away from the hosts, who at one stage had reduced the visitors to a shaky 149/4.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh making a comeback to the Test arena after a while put up a lion-hearted performance. The sardar from Jullundhar finally brought the Indian agony to an end when he prised out Gilchrist, taking a brilliant tumbling return catch. Harbhajan was thrilled to bits with that dismissal as he punched the air with joy even Gilchrist was striding back to the pavilion.

Harbhajan mopped up the Aussie tail as he dislodged Warne, Kaprowicz and McGrath in quick time, which not only hastened the end of the Australian innings but also enabled him to claim his 12th five-wicket haul. He finished with figures of 5/146.Australia were dismissed for a commanding 474.

India's star-studded batting line-up failed to apply themselves against a penetrative Aussie attack admirably led from the front by old warhorse Glenn McGrath. McGrath bowled a disciplined line and kept probing away on the corridor of uncertainty.

He stucked to the basics and provided the break thorough for the visitors when Akaash Chopra inexplicably offered no shot and was trapped in front for a duck.

Local lad Rahul Dravid also did not trouble the scorers. He was castled by McGrath with India staring down the barrel at 4/2.Virender Sehwag joined forces with skipper Sourav Ganguly and both set out to rebuild the innings. They seemed to have weathered the early Aussie storm and looked set for bigger knocks as they went about the job with a great deal of confidence and assurance.

The pair strung together a 83-run partnership for the third wicket and just when it looked that the duo have set their sights on a big stand, Kasprowicz, who got his reverse swing going to great effect, sent the Indian innings in tatters struck telling blows getting rid of Sehwag and Ganguly.

The Delhi Bomber tried to whip an incoming Kasprowicz delivery but only in succeeded in spooning a catch to Langer at mid-wicket. Sehwag made 39, studded with six boundaries.

The veteran Queenslander included in the eleven ahead of established tearaway Brett Lee, brought more joy for his teammates when he induced an edge from Ganguly to be caught behind by Gilchrist for an enterprising 45.

The left-hander hit six fours in his knock of 45.The fag-end of the second day's play saw a riveting battle between V V S Laxman and Shane Warne. Laxman took on the leggie, taking him for quite a few boundaries.

But it was Warne, who had the last laugh when he got one leg-break to fizz past him and knocked his off bail over. Laxman looked bemused with his dismissal probably stunned by the amount of turn the champion leggie extracted from the strip.