Indian candle flickers too briefly before Australian bowlers snuff it out to complete innings victory & 2-0 series lead

Australia 4/659 dec def India 191 & 400 (110.5 ov, Gambhir 83, Tendulkar 80, Laxman 66, Ashwin 62, Hilfenhaus 5/106) by an innings & 68 runs: T2/4 D4/5 at the SCG. Australia lead series 2-0.

India made a better fist of batting in their second innings but only when Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman were at the wicket  did they look like making Australia bat again. At least one, and preferably two of the three should have made a century, but none did. In fact the only centuries registered were by the bowlers Ben Hilfenhaus,  a worthy 5/106, and James Pattinson 1/106.

Gambhir fell at 162 for 83/142b (11x4), then Tendulkar and Laxman added 103 before Michael Clarke sealed (as if there were any doubt anyway) the Man of the Match award by having Sachin caught at slip for a stylish yet in the circumstances (not only of the closeness to 100 centuries) 80/141b (9x4). Laxman left three runs later bowled by Hilfenhaus for 66/119b (7x4), after which R Ashwin 62/76b (1x6, 9x4)  and Zaheer Khan 35/ 26 b (1x6, 5x4) hit out in a forlorn quest for victory.

So Australia can't lose the series. Can India regroup enough to win one match let alone level the series? They should be able to claw back one Test if they perform anywhere near  their collective and individual reputations (and Australia eases off a bit). But level the series? Doubtful.






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Clarke's triple century + Hussey's 150* dominate India T2D3

India 191& 2/114 (41ov) trail Australia 4/659 dec (163ov, Clarke 329*, Hussey 150*, Ponting 134, Zaheer Khan 3/122) by 354 runs with 8 second inings wickets in hand: T2/4 D3/5 at the SCG.

Michael Clarke's unbeaten 329/468b (1x6, 39x4) quite rightly defined the today's play. It was the highest individual score made by an Australian in a Test at the SCG and, had he chosen to bat on for a few minutes, Clarke would almost certainly have overtaken the current record highest score ever made by Australians: 334 by Don Bradman and Mark Taylor.

But he didn't, and for what it's worth I think he should have. this was a genuine match situation - remember he came to the wicket at 3/37-  and his innings was played against a good (on paper at least) attack whose deficiencies he today continued to expose. Yes conditions - good weather, good pitch - favoured batting, but the concentration required to maintain focus and to play so many effective strokes all round the wicket (check out his wagon wheel ) made this innings one of the greatest ever played in Test cricket.

Then of course there was Mike Hussey, who with Clarke added 334*  for the fifth wicket, meaning that after the initial wobble Australia added 1/622 (reminiscent of England's 1/517 dec against them at Brisbane  in 2010)
The declaration came when Hussey reached his 150/253b (1x6, 16x4). He looked positive throughout but especially in the latter stages of the partnership played second fiddle to Clarke's brilliance. But it was a quality second fiddle.

And India? Once again the bowling lacked penetration, partly because of its own deficiencies (pace bowlers dropping in pace and not being able to move the ball much, main spinner not as accurate or resourceful as he might have been) and partly because of the brilliance of the Australian batting. The fielding, too, was pretty listless.

So far the Indian batting hasn't fallen apart in its second innings, despite the loss of two of the big four: Virender Sehwag for 4 and, when he seemed to be living up to his "wall" soubriquet, Rahul Dravid for 29/73b (6x4), both Ben Hilfenhaus vicitm.  Gautam Gambhir is holding things together with a sometimes flashy 64*/124b (9x4). He's been dropped once by Brad Haddin off James Pattinson (who needs to moderate his appealing, which often shades into dissent) so will need to ride his luck, as will Sachin Tendulkar who came within a whisker of playing on during his 8*/42b (1x4), if India are to have any hope of making a contest of the Test. It's hard to imagine them doing so.

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Ponting & Clarke tear Indian attack to shreds T2D2

Australia 4/482 (116 ov, Clarke 251*, Ponting 134, Hussey 55*, Zaheer Khan 3/106) lead India 191 by 291 runs with 6 first innings wickets in hand: T2/4 D2/5 at SCG.

Test cricket days don't come much more one sided than this one (though South Africa v Sri Lanka T3 D1 overnight at Cape Town isn't far behind) . Australia lost 1/366: the one being Ricky Ponting who moved steadily, apart from an enforced pause on 97 at lunch, to his century and beyond. The bare facts of his innings -134/225b (14x4) - should be enough to silence those who've been calling for his sacking for not registering a ton for two years. The manner in which he made his runs reiterated his class and showed that he still has more to give Australian Test cricket on the playing field.

Yet in the context of the match Michael Clarke's innings was even more significant: 251*/342b (1x6, 31x4) to date. After Ponting was out at 325, caught at point off one of his few false strokes, Clarke kept the pressure on the Indian bowlers, who were unable to keep him and Mike Hussey in check as they motored on, adding 157 so far. Hussey was, as the situation required, brisk from the outset, reaching 55/97b (1x6, 7x4) by stumps.
Clarke's innings was imperious: he was dropped once, well after he'd passed three figures, when Ishant Sharma couldn't hold a hard return catch, but otherwise he played impeccably, stroking the loose and some not so loose balls hard, and all around the ground. Check out his  wagon wheel .

The less said about the Indian bowling the better. Yes, conditions didn't favour (or appear to favour) them as much as they did the Australians on D1, and they generally stuck to their task, but they were collectively and individually unable to trouble the batters more than intermittently, with long intervals in between good, as opposed to steady, balls.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, Australia should  bat India out of the Test.Today the initial focus was on  Ponting, tomorrow it will be on Clarke.

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Another bowlers' day as India collapse again T2D1

Australia 3/116 (26 ov, Clarke 47*, Ponting 44*, Zaheer Khan 3/26) trail India 191 (59.3 ov, Dhoni 57*, Tendulkar 41, Pattinson 4/43, Hilfenhaus 3/51, Siddle 3/55) by 75 runs with 7 1st innings wickets in hand: T2/4 D1/5 at SCG. 




After India won the toss and batted, the 100th Test match played at the SCG began with a wicket off the third ball, Gautam Gambhir, caught at slip for a duck off James Pattinson. Things didn't improve much for India from that point as the Australian pace bowlers found the life in the wicket which had been widely predicted, not least by the curator, and exploited it effectively.

 Of India's big four only Sachin Tendulkar really looked like justifying his reputation. From the outset he timed the ball sweetly, and looked a cut (or drive) above his teammates. When Virat Kohli (batting at 6 but definitely not one of the big four) was fifth out at 96, Sachin was 32 and it seemed for a time as if the Australian cricket follower's dream  - the Little Master's much anticipated 100th century and a small Indian total - might come true.

But it , or at least the first part, didn't as Tendulkar unexpectedly and perhaps a tad loosely, edged Pattinson onto his stumps. His 41/89b (8x4) was both the classiest and, because of the anticipation we all shared and the fact that he got a start, the most disappointing innings of the day.

It was left to M S Dhoni and R Ashwin to try to salvage what they could, which turned out to be a 54 run 8th wicket partnership before Ben Hilfenhaus, who until then had bowled menacingly but wicketless, and Peter Siddle swept through the last four leaving Dhoni high and dry 57*/77b (8x4).

Pattinson took 4/43 from 14 overs, Hilfenhaus 3/51 from 22 and Siddle 3/55 from 13.3. They look a very formidable combination at the moment  - the last two a far cry from a year ago.

191 was unlikely to be enough unless India's bowlers emulated Australia's, which they - or to be precise Zaheer Khan 9-2-26-3 to date - briefly did as the home batting once again wobbled in the face of some excellent and intelligent bowling from Zaheer.  Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma had their moments though were unable to dismiss an initially watchful and latterly fluent Ricky Ponting 44*/62b (5x4) and a belligerent from the outset Michael Clarke 47*/59b (7x4).

They day ended with Ashwin and Virender Sehwag bowling to defensive fields which helped Ponting and Clarke to milk a few easy runs. They have added 79 together and have surely put Australia on track to at least a modest first innings lead. 



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A couple of other matters

• Don Bradman scored his 100th century for an Australian XI against India at the SCG in 1947. Channel 9 showed some old footage (which I've not been able to find on YouTube after a brief search) of the great man actually bringing up that ton - dispatching a slow full toss bowled (I've read elsewhere) by an occasional bowler who didn't even remove his cap. Most interesting.

• Before play began yet another redevelopment of the SCG was announced. At $185 million it compares favourably with the much larger estimates ($500m+ and still counting) for the Adelaide Oval. The SCG proposal is not for a full redevelopment, but then neither is the Adelaide Oval one. I was interested to hear someone (perhaps Rodney Cavalier  of the SCG Trust?) say on ABC radio Grandstand that the trend in the USA is for smaller capacity (35,000 or so) sports arenas. Adelaide Oval can already (and did in 2010 for the Ashes Test) hold more than that. Will it ever need to hold more than it does now?

Indian batting exposed as paper tiger by Australian pace attack. Australia go 1-0 up.T1D4

Australia 333 & 240 ( 76.3ov, Hussey 89, Ponting 60,Pattinson 37*, Yadav 4/70, Zaheer Khan  3/53) def India 282 & 169 (47.5 ov, Tendulkar 32, Ashwin 30, Pattinson 4/53, Siddle 3/42) by 122 runs: T1/4 D4/5 at the MCG. Australia lead series 1-0 with 3 matches to play.

Today only 12 wickets fell for 230 runs compared to yesterday's 15/247. Australia, mostly through the tail after Mike Hussey added only 10 and was dismissed for 89/ 151b (9x4) added 2/61 whereas India's strong (if only on paper)  batting failed in the face of an always persistent and mostly hostile Australian pace attack: James Pattinson augmented his second innings 37*  with 4/53, Peter Siddle 3/42 kept chipping away (and at times lifted his pace) while Ben Hilfenhaus 2/39 from 18 overs never looked far away from taking a wicket. 

I didn't expect this result, or at least the margin of victory. First thoughts are that it was the bowling of both sides which kept them in with a chance...until this afternoon's Indian meltdown, when Hilfenhaus, Siddle and Pattinson together trumped, or were permitted by India's batting lineup, to  trump Umesh Yadav, Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma.

In truth the result exaggerated the difference between the two teams, which means that we can hope for a more .even sided contest at Sydney inthe new year.

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15/247 - Bowlers' day sets up Test for tight finish T1D3

Australia 333 & 8/179 (60 ov, Hussey 79*, Ponting 60, Yadav 4/49) lead India 282 (94.1ov, Tendulkar 73, Dravid 68, Sehwag 67, Hilfenhaus 5/75, Siddle 3/63) by 230 runs with 2 second innings wickets in hand: T1/4 D3/5 at the MCG.

Today 15 wickets fell for 247 as both India and Australia bowled well and, with some honourable exceptions, batted poorly. The unravelling began when, with the second ball of the day,  Ben Hilfenhaus bowled Rahul Dravid for 68/187b (6x4) and ended with Mike Hussey desperately trying, with mixed success,  to add a few more runs with the Australian tail to set India a challenging fourth innings target.

Hilfenhaus, restored to the Test eleven after his Ashes disappointments, bowled with his heart and head in sync, deservedly finishing the innings with his best Test figures 26-5-75-5.

Then the Indian pace attack, led by Umesh Yadav, an outstanding 15-3-49-4, wiped whatever smiles there may have been off Australian faces by scything through the top order. 4/27 looked like Cape Town redux but the two old (and written off by many - even I was wondering whether it was time for Mr Cricket to be shown the door) stagers Ricky Ponting 60/97b ( only 3x4 on the slow MCG outfield) and Hussey 79*/134 (7x4) gave the home team a modicum of respectability: a lead of 230. Whether that will be enough to squeeze out a victory will depend on the bowling, not to mention the Indian batting. 

No more predictions from me for now, though. I've made too many dud ones lately so will just be happy - well tense - to watch the struggle continue (and a result probably achieved) tomorrow.

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India move towards lead despite loss of Sachin T1D2

India 214/3 (65.0 ov, Tendulkar 73, Dravid 68*, Sehwag 67) trail Australia 333 (110ov, Cowan 68, Ponting 62, Siddle 41, Zaheer Khan 4/77, Ashwin 3/81, Yadav 3/106)  by 119 runs with 7 first innings wickets in hand; T1/4 D2/5 at the MCG.

Had Sachin Tendulkar held on until stumps instead of playing on to Peter Siddle for a feisty 73/98b (1x6, 8x4) India would hold the whip, rather than the upper, hand . At 3/214 with Rahul Dravid. a solidly elegant  68*/185 (6x4) still at the crease and looking good they are on course to take a first innings lead over Australia.

Dravid took a back seat as Virender Sehwag, who doesn't seem to hang around much beyond 50 these days, raced to 67/83b (7x4) in his typical style before Tendulkar continued in similar, by his standards more short form, vein. The Australian attack persevered and was a little unlucky: a catch or two was almost taken while Siddle bowled Dravid off what the replay showed was - just - a no ball. Siddle, whose 41/99b (4x4) had in the first session led the tailend batting revival which saw Australia post a respectable (albeit at the lower end of the respectability spectrum)  333, persisted and eventually got his man. I wonder whether Sachin was, like some commentators, already looking forward to tomorrow.

Well, after 50,000 today and the great man gone, tomorrow's crowd is likely to be much smaller, even though Dravid's - and perhaps VVS Laxman's - batting should appeal to the connoisseurs. If the Australian attack can rise above steady persistence then there may be something for the connoiseurs of bowling too.

With fine weather forecast for the remaining three days of the Test, a result looks likely.

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