First of all I, your intrepid cricket correspondent, wish to apologise for not reviewing the last test. Unfortunately computer problems, work commitments and sick children conspired to hamper all of my efforts.
What a fantastic win to India though in Perth. For too long has the cricket world come to expect Australia to keep winning and winning and finally we lost. Lost to a better side. The Indian side on display in this match was a far cry from the one that lost in Melbourne and Sydney, showing true determination with both bat and ball to make Australia pay for any and every error.
The inclusion of Shaun Tait was supposed to help Australia dominate the Indian batsmen but only served to provide fodder for the likes of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman. Australia will play Brad Hogg this test though in order to not rely on part time spinners Symonds and Clarke so much to break the monotony and hurry the over rate.
Ponting will no doubt feel comfortable using his spearhead, Brett lee, more in this test safe in the knowledge that the over rate should not be as slow.
The other major difference of course is the return of Matthew Hayden. The openers in Perth was vastly inexperienced, Rogers on debut and Jacques in only his 7th test. Matthew Hayden has 93 and is well regarded as the best and most consistent opener in the game.
Over the last five years it would seem Australia always does well when Hayden does well. That’s not to say he needs to score 100 for them to feel comfortable, nor even 50. If either of the young openers (preferably both) had been able to knock out 30 - 40 runs in either innings it would have settled any jitters in the top of the order and allowed Ponting, Hussey & co a little breathing space to get a decent innings established.
So off we go to Adelaide where these teams have met on 8 previous occasions with the home side claiming 5 victories and losing once. That loss to India was on their last tour here in 2003/04. Hayden, Ponting and Gilchrist are the only remaining Australians that played in that match. Returning for India are Laxman, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Pathan and Kumble. This could be another Indian win.
Regardless, it will be a fantastic, let’s hope tight and hard fought, game of test match cricket.
Score card of previous Australia vs India Adelaide test
2003-2004 Australia v India - 2nd Test
Adelaide Oval (12/12/2003) |
| |
| Toss: |
Australia |
|
| Result: |
India Won by 4 Wickets |
| Man of Match: |
R Dravid |
| |
|
| Australia (1st Innings) |
R |
BF |
4 |
6 |
| J L Langer |
c Sehwag b Kumble |
58 |
72 |
7 |
2 |
| M L Hayden |
c Patel b Pathan |
12 |
15 |
2 |
0 |
| R T Ponting |
c Dravid b Kumble |
242 |
352 |
31 |
0 |
| D R Martyn |
c Laxman b Nehra |
30 |
39 |
6 |
0 |
| S R Waugh (c) |
b Nehra |
30 |
53 |
5 |
0 |
| S M Katich |
c Sehwag b Agarkar |
75 |
109 |
9 |
1 |
| A C Gilchrist (k) |
c Sehwag b Agarkar |
29 |
24 |
4 |
0 |
| A J Bichel |
c Chopra b Kumble |
19 |
45 |
2 |
0 |
| J N Gillespie |
not out |
48 |
53 |
6 |
0 |
| B A Williams |
b Kumble |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| S C G MacGill |
lbw b Kumble |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Extras |
(b 1, lb 7, w 1, nb 4) |
13 |
|
| Total |
All Out |
556 |
|
| |
127.0 overs @ 4.38 rpo |
| |
| FoW |
| 1-22 |
Hayden |
2-135 |
Langer |
| 3-200 |
Martyn |
4-252 |
Waugh |
| 5-390 |
Katich |
6-426 |
Gilchrist |
| 7-473 |
Bichel |
8-556 |
Ponting |
| 9-556 |
Williams |
10-556 |
MacGill |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| India (1st Innings) |
R |
BF |
4 |
6 |
| A Chopra |
c & b Bichel |
27 |
44 |
3 |
0 |
| V Sehwag |
c Hayden b Bichel |
47 |
41 |
6 |
0 |
| R Dravid |
c Bichel b Gillespie |
233 |
446 |
23 |
1 |
| S R Tendulkar |
c Gilchrist b Bichel |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
| S C Ganguly (c) |
run out |
2 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
| V V S Laxman |
c Gilchrist b Bichel |
148 |
282 |
18 |
0 |
| P A Patel (k) |
c Ponting b Katich |
31 |
52 |
6 |
0 |
| A B Agarkar |
c MacGill b Katich |
11 |
30 |
1 |
0 |
| A Kumble |
lbw b MacGill |
12 |
44 |
1 |
0 |
| I K Pathan |
c & b MacGill |
1 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
| A Nehra |
not out |
0 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
| Extras |
(b 4, lb 2, w 2, nb 2) |
10 |
|
| Total |
All Out |
523 |
|
| |
161.5 overs @ 3.23 rpo |
| |
| FoW |
| 1-66 |
Chopra |
2-81 |
Sehwag |
| 3-83 |
Tendulkar |
4-85 |
Ganguly |
| 5-388 |
Laxman |
6-447 |
Patel |
| 7-469 |
Agarkar |
8-510 |
Kumble |
| 9-518 |
Pathan |
10-523 |
Dravid |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| Australia (2nd Innings) |
R |
BF |
4 |
6 |
| J L Langer |
lbw b Agarkar |
10 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
| M L Hayden |
c Sehwag b Nehra |
17 |
32 |
0 |
0 |
| R T Ponting |
c Chopra b Agarkar |
0 |
17 |
0 |
0 |
| D R Martyn |
c Dravid b Tendulkar |
38 |
76 |
4 |
0 |
| S R Waugh (c) |
c Dravid b Tendulkar |
42 |
65 |
8 |
0 |
| S M Katich |
c Nehra b Agarkar |
31 |
58 |
1 |
0 |
| A C Gilchrist (k) |
b Kumble |
43 |
45 |
4 |
2 |
| A J Bichel |
b Agarkar |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
| J N Gillespie |
c Patel b Agarkar |
3 |
19 |
0 |
0 |
| B A Williams |
not out |
4 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
| S C G MacGill |
b Agarkar |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| Extras |
(b 2, lb 2, w 1, nb 1) |
6 |
|
| Total |
All Out |
196 |
|
| |
56.2 overs @ 3.48 rpo |
| |
| FoW |
| 1-10 |
Langer |
2-18 |
Ponting |
| 3-44 |
Hayden |
4-109 |
Martyn |
| 5-112 |
Waugh |
6-183 |
Gilchrist |
| 7-184 |
Bichel |
8-188 |
Katich |
| 9-192 |
Gillespie |
10-196 |
MacGill |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| India (2nd Innings) |
R |
BF |
4 |
6 |
| A Chopra |
lbw b Gillespie |
20 |
54 |
2 |
0 |
| V Sehwag |
st Gilchrist b MacGill |
47 |
81 |
7 |
0 |
| R Dravid |
not out |
72 |
170 |
7 |
0 |
| S R Tendulkar |
lbw b MacGill |
37 |
59 |
5 |
0 |
| S C Ganguly (c) |
c Katich b Bichel |
12 |
22 |
1 |
0 |
| V V S Laxman |
c Bichel b Katich |
32 |
34 |
6 |
0 |
| P A Patel (k) |
b Katich |
3 |
16 |
0 |
0 |
| A B Agarkar |
not out |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| A Kumble |
|
|
|
|
|
| I K Pathan |
|
|
|
|
|
| A Nehra |
|
|
|
|
|
| Extras |
(b 3, lb 6, w 1) |
10 |
|
| Total |
6 wickets |
233 |
|
| |
72.4 overs @ 3.21 rpo |
| |
| FoW |
| 1-48 |
Chopra |
2-79 |
Sehwag |
| 3-149 |
Tendulkar |
4-170 |
Ganguly |
| 5-221 |
Laxman |
6-229 |
Patel |
| 7- |
|
8- |
|
| 9- |
|
10- |
|
|
| |
|
|
India win the toss and Kumble elects to bat.
PATHAN to open the batting.
Pathan has twice opened the batting for scores of 93 (vs Sri Lanka in 2005) and 6 (vs England in 2006)
Hey Brad, looking forward to this… mind if we ‘discuss’ stuff as it happens in here?
Hell… Pathan opening? That’s a surprise…
Surprised me that’s for sure. Just what they need though really because he’ll play his shots unlike Jaffer.
0/33 after 6 overs. Looks like it was a good move.
Pathan dismissed for 9. India 1/34.
Johnson strikes.
Indeed… maybe that was a mistake having him open, one based solely on his night-watchman performance at the WACA.
A bit more pressure when opening. You are expected to score more runs than that. Mind you, he stuck around long enough to take some shine off the ball and let Sehwag “get in”. Easier now for Dravid to build an innings with runs on the board.
Just when India looked comfortable, Johnson picks up Dravid for 18.
Sehwag looks good though.
2/82
Massive roar from the Adelaide crowd as Tendulkar enters the field.
Wickets falling when needed…
Well, we need Sehwag’s wicket, and soon. He does look good, and sitting pretty on 56.
Tendulkar’s very popular in Australia, huh?
ABC local radio (ie in Australian country areas) interrupted its coverage at midday for the usual “country hour” show. Listeners are complaining like hell, but they always do it. Now they’ve got the tennis on! Can’t watch the cricket on TV while I’m outside working so your updates are valuable. What’s the score @ lunch?
Ray, it’s 2/89 at lunch. Tendulkar 0 and sehwag 56.
Johnson’s taken 2/33 from 11 overs.
Where abouts are you?
Tendulkar has just belted Johnson for 3 successive boundaries. His first one brought up India’s 100.
Bright, northeast Victoria, near the mountains. Bright’s a popular holiday town but it’s also hillbilly country.
It’s back on the radio and it sounds like Tendulkar might be in for a big one. Gotta get him out.
We need to yeah but it’s a shame. He is great to watch.
You think Bright is hillbilly country, I’m in Rockhampton, the beef capital of Australia - and there’s a flood coming.
Lee’s finally got Sehwag, playing wide, for 63.
3/122
150 is up for India.
I think we are in for a master class from the little master.
GAH! Internet was down for a while, but back now!
Hi Ray…
Hogg gets Ganguly for 7. LBW to a ball straightening to hit middle and off.
4/156
COLLAPSE??
India 163/4
No. They only do that in their second innings.
Aaaah… well, I can live in hope, can I not?
Still, I guess a lot of our supposed ‘top-notch’ batsmen did a lot of their own folding last test, huh?
Top-notch?
Jaques and that joke Rogers?
Forgot to mention Tendulkar’s 50. Well played.
Indeed… tongue-firmly-in-cheek for the ‘top notch’ comment.
India 184/4… are you watching or listening Brad?
TV is on in the office.
4/187 at tea
Damn… nice.
Relying on Cricinfo commentary here…
200 up for India
4/204
Tendulkar 66
Laxman 22
Damnit… Tendulkar’s wicket is a necessity!
What’s the pitch like Brad? Is it a batsman’s wicket?
Should be. Little bit green this morning. Still looks like it’s pretty even bounce.
Tendulkar, two beautiful shots straight back down the ground. The first 6, the second 4.
Hmmm… when he starts feeling confident and swinging the bat… ouch.
Big score in the making?
Laxman on 37 dropped by Gilchrist off Lee. ball left him late and was buried deep in the keepers gloves but somehow came out again.
He’s dropping a lot lately. Footwork was appalling.
They’ll get 450 - 500 I think Don. Especially now Laxman’s been given a life.
Magnificent. Tendulkar’s century brought up in 133 balls. Told you it’d be a master class.
And there’s Tendulkar’s century.
Hats off to Sachin… guy’s one helluva player.
50 to Laxman off 94. Aussies regretting Gilchrist’s dropped catch.
Hello… its me again… as a not-so-die-hard Indian fan, I beg for forgiveness given that I didnot remember that the fourth test was today… hence missed most of it…
generally I do manage to watch a little on telly before coming to office… but today the only delivery I saw was when Ganguly was out… Hogg foxed him…
Tendulkar’s century… well… he has played very aggressively from what I gather… It has been a long time since he hit a six… all accolades for this dude… he is one of a kind…. ‘Sir’ Sachin any one????
And Laxman got to his 50 too…
I just pray that these two carry on for a long long time… they are the last recognized pair of Test batsmen out there (my thoughts)… I do not count Dhoni… cause he has not dazzled with the bat of late…
We need a BIG score…
It’s day one Perth revisited except India are doing better.
PS: are they hillbillies in Rockhampton or just straight out rednecks? There’s a difference, hillbillies don’t have political views - because they can’t read!
Laxman gone. Slightly short pitched and he tried to avoid it. It stayed down though and took his glove. A sitter for Gilchrist and Laxman walks for 51.
5/282
Nice stuff… excellent work Gilly, a lil’ bit of redemption.
Hopefully this’ll slow Tendulkar down a lil’…
And welcome back Kapsii…
Fair enough Ray. Rednecks it is then in Rocky.
Crap… Laxman out… I have a gut feeling that Aussies may send Hayden back to the pavillion to get padded up and get ready to rush out…
I think Dhoni and Sachin can see them through to stumps.
I sincerely hope so…
I’m vacating my spot in the commentary box. See you all tomorrow.
Here comes the new ball…
They didnt take the new ball!!!!!!!!!!!!! and hayden drops a sitter??? what has the world come to??????
G’damnit… Hayden dropped Dhoni…
Thanks Brad… Test is yours to start each day tho’!
India 306/5
Tendulkar on 122, Dhoni 5
Headed for an excellent first inning’s tally.
all in all a good day in office for the Indian cricketers… hope the same for everyone who was here… catch you all later…
Stumps… 309/5
C’ya tomorrow…
what do you think a good total is for this pitch on a first innings, are they there yet or is 500 more like it?