Field-flops help Oz prosper

Home advantage was advertised in ample measure at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, but the Australians continued to control proceedings. An...

Home advantage was advertised in ample measure at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, but the Australians continued to control proceedings. And the Indians’ ground fielding didn’t help their cause much, three relatively simple chances going down to help the Aussies march towards their 99-run first innings lead.

India’s Opening pair — Delhiites Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir — were the big culprits. Gambhir grassed a regulation catch at silly point off Martyn. After the let-off at 11 off Murali Kartik, Martyn went on to compile 55.

Gambhir was promptly replaced by Mohammed Kaif, who repaid skipper Rahul Dravid’s faith in him by snapping up four catches. It might have been five, if the sharp chance off Adam Gilchrist had stuck.

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Sehwag’s first drop was off a top-edged sweep by Justin Langer off Harbhajan Singh at deep midwicket. It wasn’t a straightforward chance and Sehwag had to cover some ground to reach it. But having made the ball, an experienced Test match player like Sehwag should have held on.

The drop probably dented Sehwag’s confidence, as he went on to drop a sitter, again at deep midwicket. Harbhajan was the bowler to suffer again, the beneficiary this time being Michael Clarke.

Luckily for India and Sehwag, neither batsmen hung around for too many after he gave them the chances. But Sehwag continued his poor show on the field, helping the Aussies with a series of wild throws, some of which went for overthrows.

Though Kartik, the one to suffer at the hands of Gambhir, came out in support of his mates later on, saying ‘‘sometimes you have a bad day’’, fact remains that at the test level, these chances should stick, chances that often turn a match around.