Indians let it slip as Lee, Clark dominate

was evident when they were forced to bowl another eight towards the day’s end as Australia raked up 32 without loss, taking their overall lead to 179. In between, India were shot out for a meagre 196, managing to last 327 minutes and 71.5 overs in their first innings, with Brett Lee and Stuart Clark dividing eight wickets equally. Lee was quick outright, bowling in the range of 145 to 150 kmph and pitching short and completely full length while Clark was just over 132 in the pace bracket and was content with pitching at one length and getting the ball to move in to the right-hander with some reverse-swing.

Starting from a position of strength, Team India may now have to look for ways to save the match. None of the batsmen fell because of the suggestive ‘tricky wicket’. It was, however, a bit slow. India’s suggested strength remained on paper as they all fell to injudicious shot-selection and lack of application and patience to remain at the crease. One who did show patience developed another set of problems.

Dravid, the makeshift opener here, struggled to stay put at the crease, and he struggled to score as well— taking his first run off the 41st ball, and was twice lucky to have remained at the crease to do so. Dravid was dropped by Phil Jaques at first gully off Mitchell Johnson and then Johnson was himself guilty of having bowled a no-ball when Matthew Hayden had taken a catch at first slip. Dravid struggled to identify which way the ball moved, surprisingly hung his bat outside off and, without denying credit to Lee and Johnson, perhaps was too guilty of just trying to survive somehow rather than try to rotate the strike with soft hands in that painful 98 minutes before he was trapped leg before to Clark for 5 from 66 balls.

The only way Dravid would continue to open is if he scored runs—that didn’t happen. The only other way to make it happen was if Yuvraj scored some at number six. That didn’t happen either. Yuvraj stayed longer to mourn his fourth Test duck than his countable minutes at the crease. Dravid’s dismissal signaled lunch two balls earlier than the actual time, Yuvraj repeated the same at tea, and in between that exact second session, India lost two main men in very disappointing fashion.

VVS Laxman’s graceful innings of 26 at one-drop met an ugly end when Lee pumped in a short one that jagged back quite a distance and took the glove of Laxman, felling him as he looked to evade the line. Sachin Tendulkar, who walked in at 32/2 after Wasim Jaffer and Dravid had fallen early, looked in sublime form in his 62. Tendulkar circumvented his batting from others who soaked the pressure applied by the Australian bowlers and went out to play his shots. He managed to roll Brad Hogg past the long sides of the MCG thrice and once took the aerial route.

Though Laxman was dismissed soon after the first break, Tendulkar and next man Sourav Ganguly carried on to provide some hope against despair as they made light of the Australian attack, raising their fifty-partnership in just 55 minutes and 65 balls against the semi-new ball and upping the run-rate to a respectable Test rate that was flickering just over 1 per over.

Tendulkar played an upper-cut shot to Johnson before concentrating on Hogg to reach his half-century in 57 balls with seven fours and that six. Just when the 65-run partnership looked good, Clark came running in, pitched wide outside off and Tendulkar, trying to smash it through square, chopped it down on to his stumps a delivery that didn’t quite come the way he had anticipated.

Australia had found an opening, and India realised it was the turning point of the game, as Clark culled out three more in his second spell of 8-2-15-3 by removing Yuvraj and Dhoni within a space of three balls spanning before and after tea. India had lost three wickets for two runs and thereafter all was futile.

Ganguly tried to be defiant in his 43, stepping out to Hogg and playing the seamers on the front foot but he misjudged a flipper from Hogg to leave his stumps in disarray. Lee came back for his third spell but had to wait a wee bit before umpire Billy Bowden gave skipper Anil Kumble—who showed the way to his team with the bat too with his 27 from 76 balls —out caught behind to him and allow his entry into the 250-wicket club. He added Zaheer as his fourth to end it all for the tourists.

India had wasted a great opportunity on hands with the bat and they came back to bowl badly. A lot of introspection will take place before Day Three begins. India need to bowl Australia out as quickly as possible and then get chasing. It looks like the same old story Down Under, but for the optimists, it has fluctuated from one good day to one bad day. Maybe another good day is waiting now.

Scoreboard

Australia, 1st Innings

(overnight: 337/9)

M Johnson not out 15

S Clark c Singh b Khan 21

Extras (5lb,2w,9nb) 16

Total: (all out, 92.4 overs) 343

Fall of wickets: 1-135, 2-142, 3-165, 4-225, 5-241, 6-281, 7-288, 8-294, 9-312

Bowling: Zaheer 23.4-1-94-4, RP Singh 20-3-82-1, Harbhajan 20-3-61-0, Ganguly 3-1-15-0, Kumble 25-4-84-5, Tendulkar 1-0-2-0

India, 1st Innings

W Jaffer c Gilchrist b Lee 4

R Dravid lbw b Clark 5

VVS Laxman c Ponting b Lee 26

S Tendulkar b Clark 62

S Ganguly b Hogg 43

Yuvraj Singh c Gilchrist b Clark 0

MS Dhoni lbw b Clark 0

A Kumble c Gilchrist b Lee 27

Harbhajan c Clarke b Hogg 2

Z Khan c Gilchrist b Lee 11

RP Singh not out 2

Extras: (4b,3lb,7nb) 14

Total: (all out, 71.5 overs) 196

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-31, 3-55, 4-120, 5-122, 6-122, 7-166, 8-173, 9-193

Bowling: Lee 19.5-6-46-4, Johnson 13-5-25-0, Symonds 3-1-8-0, S Clark 15-4-28-4, B Hogg 21-3-82-2

Australia, 2nd Innings

P Jaques batting 10

M Hayden batting 22

Extras: 0

Total (no loss, 8 overs) 32

Bowling: Zaheer 4-1-17-0, RP Singh 3-1-15-0, Kumble 1-1-0-0