BRISBANE, NOV 26: The touring Indians' worst fears about the brittle lower half came true after VVS Laxman provided solidity to the middle order with a classy 113 (208b, 261m, 20x4) on the first day of their Australian tour opening match against Queensland on Friday.The Indians were 273 for nine at stumps, despite Laxman's strokeful 113 and two century stands - with opener Sadagoppan Ramesh (43) and skipper Sachin Tendulkar (83, 114b, 139m, 13x4). Laxman added 100 runs for the second wicket with Ramesh and 136 for the fourth wicket with Tendulkar. No one else, except for plucky T Kumaran (14 not out), entered double figures.The Indians scored their runs mainly in boundaries - 172 of their 273 runs coming in hits to the fence.The Indians could justifiably claim to have been at the receiving end on atleast three debatable dismissals - Rahul Dravid, MSK Prasad and Vijay Bharadwaj seemed to have been wrongly adjudged out - they still would be embarassed by on a wicket that had a fair bit ofgrass.Opener Devang Gandhi looked uncomfortable during his stay of 12 balls. He poked at deliveries outside the offstump and flailed at ones swinging down the legside.Laxman, the third opener chosen for the series, was 31 at lunch, 79 at tea before completing his hundred on resumption with a flurry of strokes against left-arm spinner Matthew Anderson.Ramesh played and missed and preferred to score with steers between slips. His first authentic stroke, an on-drive off Adam Dale to mid-wicket fence, was the shot of the morning and he looked good for many more in the afternoon when he jumped out to Anderson and was stumped by Wade Secombe.In the same over, Anderson earned a leg before verdict against Dravid from umpire Peter Parker. Dravid was lucky to be ruled not out by Parker when the first delivery he faced hit his bat and pad and ballooned up towards forward short leg. Wicketkeeper Secombe was delighted with his brilliant diving effort but Parker was unimpressed. But Parker ruled Dravid out tothe second ball, when the batsman was forward and attempting to drive.Incidentally, it was Parker who received a bad press after he failed to give Justin Langer out on the final day of the crucial Hobart Test against Pakistan a few days ago.Tendulkar cut the second ball he faced for four but then seemed listless, even disinterested with the proceedings, till the sight of Dale from the other end perked him up. He cut the medium-pacer for a fiercely hit four and then repeated the shot a few balls later.Tendulkar picked up Dale for three braces in his next over when the bowler, chastened by square cuts on the off-stump, shifted his line to the leg. As the bowler persisted with the line, Tendulkar once pulled and twice flicked him for three more fours.Tendulkar, on 44 at the break, went into overdrive against Muller after tea. He hit two gorgeous straight drives off the fast bowler. He was out making another attempt to drive Muller on the up and left a big gap in his defence.(PTI)ScoreboardIndia (1st innings): Devang Gandhi c Seccombe b Bichel 0, Sadagoppan Ramesh st Seccombe b Anderson 43, Venkata Sai Laxman c Foley b Muller 113, Rahul Dravid lbw Anderson 0, Sachin Tendulkar b Muller 83, Vijay Bharadwaj lbw b Symonds 5, MSK Prasad c Seccombe b Muller 0, Anil Kumble c Hayden b Symonds 5, Thiru Kumaran not out 14, Venkatesh Prasad c Seccombe b Bichel 1, Debashis Mohanty not out 4. Extras (lb 5): 5. Total (for nine wickets): 273Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-100, 3-100, 4-236, 5-245, 6-245, 7-249, 8-264, 9-265Bowling: Bichel 23-5-83-2, Dale 18-9-55-0, Muller 20-7-27-3, Anderson 21-4-81-2, Symonds 9-3-22-2.
