Zeenews Bureau
Melbourne, Dec 27: The opening pair of Matthew Hayden and Phil Jaques took the Australian lead to 179 runs without losing their wicket at the end of second day’s play at the MCG. It was a brilliant all-round show by the Australian squad as they outdid the visitors in all forms of the game. India on the other hand, did nothing right on the field and failed to capitalise on the little ray of hope given by the Tendulkar-Ganguly partnership.
The Indian reply to Australia’s 343 runs fizzled out at 196 runs with the only iota of resistance coming from veterans Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. The hosts went in the second innings with a lead of 147 runs.
Stuart Clark and Brett Lee were among the pick of the bowlers, picking up four wickets each. They were given solid support from the lone specialist spinner Brad Hogg, who picked up two wickets as well. Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee claimed the last wicket of the Indian innings as Zaheer Khan edged an outswinging delivery into the hands of Adam Gilchrist.
Lee claimed the wicket of Indian skipper Anil Kumble after he added 27 runs to the Indian scorecard. With the penultimate wicket gone, India’s disastrous day with the bat almost came to an end with Zaheer Khan and RP Singh being the only pair left. India were 192 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the last session of play.
Brad Hogg claimed his second scalp for the innings in Harbhajan Singh. He got out after scoring two runs as he lobbed an easy catch to Michael Clarke. India were 173 runs for the loss of eight wickets as Zaheer Khan came to the crease to proceed the innings with skipper Anil Kumble.
Prior to this, Hogg spun a vicious one to clean bowl the only resistance from the Indian batting line-up, Sourav Ganguly. The wicket spelled doom for India as they had just managed a paltry 166 runs for the loss of seven wickets. Ganguly departed after scoring 43 runs and his wicket brought the Indian tail-enders on the crease.
Australia’s pacer Stuart Clark made his presence felt in the MCG as he claimed his fourth victim of the day in the form of MS Dhoni. The batsman was rapped on the pads plumb in front of the wicket and was given out LBW for a duck. With the middle order of the batting gone for 122 runs, skipper Anil Kumble came in to bat after the fall of the sixth wicket.
Clark struck gold for the second time in successive overs as he got the prized scalp of the in-form batsman, Yuvraj Singh. The batsman was given out to a delivery that seemed to have caught the edge of his bat as it flew into the hands of the wicketkeeper, Adam Gilchrist. Indian scorecard at tea read a gloomy figure of 122 runs for the loss of five wickets. With half of the team bundled up, the umpires announced the end of the second session of play and Australia had attained an edge in a session of run scoring and wicket falling.
Clark claimed the all-important wicket of India’s master batsman Sachin Tendulkar at a juncture when the game seemed to be tilting in India’s favour. He mistimed an angling delivery and dragged it onto his off stump, getting him bowled out at a score of 62 runs. India were 120 runs for the loss of four wickets as southpaw Yuvraj Singh walked in to bat.
Tendulkar had slammed a brilliant half-century to bring stability to the turbulent proceedings after the initial loss of wickets. The support of Sourav Ganguly also proved to be vital in the Indian run chase and the two hit some cracking and well timed boundaries, creating a mosaic of runs for their team. They helped India cross the 100 run mark and avoid any further damage to the batting line-up.
Australia’s pace spearhead Brett Lee dug in a short one to get VVS Laxman off guard and the batsman lobbed a catch to Ricky Ponting. He departed after scoring 26 runs and India were 55 runs for the loss of three crucial wickets. Sourav Ganguly was the new batsman on the crease with Lee steaming in to deliver for his team.
The experienced duo of Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman had anchored the Indian innings after the early dismissal of the openers. They milked the disciplined Australian bowling and took the Indian total past fifty runs in the 30th over.
Stuart Clark claimed the wicket of Rahul Dravid just before lunch on the second day of the first Test match in Melbourne. The batsman looked tentative from the beginning of his innings as he took 40 balls to score his first runs. He got out after scoring 6 runs and India’s scorecard read 31 runs for the loss of two wickets at lunch.
Brett Lee made the first breakthrough for his team as he claimed the wicket of Wasim Jaffer. The batsman edged a beautiful outswinger and the ball flew into the hands of the wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, resulting in his departure at a score of four runs. India were 4 runs for the loss of a wicket as VVS Laxman walked in to bat.
The Indian innings started off on a positive note with the openers Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer throwing caution to the winds. They tried to set themselves in, as the Australian pacers were generating pace and movement off the pitch. The first seven overs yielded 7 runs with Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson bowling in tandem.
The Indian bowlers earlier wrapped up Australian innings with Zaheer Khan picking up the last wicket of Stuart Clark. Harbhajan Singh caught the batsman at a score of 21 runs as Australia were bundled after making a good first innings total of 343 runs.
