Put in to bat by Australia, Indians were not supposed to put up much of a fight given the greenness of the track. The pitch was helpful for the bowlers indeed but not a minefield they made it out to be. For
second in 3 days a subcontinental team batted poorly on a pitch that offered some assistance to the
bowlers. Sehwag was out for a duck and Dravid managed to nudge a widish yorker on to the stumps.
Sachin played some beautiful shots before getting trapped on the move again. Gambhir looked resolute
before failing to leave one outside the off stump. Kohli and VVS looked like pulling India out of the rut
before Kohli scooped one to point and VVS edged one soon after. After that it was a mere procession as
India was bowled out for 161. Hilfenhaus picked up 4 while Siddle claimed 3. Now that it was Indians’
turn to bowl we expected Australians to struggle similarly. But the Warner tore in the undisciplined
Indian attack to smash the 4th fastest Test century off just 69 balls as Australia ended the day at 149/0 in
just 23 overs.
Day 2: The day started on a better note for India as the bowlers managed to slow the scoring down by bowling a better line and length but the breakthrough still eluded them. First real chance of the day came off Zaheer but Kohli dropped a fairly easy catch to let Warner off. It took a brilliant spell by Umesh Yadav
to turn the things around. First he made Cowan attempt a drive and edge it on to the stumps and then
he had Marsh edging one to Laxman. It got even better as he had Ponting playing all over a full one as
Australia slumped to 242/3. Warner went on to register his 150 before Ishant finally won the battle
having caught down the ground. Zak returned to bowl an inspired spell getting both Clarke and Haddin
caught behind and at 303/6 India was back in the match. But the tail wagged a little and by the time
Yadav picked up a fifer Australia had put up 369. India had to see off the last session of the day to be in
a good position. Starting off208 runs behind, Indian openers tried to stay around, eschewing risks and
playing safe, But they built pressure upon themselves and when Starc bowled a jaffa to Gambhir he
could do nothing but fend it off to gully. Siddle came on to end another forgettable Sehwag knock for 7
and when Starc had Sachin caught in front of the stumps, India were in dire straits. Laxman followed up
with a duck and it seemed match might get over on day 2. But Kohli and Dravid negotiated the last few
overs to end the day at 88/4.
Day 3: This will be as short as the day 3. Kohli and Dravid started day 3 with the intention of saving face.
While Kohli continued where he had left off, Dravid retreated in to a shell. Kohli brought up his fifty,
a wonderful knock that will give him a lot of confidence. But as it has happened throughout the tour,
wicket fell before break. Harris gave Dravid a serious work over before sneaking one through his defense
to end his knock at 47. Post lunch it was a perfect display of how-to-bowl-to-tailenders. Hilfenhaus
picked up 3 wickets in one over. He had RVK chasing a wide one. The he bounced Zak out of the next
one. Ishant survived the hattrick delivery and the next one too but the fifth one was too good for him
as he fended that to short leg. It was all over in the next over as Siddle got Kohli to edge one, ending his
brilliant knock as India lost the match by an innings and 37 runs.
