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Oz fight back on day two

Prem Panicker

On a day punctuated by a couple of rain -- okay, sharp showers, to be more accurate -- delays, the touring Australian cricket team had its first real day in the sun.

The Oz bowlers did well to knock back the remaining six wickets for the addition of just 134 runs to the overnight total, following which the batsmen matched the Indian pace of run-getting with some free-flowing strokeplay.

Taylor, and some of the other Aussies, made the point before the game that they had nothing to lose here, and much lost pride to regain. And if they can maintain this performance over the next four days, they will be in a fair way to doing just that.

More to the point, they will be in a fair way to putting the nightmare of the Test series behind them, just in time to approach the upcoming ODI triangular in a healthier frame of mind -- and that could be the real gain of Australia's day two performance.

With the pitch remaining true to character -- fractionally slower, fractionally lower, turning a bit but the slower pace of the pitch giving the batsman time to adapt -- the question always was whether the overnight not outs would settle down in the first hour.

Saurav Ganguly didn't. In the second over of the day, he attempted an across the line flick at Adam Dale, ball two, and missed the line. Ball three, he tried the stroke again, missed again, and this time he was right there, bang in front, for the LBW appeal.

In recent times, Nayan Mongia has been in aggressive mode when batting in Tests -- leads one to wonder just how much of it is inspired by a desire to get back his place in the ODI squad. Here again, he was in the mood to go for his shots, two forays down the wicket to swat Warne back over his head to the fence being standouts of the innings. However, the second of those shots was followed by an attempt to drive, on the up, a ball too wide for the shot and Ricky Ponting, easily Australia's most outstanding fielder in this series, brought off a blinder. Racing in from deep cover, he flung himself forward, hands at full stretch, to pluck the ball just when it was in touchdown mode -- the kind of catch that makes you want to enter Classic Catches contests.

At the other end, Sachin Tendulkar was the young man in a hurry. A lovely cover driven four off the first over of the day, from Kapra, indicated that he planned to pick up where he left off the previous evening. And when drinks signalled the end of the first hour, Tendulkar had added 49 to his overnight score, off just 40 deliveries. In the process, he raced past the 150-mark with a swept four over midwicket, followed by a dance down the track to deposit Warne's flipper high in the stands over long off, his 154 coming off 174 deliveries.

The fall of Mongia, however, appeared to cause some concern in Tendulkar, who perhaps figured he was running out of partners in a hurry. A needless worry really, since Kumble right from the start was middling everything and batting with calm control. Already racing along in top gear, Tendulkar began going after everything from the point of Mongia's departure -- in direct contrast to the way he had, thus far, picked the right ball to score off.

And that brought about his undoing -- Adam Dale bowled a yorker length delivery, swinging in late from off and middle to leg. Tendulkar, who in normal circumstances would have pushed it to mid on, went instead for the flick off the pads, aiming for the gap at midwicket, played all round the ball and lost off stump, his personal score just two short of his all-time best of 179.

When Sachin left, exactly 100 runs had been added to India's overnight total, off just 20.2 overs -- a rate of fractionally under 5 an over, and the fastest the scoring has been in this match.

The very next ball, Umpire Parthasarathy struck. Dale bowled one on leg going further away, the batsman was clearly outside leg stump when the ball brushed the back foot, the "appeal" seemed more a case of adrenalin overdose than anything else, but up went the finger in a hurry. Which put debutant Dale on a hat-trick, averted by Raju with a very assured defensive push at yet another yorker.

For connoisseurs of cricketing trivia, umpire Parthasarathy's name is anathema to the old-time Indian stars -- a state of mind dating back to the famous Tied Test between these two sides at Chennai. On that occasion, Parthasarathy was doing duty when Maninder Singh, India's last batsman, came out to bat -- and from that day to this, members of the Indian team maintain that the umpire was playing to the galleries when he gave Maninder out with the scores level.

Asides aside, Robertson -- who in this match has come in for considerable stick from the likes of Sidhu, Sachin and even Kumble (who carted his regulation off break over the long on boundary in a hit rivalling Sidhu's earlier strike) -- got a bit of consolation when Raju parodied a forward defensive stroke, to put Darren Lehmann at short square in business with the bat-pad catch.

At which point Kumble, like Tendulkar, figured apparently that any ambition of going after Brian Lara's world record on his home ground had to be postponed to a future date, owing to lack of partners. So down he came to Robertson, not quite getting to the pitch of the ball, and wafted a drive straight down mid off's throat to finish India's innings at 424 -- the third successive 400+ total posted by the home side in this series.

The Australian bowlers, this morning, stuck to their task in the face of some neck or nothing batting from the Indians, the fielders held everything they could come remotely close to, and it all looked a different ball game.

More so when Michael Slater took strike. Apparently determined to wipe out memories of a humiliating run that has seen him score 13, 15, 0 and 5 in his last four outings, Slater here squared up, opened his shoulders, and began hitting through the line at everything they bowled at him.

That kind of strokeplay from a batsman low on runs and confidence does bring the odd mishits, the odd streaky edges. But interspersed with those were some blazing drives that were authentic Slater -- seems a pity, really, that he appears to have come back to something near top form just when they've booked his return passage ahead of the ODI series.

The duel between Slater and debutant offie Harbajan Singh was a delight to watch. Harbajan's action is a shade amusing -- his initial step is a bit like watching a swimmer do the backstroke, then a nice easy run and a whirligig action delivers the ball, high arm, in a nice loop, lots of flight. He also believes in giving the ball a good tweak, thereby getting lots of turn. A shade lacking in deception on the arm ball (and I didn't see him bowl a googly all day either), but then the boy's young, shows potential and should, given some encouragement, get there.

Slater kept going down the track and lifting him over mid on, twice clearing the fence with the stroke (which Mark Waugh repeated later). But Azhar let the lad have his head, didn't take him off in a hurry when he saw the offie being attacked, kept the close fielders in place and that kind of thing gives a new bowler enormous confidence.

At the other end, Taylor, while not exactly emulating his partner's strokeplay -- the right hander got to his 52 off 52 deliveries with 11 fours, out of a total of 68 -- looked solid enough until he tried to cut a Kumble flipper outside off, and underedged for Mongia to grab a reflexive catch behind the stumps.

Unlike Slater, Blewett failed to break his dismal run on this tour. Troubled by both Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, the highly rated number three fell to the latter when a well flighted delivery beat him on the forward push, Blewett misreading the flight and loop completely for the ball to land outside the line of the bat and curl in to disturb the bails.

Harbhajan should have got Slater as well, with the score at 92/2, when he changed his angle a bit, bowled the arm ball on middle and Slater, looking to play to leg, ended up popping a simple return catch off the leading edge. The young offie grabbed at the simple chance -- a case of being overeager to get his wicket -- rather than let it settle, and the ball popped out again.

With Waugh looking in supreme touch and Slater, despite a let off, in no mood to ease off on the throttle, runs continued to come easily until Azharuddin brought back Harvinder. The young opening bowler had, in his first spell, been savaged by Slater but here, he came back strongly to disturb Slater's poise with a lifter. The next ball was pulled, predictably, for four by the combative opener but two balls later, Harvinder bowled one short and down the leg, Slater went after it and gloved to the keeper -- and why umpire Parthasarathy needed such a long pause for thought before giving that out beats me. Seemed a pity, though, that Slater couldn't cap a fighting comeback knock with a deserved century.

Azhar showed good thinking by bringing Harbajan Singh back to counter the left-handed Darren Lehmann, making his debut here, and giving the spinner a slip, gully, silly point and short square. Lehmann by repute is a free-stroking player, and he lived up to that here by not letting the situation get to him. He is very fluent on the off -- not exactly in the Ganguly mould of 'touch' strokeplay, but more power-packed -- and robust, if a shade less classy, on the on. And here, he hit them everywhere in a blistering assault that, coupled with Mark Waugh's more controlled strokeplay, helped Australia end on 209/3, the runs coming off just 54 overs.

For India, Raju and Kumble were the pick of the bowlers. The former will, about now, be wondering just what more he can do to get the wicket that has been eluding him since Calcutta -- one ball spun square, opened Waugh up, took the edge and went agonisingly close to a diving Azhar in slips, another tucked him up, beat him for flight and turn, took the inner edge, rolled back and hit middle stump without disturbing the bails... Raju, in fact, was the only bowler who gave Mark Waugh, in silken touch here, any kind of heartburn.

Harbhajan, despite getting considerable stick -- the Aussie batsmen appear to have made up their mind to try and hit him off his length -- showed good temperament in not panicking and trying to bowl flat and fast.

Harvinder, though, was totally ineffective on a wicket not really made for his kind of bowling. He does not swing the ball, or seam it away, as much as say Mohanty does, and seemed out of sorts on a track where the ball went straight through at a nice hittable pace.

What is most interesting is the pace at which the Aussies are getting their runs -- if they can survive the first hour without loss and repeat today's performance, then all kinds of interesting equations could open up.

Obviously, a draw would seem the logical result -- but the Aussies will want to try and force the issue here, and that means going after the bowling in a bid to top the Indian total in a hurry, add as many more as they can and hope for Warne to strike on a wicket that should crumble further by day four.

If the Aussies try for that, then day three promises much excitement for the spectator.

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