India
put themselves in driver’s seat with
118-run lead
PERTH, Jan 17: India relied on an
inspired display by their bowlers who
skittled out Australia cheaply to put the
the team in the driver’s seat with a
substantial 118-run first innings lead in
the third cricket Test here today.
The
visitors were dismissed for 330 in the
first innings but hit back brilliantly by
bundling out the hosts for a paltry 212
to gain the upper hand on a bouncy WACA
track.
The
Indians were 52 for one in the second
innings and had extended their overall
lead to 170 runs at close on an
action-packed second day which was
dominated by the visitors.
Paceman
Rudra Pratap Singh was the pick of the
Indian bowlers with 4 for 68 while Irfan
Pathan, Ishant Sharma and skipper Anil
Kumble chipped in with two wickets apiece
to plot a dramatic Australian collapse.
The hosts
were gasping at 61 for five at one stage
before Andrew Symonds (66) and Adam
Gilchrist (55) salvaged the situation to
some extent with a 102-run sixth wicket
partnership.
The
partnership, which was assuming dangerous
proportions, was finally brought to an
end by Kumble who in the process became
the first Indian to scalp 600 Test
wickets and the third in the world after
Muttiah Muralitharan (723) and Shane
Warne (708).
It was a
remarkable exhibition by the Indian
bowlers who managed to extract a lot of
swing from the pacy WACA track to rip
through the strong Australian batting
line-up.
Virender
Sehwag (29) and night watchman Irfan
Pathan (2) were at the crease as the
Indians negotiated the 11 overs hurled at
them.
Pakistani
umpire Asad Rauf, who had adjudged Sachin
Tendulkar leg before wicket when the ball
seemed to go over the stumps on the
opening day, gave another dubious leg
before decision against Mahendra Singh
Dhoni today.
But the
Indians took the umpriring blunders in
their stride and had Australia in trouble
straightaway with the paceman removing
the top half without much fuss.
And just
when the Aussies showed signs of coming
back into the game, Kumble, playing his
124 Test, had Andrew Symonds caught off a
cut which hit wicketkeeper Dhoni’s
gloves and lobbed off for Rahul Dravid to
complete an easy catch.
Symonds
and Gilchrist were staging a recovery for
Australia with a 102-run fourth wicket
stand from 104 balls before Kumble
provided the breakthrough and allowed his
other bowlers to run through the rest.
Kumble,
who came on to bowl in the 28th over,
held aloft the ball as everyone in the
ground acknowledged his achievement and
it was touching to see Adam Gilchrist
cross the pitch and hail the achievement
of the Indian spinner.
On an
dramatic day, India lost their final four
wickets for two runs off 16 balls with
Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson sharing
the spoils.
But the
balance tilted in India’s favour
soon soon after as India took out the
first three Australian wickets next for
nothing before lunch.
Irfan
Pathan set the ball rolling by sending
back the two openers in his second over,
debutant Chris Rogers (4) being adjudged
leg before wicket and his partner Phil
Jacques (8), departed two deliveries
later, when he drove at an outswinger to
be caught at slips.
Rudra
Pratap Singh gave Australia another blow
when he had Mike Hussey driving and
edging a catch to Dhoni, the first of
wicketkeepers five catches.
India
continued the good work in the first hour
of the second session when it sent Ricky
Ponting (20) and Michael Clarke (23)
packing though they had the mortification
of seeing Andrew Symonds survive two
close shaves.
Symonds,
when on 3, was dropped by Sachin
Tendulkar at first slip off Irfan Pathan
and later the batsman found himself lucky
when a ball spun back off the face of the
bat towards stumps, only to veer off at
the last minute.
Symonds
and Gilchrist then set about repairing
the innings, striking some handsome
boundaries and producing no less than 126
runs from the middle session.
It
appeared India would suffer the familiar
tale of missed opportunities as the pair
grew in strength before Kumble
intervened.
Once
Kumble took Symonds out of the equation,
the rest proved easy prey for the
Indians.
Gilchrist
hit three successive fours off RP Singh
but then misjudged a delivery which rose
more than he had expected and took the
edge to Dhoni.
Gilchrist
batted for 116 minutes and hit nine fours
from 61 balls while Symonds faced 70
balls and batted for 105 minutes, hitting
eight fours and a six.
RP Singh
then got into act and quickly got rid of
the eighth and ninth scalp, both Brett
Lee and Stuart Clark (0) caught behind by
Dhoni.
Kumble
brought the curtains on the innings when
Shaun Tait lobbed a catch back to the
bowler.
The
Indians lost out-of-form opener Wasim
Jaffer (11) in the second innings but
Sehwag and Pathan ensured that there were
no further setbacks till stumps were
drawn for the day.
Score
Board
India: 1st
innings
W Jaffer c
Gilchrist b Lee 16
Sehwag c
Gilchrist b Johnson 29
Dravid c
Ponting b Symonds 93
Tendulkar
lbw b Lee 71
Ganguly c
Hussey b Johnson 9
Laxman c
Tait b Lee 27
MS Dhoni
lbw b Clark 19
IK Pathan
lbw b Johnson 28
A Kumble c
Rogers b Clark 1
R P Singh
c Hussey b Johnson 0
I Sharma
not out 0
Extras (lb
19, w 9, nb 9) 37
Total (all
out in 98.2 overs) 330
Fall of
Wickets1-57, 2-59, 3-198, 4-214, 5-278,
6-284, 7-328, 8-330, 9-330, 10-330
Bowling: B
Lee 24-5-71-3, MG Johnson 28.2-7-86-4, SR
Clark 17-4-45-2, SW Tait 13-1-59-0, A
Symonds 10-1-36-1, MJ Clarke
6-1-14-0.
Australia
first innings
Jaques c
Laxman b Pathan 8
C Rogers
lbw Pathan 4
Ponting c
Dravid b Sharma 20
Hussey c
Dhoni b RP Singh 0
Clarke c
Dhoni b Sharma 23
Symonds c
Dravid b Kumble 66
Gilchrist
c Dhoni b Singh 55
Lee c
Dhoni b RP Singh 11
M Johnson
not out 6
Clark c
Dhoni b RP Singh 0
S Tait c
and b Kumble 8
Extras
(lb-1, b-4, nb-2, w-4) 11 Total (all out
for 50 overs) 212
Fall of
Wickets: 1-12, 2-13, 3-14, 4-43, 5-61,
6-163, 7-192, 8-195, 9-195
Bowling:
RP Singh 14-2-68-4, Pathan 17-2-63-2,
Sharma 7-0-34-2, Kumble 12-1-42-2.
India
second innings:
Jaffer c
Hussey b Clark 11
Sehwag
batting 29
Irfan
Pathan batting 2
Extras
(lb-2, nb-6, w-2) 10
Total (for
one wicket in 11 overs) 52
Fall of
Wicket: 1-45.
Bowling:
Lee 4-1-14-0, Johnson 2-0-14-0, Clark
3-1-7-1, Tait 2-0-15-0. (PTI)
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