Test #1539 India vs Australia at Chennai. Report
by Nayeem Abdul Azeez.
Australia come to Chennai after winning the first and second test convincingly
by 7 and 10 wkts respectively. India have got a point to prove in this test. The changes
in the teams for this test match is that Australia have brought in Collin Miller and the
Indians have dropped Prasad and Raju for Bahutule and Kulkarni.
The pitch is a good one with quite a few cracks and the weather is quite hot.
The outfield is very fast.
Australia win the toss third time in the series and decide to bat on a perfect
bating track.
Slater and Hayden who have had a rollercoater series are the openers. Indian attack to be
opened by Zaheer Khan who has had a very poor series bowling 46 overs for 0 wickets and
giving away 195 runs.
Day 1:
Lunch
Australia started superbly with both the openers scoring at a brisk rate bringing up a 110
run opening wicket partnership before and reached their 50's. Then 3 wickets in the space
of 14 balls saw them trotting at 117/3. S waugh and Langer have since then played well and
at tea have taken Aus to 140/3.
Tea
S Waugh and Langer played great knocks to take Aus to 245/3 to tea. Both the players were
unbeaten on 62 and 68 resp.
Stumps
Some attacking play by Langer and S Waugh after tea saw both the players reaching
centuries in no time and also bringing up a partnership of 200 runs. But then too much of
attack helps the bowlers. Harbhajan traps S Waugh LBW for 114 and after 8 overs Ponting
walks back making 22(36) balls. As the game goes in to overtime Indians pick up more
wickets of Gilchrist and Warne for 17 and 14 resp. End of day one sees Khan and Singh
scalping 3 wickets each and Langer unbeaten on 129.
Day 2:
Lunch
In the 8th over of the day Indian Skipper sets a bad example by dropping a simple chance
to dismiss Langer of the bowling of Kulkarni. And eventually Langer scores 150 in the next
over. Gillespie and Langer adding 53 for the 8th wicket only to be dismissed in 2
conecutive deliveries (one by bahutule and one by Singh). Langer's Marathon innings of 165
comes to an end. Miller and McGrath enjoy their stint in the centre by adding 29 runs for
the last wicket. Aus end their innings at 496/10 and Singh picks his 1st 5 wicket haul of
the series. Indian openers Ramesh and Das survive the 3 overs Before Lunch.
Tea
Gillespie strikes early for Aus as he traps Ramesh LBW for 13 and India losing their first
wicket at 18. Miller and Warne struck telling blows removing Laxman, Tendulkar and Das who
made a fine 69. Now Aus is in command as they were throughout the series.
Stumps
Dravid and Ganguly steady the Indian ship adding 123 invaluable runs and ending the day at
240/4. Both the players were unbeaten on 70 and 73 resp at stumps.
Day 3:
Lunch
Rain interuptions twice force early lunch on day 3. Dravid and Ganguly kept the good work
going by adding 60 more runs in the morning taking their partnership to 183 runs and
Dravid also scores a gritty 100. They are abtting at 104 and 97 resp while India is 300/4
at lunch.
Tea
Ganguly and Dravid kept the good work going until Ganguly was adjudged LBW to McGrath for
152. Dravid is still at the crease batting on 154. Dravid and Ganguly had added 288
invaluable runs when the team needed it the most.
Stumps
On the 6th ball after tea Dravid plays a wrong shot to Warne who traps him LBW for 154.
The Indian tail kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were all out for 468. Miller
in the side for this match picked up 6 wickets. Indian Bowlers took the wicket of Slater
in the 7 overs remaining before stumps. Aus on stumps were 34/1.
Day 4:
Lunch
2 wicket that of Night watchman Miller and Hayden put Ind back in the game. Langer dropped
twice makes the most of it and scores 76 at lunch as M Waugh takes his time and scores 51.
They have so far added 131 runs. Aus at lunch are 180/3.
Tea
M Waugh Goes for 74 and Langer Scoring his 2nd century of the match have Aus in grip of
the match. More aggressive cricket by Aus helps India get 2 more wickets before tea.
Langer and Ponting are dismissed for 112 and 20 resp. S Waugh scores another 50. Aus are
now 336/6.
Stumps
S Waugh and Gilchrist add 52 runs for the 7th wicket before the latter goes for 24. Aus
eventually declare at 368/7 leaving India to score 397 runs from a minimum of 108 overs.
Aus strike early taking 2 wickets in the 18 overs before stumps to leave Ind at 62/2 at
the end of day 4. Tendulkar and Das are at the crease playing on 11 and 28 resp.
Day 5:
Lunch
After a minor stoppage by rain Aus strike in the 1st session of the last day to dismiss
both Das and Tendulkar for 37 and 35 resp. Ganguly and Dravid who played superbly in the
1st innings take Ind to lunch at133/4.
Tea
Rain comes to Ind rescue as the teams are forced to take early tea. Aus picking wickets in
regular intervals never let any partnership going Ind way. Ind are 161/7 at tea.
Stumps
Only 6.4 overs were required by Aus to take the remaining 3 Ind wickets and winning the
match by 222 runs. Gillespie picked up 6 wickets on the course. Another dismal performance
by the Indians. A clean sweep of 3 test matches in India for Aus. Langer for his twin
centuries was named man of the match.
