Australia v India: 1st Test, Melbourne

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Monday, December 26, MCG
Start time: 1030 AEDT; 0500 IST; 2330 GMT

Australia:
1 David Warner, 2 Ed Cowan, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Ricky Ponting, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6 Michael Hussey,
7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Peter Siddle, 9 James Pattinson, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Ben Hilfenhaus.

India:
1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Virat Kohli,
7 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Umesh Yadav.

Almost a carbon copy full length delivery from Hilfenhaus to Kohli who nicks one to the keeper.
238/6

A 4th wicket for Hilfy and his 3rd this morning.
Dhoni cuts it straight to Hussey in the gully.
245/7

Another howler from Erasmus... Pattinson unlucky not to have DRS. Would have been out. So that's about 3-1 against Australia now....

But Hilfenhaus gets a 5fer... Sharma out for 11 after a gritty stay at the crease since late yesterday. Another edge to Haddin.

Some great bowling this morning; first with the old ball to remove Dravid, Laxman and Kohli and then with the second new ball.

258/8

Hilfenhaus rips the Indian middle order apart, India 254-8. India have lost their last 6 wickets for 40 runs Hilfenhaus with a fifer on test return.
Australia set to take a crucial first innings lead. If their batting holds up a 2nd time in the match, it will be dificult for India to find their way back in.
The collapse has brought back memaries of last summer.

Ishant was the only Indian batsman who looked like putting up a decent fight today morning. And now since he's gone, the end should be near.
Australia now leads by 74, how much more will India manage to cut out from that?
Shouldn't be much, as Zaheer is gone, Pattinson with the wicket.

how crucial the lower order runs contributed by Siddle, Pattinson and Hilfenhaus are proving to be? The 3 combined for more than 70, and Australia's lead is going around that mark.
On the other hand, Zaheer Khan went chasing a big shot, and Ishant too, after his usual restrained stay, went for a big one and got out.

Pattinson cleans up Zac after the previous ball popped up off the thigh pad to Ed Cowan at short leg.
259/9

Ashwin takes the single of the first ball of the over. And with Ashwin there always is the chance for a runout, and with Umesh joining him, the funn has truely started!.
Now Ashwin takes the single of the 2nd ball!. And Yadav gets his first run!.

Ashwin smacks Pattinson for a 4 and a 6 to finish the over, but Yadav will have the strike now. He gets 1 to get Ashwin back on.
Australia's lead down to 60.

Great fighting spirit from Ashwin. India edging up towards 300.

Yadav on strike now... and he sees off the last 2 balls in that over.

Another nick off Siddle and Ashwin departs for 31. India are All Out for 282.
Australia lead by 51 runs as they go off for lunch.

Great start from India. First Warner chops it onto his stumps and Cowan out lbw not offering a shot. Yadav bowling brilliantly.
16/2

I go out to the shops and we lose 2 more wickets. 27/4 at one stage.

Then Ponting and Hussey put on a timely partnership of 117 before Punter dabbles at a wider delivery from Zaheer. Caught by VVS Laxman in the slips for 60.

Haddin didn't last long - but Australia at 151/6 now lead by 202.

Aus need a lead of 300+ against this batting lineup with 2 days to play. The next 2 weickets are crucial.

Hussey playing like a man given out unfairly in the first innings. Looks like he has a point to prove.

Yes, even Bill Lawry says 280 but I agree... 300 would be required against the Indian batting line up. It will be hotter tomorrow, the pitch although offering something for the bowlers; will flatten out even more and be still be great for batting.

Hussey dropped on 69 off the bowling of Ashwin... a sitter for Dravid at 1st slip.

Siddle though edges a Yadav delivery next over - and a superb diving catch from Dhoni.

163/7... a lead of 214

At the close of play Australia are 179/8 with a lead of 230.
Hussey on 79* and Pattinson on 3*

The match is set up for an amazing Day 4. After Australia's successful morning with the ball getting 7 wickets for 68 runs... India has returned serve with 8 wickets themselves with Yadav getting 4/49 and well supported by Zaheer with 2/32. Ashwin and Ishant keeping things tight also with a wicket each.

I'm hoping we can get over a 250 run lead at least... (I'd be more comfortable with at least 270-300); however our quicks will have to bag a few early wickets or else it could be out of Australia's control again if Sehwag makes a good start and sets up for the top-middle order to finish things off.

An absolutely fine day of test cricket, at the end of which the match stays balanced. First hour going to be crucial tomorrow. If Australia manage to bat the first hour, they should be able to score 30-40 runs, and that should give them a handy total to defend in the last innings.
Mike Hussey is the man, You can't drop Hus in such situations!!.
Remember his tailend partnerships with Glenn McGrath against South Africa and with Peter Siddle against Pakistan that turned the match all together. Both those occasions, Hussey was dropped early and he made them pay pretty heavily indeed.
Hopes Dravid won't have many regrets at the end of the match!.
Even now, 230 is a challenging total, and the Indian batting lineup has to show more application and determination. Gautam Gambhir has to get a good score at the top, and VVS Laxman has to improve his MCG record considerably. Sachin, Sehwag, and Dravid has to continue the good but unfinished work from the first innings.

LondonTiger wrote:The wicket as expected has flattened out from the first day. Best way for india to win is to go big, at least 550 and make Australia have to fight for a draw. early wickets when play resumes and things could get really interesting.

Well, as far as predictions go. that was like the Captain of the Titanic confident of no icebergs.

The strange thing is, I watched an hour today and the pitch looks a belter to bat on.

Linebreaker wrote:Yes, even Bill Lawry says 280 but I agree... 300 would be required against the Indian batting line up. It will be hotter tomorrow, the pitch although offering something for the bowlers; will flatten out even more and be still be great for batting.

You look at the Indian batting and feel 350 would not stretch them, yet......

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/team/6.html?class=1;home_or_away=2;orderby=start;orderbyad=reverse;spanmax1=28+Dec+2011;spanmin1=28+Dec+2009;spanval1=span;template=results;type=team;view=innings

Their batting has not been great away from home over the last two years. India still favourites but should be a great 4th days play.

India struggled to post 300 at least ones in England during the summer. Anything above 250, Australia should be in a position of advantage.
VVS Laxman, India's last innings crisis man, ones again to the rescue? Or will it be Sachin's ton of tons? Or yet another match winning knock from the wall?
Or will it be Siddle, Pattinson, and Hilfenhaus ripping through the Indian lineup?
interesting 4th day on the cards!.

There is no logical explanation for so many wickets falling in just three days of cricket. At least in terms of the pitch and what the ball is doing in terms of bounce or swing.

It seems more attributed to the fact that these two sides have been struggling this year and it means a lot to both sides to win this series in order to start the new year in a more positive frame of mind.

I´m used to Kiwi batting collapses. But this is just happening all too often to the Aussies and the batting line up of India and the benign conditions in Australia they´re facing shouldn´t see this sort of thing happen. What has happened to test match batting? It´s farcical.

Farcical it is , kia - look at what has been happening in South Africa too.

I try to resist the temptation to blame everything on t20 , but you really have to wonder if the change of mind-set encouraged by so much short game play isn't taking over ? I mean , now in Australia we are even officially naming it the "Big Bash" - once that would have been laughed away even by the marketing men...

alfie, SA just can't play at Durban!!. Unless the weather comes to their rescue, SA can expect to add to the list of Kingsmead losses!.
Not too sure its T-20 that is creating problems. In and India's and Australia's case, both are batting lineups that have struggled a bit for the last year or so, and Australian lineup in particularly is lacking in top order experience. Warner, Cowan and Marsh haven't even totaled 10 test matches.
India are generally slow starters during overseas tours, and although they had enough time to get ready this time round, and even though the top order gave them a good start, decent swing bowling undid all that today morning. They've had a history of spectacular collapses at the MCG, last time they lost 7-76, in 03 it was 9-88!.
Hopes they manage to reverse the trend in the 2nd innings and win the match, although its a bit of an advantage Australia at the moment.

Well it is true the Aussies are inexperienced ...though I would note that Warner and Marsh , who both dragged wide deliveries on , came into the team via the shorter forms of International cricket...
India in truth couldn't blame impatience (except Sehwag of course , and we would not expect him to play any different, and also Zaheer , with whom I imagine Ashwin might reasonably feel vexed ! He really should have knuckled down in support the way Yadav did in his turn)

Not sure Australia have much advantage - of course Hussey could well get the lead up near 300 if Pattinson and Hilfenhaus can hang on , and that would be difficult...but I won't be surprised fresh bowlers knock them over quickly in the morning and I fancy India wouldn't mind chasing 240-250 with unlimited time...

I had this thought the other day... don't know if you guys will agree but here goes.

There have always been batting collapses throughout the history of the game. Nothing new. I saw the Don doco again recently where he describes how both sides had torrid times on sticky wet wickets in the 1930s. If you look at some of the scorecards; some of the scores would have been a lot worse if it wasn't for one or two gritty performances... a few 30s, 40s 50s,etc amongst the rest of the single figures or ducks! A bit like the Aussie scorecard today. Lucky Hussey & Punter managed to score some runs this time but they have had lean innings of late. If it wasn't for that we'd have been looking at another sub-100 total for sure.

Maybe back then (in the earlier days) batsmen had certain skill sets which are unfortunately missing today. Whether it is the advent of limited overs cricket, pitch preparation or improvements in equipment that has seen these particular skills diminish - more likely this is so. However, I do believe some of our contemporary players lack a certain 'self-preservation' instinct at the crease compared to the players of the inter war years and immediate post WW2 years. OK, there are always some exceptions but generally it doesn't seem to sink in for most of our modern guys. Add to this true grit category certain players from the sub-continent. They have literally batted their way out of poverty and know what it means to struggle in life. I don't want to name names but I'm sure everyone knows who I mean. Contrast that to a few of our Aussie greats - we are indeed a lucky country but really we've only had a small number of 'true battlers' who've had all the support from a better organised cricket administration system - but which still has its flaws.

Somehow I find certain players of today lack that true grit. OK, we are all fallible and it is no easy task to stand tall in the 'firing line' of an intimidating pace bowler with an angry attitude (or a spinner with guile) - but to me... it's the attitude written all over the face of certain players and the way they generally 'carry themselves' on and off the sporting field.

I mean... who would you trust to dig deep and apply themselves to the task at hand? Some guy who's lucky to be alive and has experienced true hardship (like most of us haven't) or some self-inflated young punk busily doing adverts for some silly product, getting tatts put on and giggling down his i-phone to some other idiot? Am I being too harsh?

To me it's obvious - hard work and application brings positive results... plus the right attitude. That's why Sachin has survived so long in the game and is considered a true great. You don't hear him talk too much or offer excuses for this and that. He just goes out and does his work. The same with England last summer - Cook, KP had to bury their demons and they did so with flying colours. The bowlers then did the rest. So we had a true team performance from England and again versus SL and India last summer. Contrast this with the hot (glimpses of) and cold (most of the time) performances of teams like Australia and now South Africa. India is also slipping but they have improved more since August with their available players... and that more instinctual self-preservation approach (+ I think they have made huge improvements in technique across all aspects of the game); whereas Australia (resting on their laurels and hoping things will 'turn around again') seems to be best at squandering opportunities - since they don't know what opportunity is... even if it walked up and smacked them right in the face! That's the difference I believe. It's only a bloody game for Pete's sake but here in Oz... you'd think these guys were something special. Which they are not (in the sporting sense) all of the time. At best for a few hours every few weeks or so during summer.

(Sorry, bleedin' obvious rant over... the Pepsi max ad got to me!)

I feel your pain Linebreaker. But not sure life story translates to the cricket pitch. I just think the Aussie top order is missing experience and when the crickets fall, the pressure goes on and people make mistakes they wouldn´t necessarily make otherwise.

The opposition have to put doubt in your mind. Australia haven´t had a great year with the bat and those mental demons come back to haunt them when the chips are down. But they fought back in the first innings negating a solid India start and got them out cheaper. No reason why they can´t do the same if they create enough pressure. Australia are not the only team prone to collapses this year.

Yeah, maybe I'm drawing the long bow there kia.

I just want to see better batting technique at the crease like:

- knowing when to leave the wide ball outside off stump,
- not chopping the ball back onto the stumps,
- not leaving the ones which send the off stump flying and
- remembering to at least get some bat in there beside the pad when not offering a shot.

Full credit to our bowlers today though (and India's) but we'll have to wait and see whether they can repeat that effort with the ball some time early tomorrow. It's not a given that they'll be able to bowl as well again nor can we assume India's batting will capitulate again after a solid start.

India on top, but crucial knock from hussey to just keep aussies in with a sniff

cricketfan90 wrote:India on top, but crucial knock from hussey to just keep aussies in with a sniff

Hi CF - agree about crucial knock from Hussey but not so sure India are on top. Too close to call in my view.

If Patt and then Hilf can stick with Hussey for a bit, the Aussies might be able to set a target 270+ which will be far from easy ....

virat kohli will be wanting runs in the 2nd innings, especially with Rohit sharma in fantastic form.

As I wrote early, Michael Hussey is just made for such situations. He relishes batting with the tail, particularly if he gets dropped ones!.
Pattinson can score a few, that is what saw in the NZ series, and even in the first innings. Hilfenhaus is more of a typical tailender, but he too can smack a few. Every run is going to be crucial. India shouldn't over attack, and moreover, they shouldn't be over defensive, even to Hussey.

all credit to hussey and ponting for re-discovering their form, they have prob saved their test career for another year lol.

Too many passengers on both sides.

For the Indians Gambhir, Kohli and Dhoni.

For Australia Marsh, Haddin and Lyon.

In some way its making the cricket more competitive.

really looking forward to today's play and I for one will try and stay up for as long as possible. The tail is the key for the Aussies. If Hilfenhaus and Lyons can hang around for and hour or two Hussey can throw the bat around and try to get the Aussies up to a lead of 280-300. If India can knock the two wickets over quickly then it all depends on Sehwag's start. If he gets going India will coast it. Its all on how India bowl this morning, keep it simple with Yadav and Zaheer bowling line and length and they should get the two wickets cheaply. Got a Tendulkhar 103* written all over it. India to win by 4 wickets.

Great ball to dismiss hussey for 89. Up till then Mr C had looked almost certain for a ton. Now these tail enders have to hang on for whatever they can make.
oopsy ! ol' zaheer just dropped one in the deep ! every run these aussies can make now is precious.

Indian attack looks stronger compared to the lot we smashed around in the past summer.

292 is the chase.......... Prefer runs on the bord but with this Indian batting line up, its in their hands

Zaheer has made the difference and Yadav seems to have come of age.

Australia lucky to get away with those lbw decisions. It's almost as if the umpires are trying to coerce the BCCI into opting for DRS by giving a little more benefit to the batsman... but it's not fair on the players I feel. So it's probably 5-4 against India now (on the clanger count) with more to come.

I'm impressed with Pattinson. 292 runs is a decent challenge and I wouldn't put it beyond India to get the runs.

I was thinking that its Indias game to lose given the time but its on

Morning Line

I guess that i am the only one left watching

Sehwag gone before lunch, huge advantage for Australia.
292 is a huge chase in the last innings, and although I wish otherwise, just got the feeling its going to be tough to deny Australia.
In the first innings, wrong umpiring decisions largely went against Australia, and when they batted a 2nd time, a lot of those went in their favor. So it kind of evened out as of now, but the game could do with less of these umpiring mistakes. Almost 10 instances where the batsman has been wrongly given out or not out!. That is 25 % calls going wrong!.

msp, good to see you mate. Your a class supporter

With the time left you would have to favor India. Hussy's catch was a cracker though

I will say that although i am an Irishman that supports England, i am a bit of a closet Aussie fan

Peter Siddle and James Pattinson made extremely significant contributions with the bat for Australia, and that might be the difference at the end of the day between the 2 sides.
Even in England, the lower order runs made a lot of difference, though the admited the batters involved were of a better standard. But like South Africa, India too, have got a problem with controling the tail.

Hello there Billy!.
Yes, India needn't worry about the time, but 292 still is a huge score, and I think advantage Australia, particularly as Sehwag has already departed. He was one man who could have made a major difference at the top.

msp, the wall is out there with Tendulkar to come. Two players that know how to finish off matches :-)

I still struggle to imagine watching a better batsman than Tendulkar

Morning/afternoon etc all...

I think the last wicket stand has probably put this target a bit out of reach for India (although there is no problem with the time) . However I wasn't expecting Sehwag to be a main factor in the chase - the way he plays and the general pattern of this match which indicates it isn't a pitch for standing there and smashing boundaries suggested he would be unlikely to make a big score.
Just as yesterday it was the experienced and steady pairing of Ponting and Hussey who made batting look fairly straightforward , I reckon this one is down to Dravid and Tendulkar. If they can match their opponents' efforts and bring India to within 100 or so then maybe...

My money would be on Australia though. But I'm not placing any bets.

Dravid gone ! Well bowled Pattinson

I think I can call this one now... Australia 1-nil , barring an unlikely miracle stand between SRT and Laxman.

No 5th day needed.

Looking at the replay I have to say that was most un-Dravid like ... a gaping hole in The Wall.

In truth Dravid , although he made 70 , was nowhere near his best in the first innings. He'll be one of the players India must hope will be tuned up for a better show in the remaining matches.