A lot was being said about this match before a ball had been bowled. Will India be competitive enough? Will it be Shaun Tait or Brad Hogg? What will the pitch condition be? Can India stop Australia from 15 wins in a row? The first question can be answered after looking at the scorecard - Australia, 1st inngs - 337/9. A shock result after a splendid start. The Indian supporters in Melbourne had their best day out after 4 long years. But if memory serves me correct then four years ago India had one of their best first days in Australia. We all know what happened at the end of the match.

The second question’s answer is that Brad Hogg found a place and after watching Killer Kumble’s performance, the Australian selectors must be hoping that he is the right choice. Harbhajan Singh had already made it clear that the Indians would love to go after Hoggy. All goes to be seen who goes after whom.

The pitch had a slightly green top and it seemed that the ball was not really coming on to the bat. There was definite movement from the first ball up, and the movement was there whenever Zaheer Khan was bowling. The wicket of Ricky Ponting was an absolute peach of a delivery.

To answer the final question about India stopping Australia’s victory run we will have to wait for another 4 days, but India have the perfect opportunity here to stop Australia for less than 350 and build an improbable lead of 100-150 runs atleast. That would definitely hurt the psyche of the Aussies who have been arrogant for far too long now. It has been said that the only team to be competitive enough against them has been India and stats don’t lie. They almost won the series 4 years ago, can they do it again?

Hayden and Jacques started shakily with Jacques getting beaten 3 times in the first over itself. However, once the two got their eyes in, there was no stopping the flow of runs. There were a few lucky edges that went through the gaps of the slips cordon. Jacques and Hayden got their fifties in the first session which produced 111 runs for no wickets. Who would have thought the India would come back so strongly. It got so boring and one-sided to a point that I almost fell asleep.

And then Kumble happened. Out of nowhere, Jacques was trapped out of his crease as he missed a googly and Dhoni’s lightening fast wicket-keeping got India their first breakthrough. Ponting came in to a standing ovation and left soon enough. Maybe the Aussies are still not used to this kind of support. There were calls of “Sachin, Sachin” going around already as the Indian crowd wanted their hero to have a bowl at the Aussie. Test matches, however, are not won on crowd support only. Kumble brought back Zaheer Khan and was richly rewarded. The left-arm medium-fast bowled around the wicket, a strategy that was super effective against the English a few months ago. Ricky Ponting was all squared up and could only hear the ball crashing into his stumps.

Hussey followed soon after trapped plumb in front to Kumble. Australia had collapsed from 135/0 to 165/3. Things had become interestin, my sleepiness was history. The Indian crowd started to voice their support. There was “Jeetega bhai jeetega, India jeetega” at one side of Bay 13 and “Aussie aussie aussie, oi oi oi” on the other side. It was all fun and games. The atmosphere was electric. The Australian supporters were finally seeing their champs being challenged. The unthinkable was being discussed. Can India get Australia all out in the first day? A fact that has not happened for a long long time.

Australia managed to scrape home with Numbers 10 and 11 still batting. India would be ecstatic with their first day’s performance. Kumble led from the front picking up 5 wickets and shredding apart the notion that India would be rusty due to lack of match practice in Australian conditions. And I believe this is where Australia missed a trick. They should have put India in to bat and tried to get them all out for less than 300. Instead they are now under pressure that they have not seen for 4 years. A lot is still left to play, but the game of cricket has been a winner today. Hayden got a century. Kumble got 5 wickets. 300+ runs were scored in a day. The conditions were perfect, my tan is ample proof. 4 more days to go. Can’t wait till Saturday where I may go again to watch the match if it gets really interesting.

Click here for my photos of the first day

Click here for the full scorecard

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