Australia in India, 2008, First Test: Day 3 - A close encounter
The day belonged to the men from Oz, but the evening was India’s. A gritty fightback at the end of day’s play means that India have some hope going into the last 2 days of play. Day 3 started with India in a seemingly comfortable position of 68 for no loss. How that turned to 106/4 is anybody’s guess? Perhaps it was the variable bounce. Perhaps it was the Aussies’ game plan. Whatever it was, the visitors had quickly reminded everyone why they are still the Number 1 test team in the world.
The hyped and under-pressure Fab 4 had mixed results. Whereas Dravid and Ganguly got amongs the runs, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman had a miserable outing, the former going out at 13 and the latter at a big fat DUCK. All credit must go to Mitchell Johnson who has always been India’s nemesis in the shorter format and it looks like he is going to continue that title in the longer format, aka pinnacle, of the game.
All is not lost for India though. The fightback from Harbhajan and Zaheer in the final session proved that there is not much to worry about in this wicket, especially if you have a little luck and apply yourself properly. The fact that Bhajji made 54, the highest Indian score in the innings, proves that its only a matter of time before one of the experienced batsmen get a big score.
The 80 run partnership between Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan has made sure that this is going to be a close finish. India are in the back seat with 117 runs still behind. If they can eliminate that lead, somehow, then Aussies will be under tremendous pressure. If Australia manage to have anything between 75-100 run lead, then they can truly seal the match tomorrow. Skipper Anil Kumble will have to make a fight of it alongwith Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma.
Watch Day 3 Highlights
India vs Australia: 1st Test Day 3 Highlight Video Part 1
India vs Australia: 1st Test Day 3 Highlight Video Part 2
India vs Australia: 1st Test Day 3 Highlight Video Part 3
Tags: 1st test, anil kumble, day 3, first test, harbhajan singh, highlights, india vs australia, match highlights, mitchell johnson, rahul dravid, saurav ganguly, zaheer khan
This entry was posted on Saturday, October 11th, 2008 at 7:14 pm and is filed under Australia, India. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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