Cricket Blog

The final day was as thrilling as it could ever be. Ricky Ponting declared giving India a victory target of 299 on a crumbling Bangalore wicket. If India got a quick start depending on Sehwag, then it was game on from India. If Australia got Sehwag cheaply, then it was game on from Australia. As it happened, Sehwag got out early and Australia were right on top. Had it been any other Aussie pace attack, they would have won. Had it been any other Indian batting lineup, India would have lost.

Unfortunately for Australia, and fortunately for India, neither was true. The Aussies failed to get 10 wickets. India failed to lose 10 wickets. Two men stood there ground. The only two men who have done so over the last decade. VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar defied a spirited Australian pace attack and Australia’s best spin combination to deny the visitors a victory. Although Tendulkar fell 15 runs short of reaching the world record mark, he would have been pretty satisfied with his effort. VVS on the other hand desperately needed to get amongst the runs, especially after scoring a duck in the first innings.

Ganguly, in his last match at Bangalore, stood firm. His knocks in both the innings have been crucial. He is definitely looking set for a big score in his farewell to international cricket. One wonders, if the last of the 4 matches would have been at the Eden Gardens. The very mention of it being Ganguly’s last match would have ensured capacity crowds for all 5 days, regardless if India win or loose.

Watch Day 5 Highlights

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What a day and what a match. Intriguing so far. Perfect to up the ante. Australia under pressure, yet come back strongly in the final session. Indian bowlers kept the pressure pretty much for the while day, however, it seemed that the energy was completely drained out of the Indian bodies in the final session as two Aussies, with not much test experience, fought the pressure and came out on top.

India looked aggressive and the fielders were attacking when they started their second innings. Perhaps they were buoyed by the performance of the tail enders. Perhaps it was Dhoni’s aggressive tactics (yes Kumble was did not come in for about an hour and a half due to a sore shoulder). Indian bowlers made the first move by picking up Hayden and Ponting early. Zak and Ishant have been a revelation in this series, as a pace combination.

Harbhajan finally got his sting back, more so because of the assistance he got from the pitch. But whenever he bowled, he looked like getting a wicket. Dhoni made all the moves initially to get wickets. I think that Anil Kumble has lost the plot. His tactics are not aggressive and he is way too by-the-book. Perhaps the reason why he has failed to grab a wicket in this test match. Definitely a cause for concern for him and the selectors. India, fortunately, have a couple of talented, yet inexperienced, leg spinners in Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla, the latter already made life miserable for the tourists in their tour game.

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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.

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Zaheer Khan justified his title of India’s pace spearhead as he overshadowed the much hyped Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, by picking up a 5 wicket haul against his favorite opponents. Australia started the day at 254/4 with Michael ‘Mr Cricket’ Hussey on 46 not out.

Ishant Sharma provided the first breakthrough of the day as he took Shane Watson’s off-stump out of the ground. Haddin joined Hussey and the two built a solid 91 run partnership. It was Ishant who broke through again as Haddin mistimed a drive to VVS Laxman on short cover. Cameron White, making his test debut, was the next to follow at only 6. Ishant now had 3 for the day and 4 for the match.

Brett Lee then proved to be a thorn for India as he got involved in an important 59 run wicket for the 8th wicket. Zak then struck and cleared the tail in no time. Australia were reduced from 421/7 to 430/10 in a matter of 2 overs.

Watch Day 1 and Day 2 highlights

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Part 1

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