India continued to dominate Australia in the four-match cricket Test Series
for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be in a position to go up 2-0 on the third
day of the second Test in Hyderabad
today. At close of play Australia
reeling under Indian spin were 74 for 2 still needing 192 more runs to avoid an
innings defeat. Earlier after a record breaking partnership of 370 runs between
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara the Australian agony lessened considerably
as India
folded up quickly for 503 runs losing the last six wickets for only 43 runs. At
the moment the speculation going around is that of the margin of Australian capitulation—an
innings defeat or by some number of wickets. Barring a dramatic batting
recovery it would be extremely difficult for Australia
to prevent India
taking an invincible lead in this Series.
Yesterday had
been a tremendous day for Indian cricket as the much talked about Indian batting
matched the reputation with an incredible display all through the day except
for the early dismissal of Sehwag—a continuing disaster in the opening slot. Two
young newcomers Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara batted on and on remaining
unbeaten on the second day yesterday taking India from 17/1 to 311/1 both
achieving brilliant hundreds. On the third day today too they continued in full
flow with Pujara completing his double hundred and Vijay becoming the first
wicket to fall for a massive 167. Pujara could not last long after the milestone
and fell for 204 superlative runs. They broke several records in the process—the
biggest second wicket partnership for the country and the country’s fourth
biggest partnership overall. After the spectacle in batting except for Dhoni
who made a quick fire 44 in 43 balls other batsmen could not capitalize, but India
raced to a massive lead of 266 runs.
This time in Hyderabad Australia
got a pitch with some pace and bounce, but their batmen could not tackle either
Indian pace or spin falling in heaps making a pathetic total of 237/9 after
electing to bat first. The innings was lackluster except for a sterling innings
of 91 from captain Michael Clarke. There was some drama in the end when Clarke
declared the innings at 237/9 leaving India to bat only three overs. There
was noting wrong in that gamble as he must have sensed the bounce in the pitch
and hoped to capture a couple of Indian wickets. Nothing of that sort happened
though. Australian bowlers too failed to fire up in both pace and spin despite
a better pitch than the last in Chennai. Their spinners became productive only
in the later part of the Indian innings today, but that increased only their
worries and increased the appetite of the Indian spinners. With Ravindran
Ashwin capturing both the wickets to fall today the ominous spinning signs were
already showing up. The Scorecard:
Indian batting
always boasted of individual brilliance rather than an all-round team effort
and that showed in these two Tests too. India won the Chennai Test by 8
wickets thanks mainly to the incredible Dhoni double, hundred by Kohli and a good
knock from Tendulkar. In this Test we have already seen who the individuals are.
One only wonders what happens when all Indian batsmen deliver simultaneously.
This India Vs
Australia Series is doing immense good for MS Dhoni. He became the first highest
scoring (224) Test wicket keeper in India, the fourth Indian
captain to score a double ton after Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and MAK Pataudii the highest scoring Indian captain against
Australia and the highest scoring keeper-captain of the world after overcoming
Englishman Alec Stewart’s 164. His troubles seem to be over at last with the
cricket extravaganza called the IPL beckoning round the corner.
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