Posts
ALL IS WELL..........THAT ENDS WELL.......so goes the saying.
The second cricket test match between India and Australia ended at lunch on Day 4, giving India victory by an innings and 13 runs.
Australia started Day 4 at 74 runs for the loss of 2 wickets but could not stand the onslaught of the off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin and the part-time spinner, Ravindra Jadeja.
The wickets fell one after another and the entire team got bundled for 131 runs. Ashwin took 5 wickets for 53 runs, Jadeja took 3 wickets for 33 runs and Ishant Sharma two a solitary wicket giving away 5 runs in the five overs that he bowled.
Ashwin ended the match with 6 wickets for 94 runs, while Jadeja finished with 6 wickets for 66 runs.
Ravindra Jadeja's bowling figures in the match given an interesting reading. In the first innings he had a figure of 16 overs, 4 maidens, 33 runs and 3 wickets......while in the second innings he had returned a figure of 18 overs, 8 maidens, 33 runs and 3 wickets.
With this win India go up 2-0 in the series with two more matches to go.
Now delving into this match, we find that on Day 1, Australia after winning the toss, elected to bat and declared their innings at a score of 237 runs for the loss of 9 wickets towards close of play.
On a hindsight, the entire Australian contingent would be discussing and analysing as to what prompted the Aussie skipper to declare their innings at such a juncture.
The tail-enders, James Pattinson and Xavier Doherty were at the crease. It is not that these two batsmen would have gone on to create a world record, but they could have frustrated the Indian bowlers thru most part of the first session of Day 2 which would have meant loss of quality batting time for India.
India commenced their batting almost at close of Day 1 and went into Day 2 without any hiccups and with 5 runs on the board.
Come Day 2, they lost the wicket of Virendra Sehwag, who nudged an outgoing delivery of Peter Siddle into the gloves of the wicket-keeper, Mathew Wade.
In walked Cheteshwar Pujara and alongwith the other opener Murali Vijay, went on to effect a second wicket partnership of 370 runs, both scoring their centuries in the process, unless Murali Vijay played a lazy shot off the debutante, Glenn Maxwell, and was caught by Ed Cowan.
Cheteshwar Pujara went on to score his second double-ton in test matches and departed with a personal score of 204 and the team's tally reading at 393.
Team India ended their innings at 503 runs taking a lead of 266 runs over Australia.
The second innings of Australia started off shakily losing David Warner for 6 runs and Phil Hughes for a DUCK, both wickets being claimed by Ashwin by close of play on Day 3.
Come Day 4 the Australian wickets started falling like nine pins and the innings folded at a total of 131 runs.
Cheteshwar Pujara, for his cameo with the bat, was rightfully selected as the Man of the Match.
The two teams head to Mohali for their third encounter commencing from 14 March 2013.
From the Indian team's point of view, the 'takeaways' from this game are:
- Murali Vijay getting off the 'IPL (T20) mode' and getting into 'Test mode', learning to spend quality time at the wicket and gradually building up an innings
- Cheteshwar Pujara gradually getting himself in 'Rahul Dravid' mode, though there is quite 'a distance yet to be covered'
- Mahendra Singh Dhoni getting used to batting at No 6
- Ravichandran Ashwin emerging as the 'lead' spinner
- Ravindra Jadeja gradually getting into that 'all rounder' slot that Team India is badly looking for
The concern areas for the team are:
- Virendra Sehwag proving to be a disaster. Now the BCCI selectors need to 'talk to him' and possibly 'leave him out' for the next two test matches and either bringing in Gautam Gambhir or have a go at Shikhar Dhawan
- Harbhajan Singh has been very ineffective taking just two wickets in the match.He is unnecessarily blocking the place of Pragyan Ojha. The selectors need to look at this point also.
It is not going to be an easy task for the 'five when men' of BCCI, when they meet to select the squad for the remaining two matches.
All said and done, it has been a happy Team India that went into lunch on Day 4 with a 'match win' and extra day to spare.
See you all in Mohali on 14 March 2013..........!
K Subramanian
05 March 2013
It was a superb victory for Team India. A sweet revenge over the Kangaroos. A one-sided match, India dominated the Test from day One. The Aussies could never get into the groove.
ReplyDeleteIt's a well-documented fact that Australians can't play spin bowling but what was sad to see was their inability to even put up semblance of a fight.
Such was the domination of the Indian spinners that Australia lost their last three wickets for an addition of only one run in 10 overs.
With this win, the Indians are 2-0 up in the 4-match series and are looking all set up to wrap up the Rubber at Mohali. However, the selectors would do well to drop Sehwag and Harbhajan and bring in Ajinkya Rahane/ Shikar Dhiwan and Pragyan Ojha in their places to add more teeth to the Opening batsman's slot and to the spinning combination.
Thanks a lot........Ramda........let us hope the series is wrapped up in Mohali so that more new faces get to play the last test and garner some valuable experience of playing at the top level........!
Delete