India vs Australia – Bangalore Test day four review
Australia have built a 185 run lead over India in their second innings in Bangalore, but with only three wickets in hand heading into day five of the Test, India look to be on track to claim victory in what could be another thrilling finish to follow India's one-wicket win in the first Test in Mohali.
India began the day with five wickets in hand and 43 runs to make to reach Australia’s first innings total of 478 and that they did, with Tendulkar bring up his double century along the way as he pushed a Ben Hilfenhaus delivery for a single.
The Little Master’s superb effort to keep his side in the chase finally came to an end with India six runs ahead of the tourists, when Peter George claimed perhaps the biggest scalp in Test cricket as his first in the format; Tendulkar edging a reverse-swinging ball onto the stumps to depart for 214.
With that departure, the hosts crumbled. Harbhajan Singh came and went for four, edging a Shane Watson delivery into Ricky Ponting’s waiting hands at short midwicket and Zaheer Khan added just one as George celebrated his second wicket of his Test career.
It was Nathan Hauritz – who had ended day three with figures 0-153 but finished the innings with figures of 2-153 – who was handed the ball in what proved to be the death as the off-spinner dismissed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 for 30 and Sreesanth for a duck three balls later to end India’s first innings on 495; their last five wickets having fallen for the addition of a mere nine runs to the total.
Having extinguished an India innings that at the start of the day’s play had appeared destined for much greater heights, Watson and Simon Katich saw off the home side’s pacemen in an opening partnership that lasted 58 runs before the introduction of the spinners into the attack brought about the breakthrough for the hosts.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 (31) was the first to go, trapped on the pads by Pragyan Ojha, and Katich (24) followed without any further addition to the Australia score, as he edged a Harbhajan delivery into Dhoni’s gloves.
Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 came and went for three as Ojha claimed his second victim of the innings before Michael Hussey joined Ponting in the middle for the steadying 61-run partnership Australia desperately needed.
For the under-pressure Hussey, whose Test form has provided little to get excited about since that unbeaten 134 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the Sydney Test during January, it was his last chance to make a positive impression in the baggy green before the Ashes; but 20 runs into his innings it all came undone as he was dismissed lbw by Ojha.
It will be cold comfort for the man dubbed Mr Cricket to know that had the umpire Decision Review System been in operation for the series – the BCCI have resisted using the technology – he may well have survived to make a greater contribution to the Australian cause, with Hawkeye replays showing television viewers the ball was missing his leg stump.
Enter Marcus North, centurion in the first innings but in typical all or nothing style, dismissed for just three in the second, and at a point in the match when his side could least afford it, when Harbhajan landed the ball in-line with the stumps, spun it round the batsman’s pads and into off-stump to leave Australia in real trouble on 131-5.
With the Australia innings – and effectively the outcome of the series – resting on his bat, Ponting brought up his 50 by sending old nemesis Harbhajan to the fine leg boundary for four.
But the ball after bringing up the 50 partnership with Tim Paine, the skipper departed for 72, his third dismissal in the 70s of the series, when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
Paine (23) followed the next over, with Dhoni the catch behind the stumps to hand Sreesanth his first wicket of the innings and leave Australia’s innings hanging by a thread at 185-7 with two new batsmen at the crease.
At stumps, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 were on 202-7 with Hauritz (eight) and Mitchell Johnson (seven) the not out batsmen.
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