India vs Australia at Mohali – first day review
A patient century by Shane Watson frustrated the hosts on the first day of the Test between India and Australia in Mohali, but http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028’s team finished the day well thanks to a pair of late wickets to Zaheer Khan that left the visitors on 224-5 at stumps and India on top after the first day's play.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 made exactly the start they would have wanted, with Khan’s return from a shoulder injury having an immediate impact as the paceman trapped opener Simon Katich on the pads to send the left-hander on his way for six.
That dismissal though marked the beginning of a 141-run partnership between Watson and Ricky Ponting, as old nemesis Harbhajan Singh failed to extract the Australia skipper on this occasion.
Instead, Ponting came undone when he was run out for 71 as Suresh Raina threw down the stumps at the strikers end. It was a disappointing end for the 35-year-old, who will personally be keen to get some runs on the board ahead of the Ashes later in the year, but also in the context of a match that his side had been starting to dominate.
While Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 could only survive long enough to add 14 runs to Australia’s total, as he was caught off the bowling of Harbhajan, an unusually patient Watson was slowly making his way towards the second Test century of his career.
Having scored centuries in both innings of Australia’s warm-up match against an Indian Board Presidents VI in Chandigarh, Watson arrived at Mohali in strong form, but that didn’t mean his innings progressed smoothly from the start. Far from it.
First, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virender-Sehwag-c95429 on just the second ball of the match, then he survived a lbw appeal during the fourth over of the day, before Dhoni failed to hold onto a catch behind the stumps that would have ended the 29-year-old’s innings on 37.
From there, the opener slowly set about making the hosts pay for their mistake, finally bring up his ton from 258 balls.
Along the way, Michael Hussey – who had joined up with the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 – came and went, adding 17 before he was hit on the pads by Khan to become his second victim of the day.
The left-armed paceman didn’t have to wait long for his third as Marcus North continued his boom or bust style of play to depart for a duck, leaving a http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319 delivery that moved back just enough to dislodge the bail.
Tim Paine survived a caught-behind chance of his own two balls after arriving at the crease, but Australia reached stumps without further loss, with Watson unbeaten on 101.
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