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India vs Australia First Test at Bangalore

India vs Australia 2008-09 Cricket Series

Australia will play 4 Tests during the Indian tour starting October 02, 2008.

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India vs Australia Cricket Series 2008-09

India vs Australia First Test at Bangalore

IND v AUS, 1st Test, Bangalore, Day 2: India start well after Hussey's stubborn century

Oct 09, 2008

India made a spirited reply to Australia's 430 in the first Test here on Friday, reaching 68 without loss in their first innings by the close of the second day's play.
Openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir easily negotiated a tricky 18.1 overs before heavy rain brought an early end to the day's play that was marked by a solid century from the ever-reliable Michael Hussey. The consistent left-hander shored up Australia's first innings with a gritty 146 before he was last man out soon after tea.
Sehwag began in his typical aggressive style, smashing seven boundaries against the four-man Australian pace attack on the way to 43 not out. His Delhi team mate Gambhir was unbeaten on 20.
Australia, who resumed on their overnight score of 254-4, lost all-rounder Shane Watson in the third over of the day, bowled off-stump by a sharp inswinger from Sharma. Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin put on 91 for the sixth wicket with Hussey, contributing 33.
Sharma removed Haddin and debutant Cameron White in the space of three overs after lunch but Brett Lee (27) helped Hussey along by adding 59 for the eighth wicket. Sharma had Haddin and White caught in the cover region off deliveries that came off the barren pitch slowly, an indication that batting may become difficult as the Test progresses.
Hussey, who was on 49 when Watson was out, took charge with three boundaries off Zaheer, two of them exquisite cover drives and the third a ferocious pull to square-leg. The West Australian also swung Harbhajan for six over the midwicket fence.
Zaheer claimed the last three Australian wickets in the space of 14 runs after tea, shattering the stumps of Lee, Mitchell Johnson and finally Hussey. Australian skipper Ricky Ponting Thursday notched his 36th career Test century, just three behind record holder Sachin Tendulkar's tally of 39.
The visitors were helped along towards their big total by shabby Indian fielding, highlighted by retiring former captain Sourav Ganguly letting the ball pass through his legs at mid-off. Ganguly, 36, said on Tuesday he will retire from international cricket after the four-Test series ends.

IND v AUS, 1st Test, Bangalore, Day 2: Australia 430 all out (149.5 overs) v India 68 for 0 (18.1 overs)

IND v AUS, 1st Test, Bangalore, Day 1: Australia reaches 254-4 on opening day of first cricket Test against India

Oct 09, 2008

Australia captain Ricky Ponting scored his 36th Test century Thursday, but his team lost a wicket in the final over of the opening day to finish at 254 for four wickets in the first Test against India.
Ponting controlled proceedings throughout his innings of 123 - his first hundred in India - that took him past former India captain Sunil Gavaskar into sixth place on the Test run-scoring list with 10,222. Simon Katich provided support with 66 at Chinnaswamy Stadium and Mike Hussey chipped in with 46 not out.
Zaheer Khan took a wicket in the first and last overs of the day, having opener Matthew Hayden caught by wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for 0 and then dismissing Michael Clarke for 11 with the second new ball. Ponting started the match determined to make up for a poor record in India, having previously scored just 172 runs from eight Tests in the country over 12 years.
After winning the toss, he came to the wicket early after Hayden was out on the third ball of the innings. Hayden, returning from a heel injury that kept him out of the West Indies tour, brushed his pad with his bat but appeared to miss the ball. He remained at the crease for a short time after the decision from umpire Asad Rauf.
Ponting, whose previous best score in India was 60 in 1998, showed his class in a partnership of 166 with Katich. The captain struck 13 boundaries, the best being a cover drive to bring up his half-century, in 243 balls.
"I've been working really hard," Ponting said. "I've made no secret of it, my record here has been poor. Today is one step in the right direction. It was nice to get some runs out there and put the team in a good position. But one innings doesn't make a tour." Shortly after tea, he reached three figures with a push behind point off Anil Kumble and celebrated by swinging his bat, pumping his arms and acknowledging the Australian dressing room and the few visiting supporters in the stands.
There were moments of trouble for Ponting. He was struck on his pads a couple of times by Ishant Sharma, who also forced a nasty inside edge when the Australian was on 78. Kumble was convinced Ponting should have been out caught-and-bowled on 110, but umpire Rudi Koertzen disagreed after consulting with Rauf. India's captain also appealed furiously for lbw when Ponting was 116, although the ball appeared to be heading over the stumps.
One of Ponting's main concerns before the match was offspinner Harbhajan Singh, who had dismissed him eight times previously. He glanced his first ball from Harbhajan to the fine-leg boundary and showed few signs of discomfort until his exit. Two lofted fours off the bowler to mid-wicket were among his best shots, along with an off-drive from Kumble to move to 99.
Late in the day, Harbhajan dismissed Ponting for a ninth time with a contentious lbw decision that left Australia on 226-3. Hussey and Clarke almost made it to stumps, but Clarke fell lbw to Khan's ultimately final ball of the day. "It has been a pretty good day for us," Ponting said. "One for none after three balls, I was out there early, and we managed to consolidate throughout the day. We lost two wickets late in the day, which was a bit disappointing for us, but overall we're in a pretty good position."
Katich, who replaced Phil Jaques as Hayden's opening partner, was cautious before lunch but started to expand his stroke-play in the second session. His 50 came from 122 deliveries with an off-side boundary from Harbhajan. India rotated all four of its specialist bowlers, but Sharma was the only one to create regular bouts of discomfort for the batsmen. He was finally rewarded when he removed Katich off an edge to Dhoni shortly before tea. Khan had the best figures of 2-39, while Sharma collected 1-49 and Harbhajan 1-71. Sharma was happier with India's position following Khan's removal of Clarke.

IND v AUS, 1st Test, Bangalore, Day 1: Australia 254 for 4 v India

IND v AUS, 1st Test, Bangalore: Ponting, Katich flay India after early shock in cricket Test

Oct 09, 2008

Skipper Ricky Ponting and Simon Katich overcame the first-over dismissal of Matthew Hayden to lead Australia's fightback in the first cricket Test against India on Thursday.
The second-wicket pair, who came together without a run on the board, put on 166 for the second wicket in good batting conditions to lift the tourists to 166-2 by tea on the opening day. Ponting set aside his disappointing average of 12.27 in eight previous Tests on Indian soil, to remain unbeaten on a well-crafted 94 at the break.
Left-handed Katich, who hit back-to-back centuries on the last Test tour of the West Indies earlier this year, provided able support with 66 before he was dismissed just before tea. Katich poked at a ball outside the off-stump from seamer Ishant Sharma and walked away frustrated after the edge was easily taken by wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Michael Hussey had yet to open his account.
Ponting, who won the toss and elected to take first strike, has so far hit 12 boundaries in his highest knock in India, surpassing the 60 he made in Kolkata in 1998. The Australian captain is playing his 200th Test innings, making him only the fourth batsman from his country after Allan Border and the Waugh brothers, Steve and Mark, to achieve the feat.
The four-match series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy began in dramatic fashion when Zaheer Khan had veteran Hayden caught behind with the third delivery of the match. Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf took time to raise his finger as Hayden stood his ground, but television replays suggested a faint edge before the ball carried to Dhoni.
As Ponting and Katich settled down, India introduced spin in the 13th over in the form of off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, and skipper Anil Kumble himself came on with his leg-spin in the 18th. But both batsmen were unruffled on the easy-paced wicket, Ponting reaching his 50 by driving Zaheer through the covers for his seventh boundary.
Australia left out off-spinner Jason Krejza from the 12 announced on Wednesday to give Victorian leg-spinner Cameron White his Test debut. India went in with two seamers in Zaheer and Sharma and two spinners in Kumble and Harbhajan on a wicket that is expected to turn later in the match.

IND v AUS, 1st Test, Bangalore: Australia to target India veterans in first cricket Test

Oct 09, 2008

Australia captain Ricky Ponting says his team will target India's aging batsmen, including star Sachin Tendulkar, when the opening match of the four-Test cricket series starts Thursday.
Australia will field a relatively inexperienced team, but Ponting said his youthful lineup will try to make some of their opponents look "past their use-by date." "That's what we're trying to achieve, to put their older guys under immense pressure," he said. "We know if we do that, and make little things stand out, their whole media over here will just jump on them, especially if they lose an early game."
India will once again rely heavily on its so called "Fab Four," made up of veterans Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman. Former captain Ganguly, 36, announced Tuesday he will retire after the Australia tour, and Ponting now wants to put pressure on the other three.
Australia has outlined its strategy to bowl at the batsmen instead of the usual ploy of delivering outside the off stump, a method which was successful on the Indian tour of 2003-04. India coach Gary Kirsten, a former South Africa Test opener, said his big-name players were ready for the tactic.
"We are very aware of what their plans are and we have prepared accordingly," Kirsten said. "We really what we are looking for is for a few of them to get into good form early in the series. " Australia also has concerns over its older players - including opener Matthew Hayden, who returns after missing the West Indies series with a heel problem - and a bowling attack that is untried in India.
Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson have never played a Test in India, and Australia will wait until Thursday to decide whether Cameron White or Jason Krejza make their debut and fills the slow-bowling spot. "Our spinners are young and inexperienced at Test level, but if you look at our fast bowlers, those guys are very skilled and talented," Ponting said. "There's no reason why our fast bowlers alone can't win us this Test series."
Vice-captain Michael Clarke is suffering from a stomach illness but will play, while Shane Watson has been recalled to bat at No. 6. Simon Katich has beaten his New South Wales teammate Phil Jaques to the opening position alongside Hayden. Ganguly, who has scored 6,888 runs in 109 Tests, added some extra motivation for the home side when he revealed plans to step down at the end of the series. Ponting said the decision would ensure extra scrutiny on Ganguly's top-order teammates.
"By him making that announcement, it will take a lot of pressure off him," he said. "He's not playing for the next Test or next series. A lot of their senior players will be in this series. If you look at Laxman, Sachin and Dravid, they'll all be so wrapped up to get runs in this series to give them another opportunity." India is expected to choose two spinners for the first Test, with captain Anil Kumble pairing with off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, the 20-year-old fast bowler who impressed in Australia, are likely to share the new-ball duties.
Kumble, who turns 38 this month, said the Bangalore Test would be his last on his home ground, but refused to outline his exit plan. "I like to take things as they come," he said.
Harbhajan has had a prickly relationship with the Australians throughout his career, but is a big threat after taking 61 wickets against them in 11 Tests, including 55 in seven games at home. He is a particular threat to Ponting, who he has dismissed nine times. Ponting has only 172 runs from eight matches in India and is looking to correct one of the few weaknesses in his game. "For me it's just a matter of trusting myself," he said. "The series here in '01, the really bad series, was when I didn't trust my technique and was trying to find a way in every innings to combat mainly Harbhajan. "I've learned a lot and come a long way as a player since then."
Australia holds the Border-Gavaskar trophy after its 2-1 series victory at home in 2007-08, but the side has arrived in India with an outfit that includes only four players - Ponting, Hayden, Clarke and Katich - with Test experience here. In 2004 those players were part of the drought-breaking series victory, Australia's first in the country since 1969.

India vs Australia Cricket Series 2008-09

India vs Australia First Test at Bangalore

Scorecard

Australia won the toss and decided to bat

Australia 1st Innings

430 all out (149.5 overs)

India 1st Innings

68 for 0 (18.1 overs)

Australia 1st Innings - All out

			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Hayden	c Dhoni	b Zaheer	0	3	0	0
Katich	c Dhoni	b I Sharma	66	149	7	0
Ponting	lbw	b Harbhajan	123	243	13	0
M Hussey		b Zaheer	146	276	15	1
Clarke	lbw	b Zaheer	11	28	2	0
Watson		b I Sharma	2	14	0	0
Haddin	c Laxman	b I Sharma	33	110	4	0
White	c Harbhajan	b I Sharma	6	13	1	0
Lee		b Zaheer	27	61	4	0
Johnson		b Zaheer	1	4	0	0
Clark	not out		0	1	0	0
Extras		3nb 1w 11lb	15
Total		all out	430	(149.5 ovs)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Zaheer	29.5	4	91	5
I Sharma	30.0	7	77	4
Harbhajan	41.0	8	103	1
Kumble	43.0	6	129	0
Sehwag	6.0	0	19	0

Fall of wicket
0	Hayden
166	Katich
226	Ponting
254	Clarke
259	Watson
350	Haddin
362	White
421	Lee
429	Johnson
430	M Hussey

India 1st Innings

			Runs	Balls	4s	6s
Gambhir	not out		20	55	3	0
Sehwag	not out		43	55	7	0
Extras		1nb 4b	5
Total		for 0	68	(18.1 ovs)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
Lee	5.0	1	12	0
Clark	7.0	1	28	0
Johnson	4.1	0	23	0
Watson	2.0	1	1	0

Fall of wicket

Back to top

Umpires: Asad Rauf, R E Koertzen
India: Gambhir, Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, Dhoni, Kumble, Harbhajan, Zaheer, I Sharma
Australia: Katich, Hayden, Ponting, M Hussey, Clarke, White, Watson, Haddin, Lee, Johnson, Clark

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