Aussie Tour Diary 18th Oct.

End of day 2 : India 469 all out ( Sourav 102, MSD 92, Sachin 88)
Australia 102 for 4 (Amit Mishra 2/21)

Don’t be misled by the Aussie score, the wicket is flat, absolutely flat and there is nothing that causes concern. However the Indian bowling was at its best, I have never seen an Indian fast bowling duo that like this before. Never in my memory have I seen an Indian side with fast bowlers that have been better than the Australians. Add to that an attacking off spinner and a debutant leggie who was willing bowl slow and flight and lure the batsmen and beat them in the flight. Truly great to see that.

The day started with Dada on 50 and Ishant Sharma, he was quickly bounced out by the other debutant Peter Siddle. In walked the new skipper, this man never ceases to surprise me. When we all thought he might just play a slow innings and grind the opposition bowlers and bat long. He decided to take the bull by the horns and was seen hooking and pulling Lee, Siddle and Watson with disdain. The Aussies too got a bit carried away and kept banging in short while they should have been trying to make the new batsman drive.

Sourav batted with a lot of grit and scored his century in the farewell series and for a change it was good to see that there was no point to prove and that he was glad for himself. This hundred I suspect is very very satisfying for the former captain. Dhoni missed out his hundred being handed a shocker by Rudi Koertzen.

At 469 all out, few would have expected what was to come, the pitch was flat and it seemed that the Aussies would score the runs as well. However Zaheer seems to have the number of Mathew Hayden for the moment and he dismissed him for the 7th time in his career. Again an unsure Hayden which is a rarity, pushed half forward and the ball sneaked in between his bat and pad to peg back the off stump. In walked Ponting, surely Hayden’s wicket was an aberration this was still a good wicket to bat on. But Ishant had other idea’s and he seems to have Ponting’s number at the moment. He probably got Ponting out twice in the same over but the earlier one was not given. The heat with which the two quickies were bowling was heart warming and a treat to the eyes who have always seen this happening to us but never being given back by us. Not only there was spirit in the effort but there was line and length and discipline and a lot of thought. I am crossing my fingers these two remain fit for the few coming years.

Time for the debutant to have his say in the match with his 12th delivery in test cricket Amit Mishra got his first test wicket, but the wicket of Clarke was as spectacular as anything. Last over of the day with two bowls to go and nothing much happening, MSD prompted him to go around the wicket and the debutant goes around and bowls a googly that beat Micheal Clarke’s defense. He was out on the last over of the day twice in the series. Amit Mishra and the team left the field with a spring in their stride. Hoping to make something of this match, still a tough job as the wicket is really flat and if some people do get it they can bat on this pitch.