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Katich helps Australia make strong reply

S. Ram Mahesh

Debutant Jason Krejza picks up eight wickets; good knock by Sourav Ganguly

— Photo: S. Subramanium

GREAT EFFORT: Michael Clarke takes a sharp catch to end Sourav Ganguly’s stay in the middle.

Nagpur: The two angry Europeans in the Australian side, as Jason Krejza refers to Simon Katich and himself, preserved the world champion’s now tenuous grip on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Krejza and Katich swung the middle and the final sessions of the second day Australia’s way, taking advantage of several Indian slip-ups. The fourth Test, which will decide the fate of the trophy, was thus intriguingly poised after stumps on Friday.

Krejza, overlooked for the first three Tests, bought his wickets dearly with jagged turn and precipitous bounce, but bought eight of them to justify the investment.

Reward for courage

The off-spinner was rewarded for his courage under fire — his five wickets in 26 balls after lunch reduced India from 422 for five (with thoughts of an iron-clad first-innings score) to 441 all out.

Katich then made the most of flaccid, ill-disciplined Indian bowling, motoring to an unbeaten 92 and powering Australia’s reply to 189 for two in 49 overs. He lost Mathew Hayden to a poorly judged single, M. Vijay’s direct hit from mid-on finding the left-hander short, and captain Ricky Ponting to a Harbhajan Singh off-break that made haste off the wicket, breaching an aspiring, ill-advised cut.

Crucial partnership

But Katich found a willing ally in Michael Hussey (45 batting). The pair — left-handers of markedly different styles and technique, although they are often lumped together under ‘gritty’ — added 115 for the unbroken third-wicket.

On the longevity of this alliance rests Australia’s chances of building a huge first-innings score, and forcing India into undue caution in its second stint.

India, in possession of both a 1-0 lead and the whip hand this Test, needs no more than a draw to clinch the series and regain the trophy. But it is vital M.S. Dhoni doesn’t surrender thoughts of winning.

Terrific decision

His decision to hand Harbhajan the new ball was terrific: not only would the shiny-hard ball bounce abruptly, drift occasionally, turn unpredictably, and force the openers, prepared for Ishant Sharma, to think differently, it would be scuffed for reverse swing.

But Dhoni’s bowlers didn’t support their captain on Friday. Harbhajan dismissed Ponting for the tenth time to reach 300 Test wickets; his lack of control, however, was worrying. Ishant had his moments, but Zaheer Khan didn’t fulfil the responsibility of leading the attack. India must tighten its bowling on what promises to be a contest-shaping middle day.

Earlier, in the morning, Sourav Ganguly and Dhoni drew from the playbook of incremental gains, shepherding India in two hours from 311 to 404 for five. Aware of the significance of the phase, the pair batted with care without being conservative. They were aided by Australia’s lack of control. (A terrible day for bowlers all round; a sign of things to come?).

Ganguly bats well

Ganguly moved irrevocably to a century in his final Test, hopping out of the way of bouncers banged in the bowler’s half of the strip, when not timing it through the off-side.

He played Krejza’s angle from over the wicket particularly well, glancing and paddle-sweeping to draw the ball to cut.

One delivery climbed from the rough to hit Ganguly on the chin, but he made little of it, indicating to his captain that it wasn’t much to fret over, except for the Australians who would (probably) bat last on the track. For fun and games and effect, he charged the off-spinner and levered a six with that easy, liquid swing of his.

Dhoni — who had batted with great control for his 56, muscling the seamers through the off-side with his curious but effective leaping, crouching technique — attempted a stand-up paddle that sparked the post-prandial collapse. Krejza’s flattish off-break turned, snuck behind Dhoni’s legs, and found the stumps.

Sharp catch

In the same over, another delivery, further tossed up, broke across Ganguly (85) from leg to off, persuading the slanted, edged guide to first slip where Michael Clarke, deputing for Hayden, completed a sharp one-handed catch.

Wiping the tail

Krejza proceeded to run through the tail: a sharp-spinning off-break pierced an ambitious Zaheer cover-drive; the next didn’t turn as much, conning Mishra who thought it might and played inside it.

Ishant, seven around him like condors after carrion, warded off the hat-trick ball, but soon fended a superb reflex catch to Katich at short-leg. As the 25-year-old was clapped off the field to the accompaniment of Limp Bizkit, the schizophrenia of his accomplishment set in. No debutant has conceded more than Krejza’s 215 runs; only five others have scalped as many in an innings in their first Test.

scoreboard

India - 1st innings: V. Sehwag b Krejza 66, M. Vijay c Haddin b Watson 33, R. Dravid c Katich b Krejza 0, S. Tendulkar lbw b Johnson 109, V.V.S. Laxman c Haddin b Krejza 64, S. Ganguly c Clarke b Krejza 85, M.S. Dhoni b Krejza 56, Harbhajan (not out) 18, Zaheer b Krejza 1, A. Mishra b Krejza 0, Ishant c Katich b Krejza 0; Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-2, w-1): 9; Total (in 124.5 overs): 441.

Fall of wickets: 1-98 (Vijay), 2-99 (Dravid), 3-116 (Sehwag), 4-262 (Laxman), 5-303 (Tendulkar), 6-422 (Dhoni), 7-423 (Ganguly), 8-437 (Zaheer), 9-437 (Mishra).

Australia bowling: Lee 16-2-62-0, Johnson 32-11-84-1, Watson 20-5-42-1, Krejza 43.5-1-215-8, White 10-1-24-0, Katich 3-0-8-0.

Australia - 1st innings: M. Hayden (run out) 16, S. Katich (batting) 92, R. Ponting b Harbhajan 24, M. Hussey (batting) 45; Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-1, Pen: 5): 12; Total (for two wkts. in 49 overs): 189.

Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Hayden), 2-74 (Ponting).

India bowling: Zaheer 8-0-41-0, Harbhajan 16-0-57-1, Ishant 8-2-25-0, Mishra 9-1-31-0, Sehwag 6-1-11-0, Tendulkar 2-0-13-0.

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