India Recovers To Apply Pinch
The Age
Thursday December 27, 2007
A gladiator under pressure holds his ground and adds another century to his extraordinary record.
ON A captivating Boxing Day, India's unyielding captain Anil Kumble showed he was strong enough to stand up to Australia and another giant of the game, Matthew Hayden, with a performance he last night described as the most significant of his distinguished career. This from a man who once took all 10 wickets in an innings. Kumble made a powerful early statement just as former skipper Sourav Ganguly did with his memorable century on the opening day of the corresponding series four years ago. The tall Bangalorian will hope that his 5-84 in front of 68,465 people at the MCG proves as inspirational as Ganguly's Brisbane ton did in 2003-04, when India came as close as any side has in the past 15 years to beating Australia on home soil."It is probably the top of everything because it was the first day, Boxing Day, MCG, against Australia and the first match of the series. I think it's a very special one," said Kumble, rating yesterday's effort above even the 10-74 he took against Pakistan in 1998-99."I have always believed that the first innings of the first Test of a series is very important and I think we have done exceptionally well after being on the back foot at lunch. So I'm really pleased with the way everyone has performed today."With his probing wrist-spin, the 37-year-old orchestrated a stirring fightback after Hayden and Phil Jaques marched to the lunch break at 0-111 with a business-like handshake that symbolised the firm grip Australia threatened to take on the Test.It was a position from which the Australians have a habit of batting touring teams into submission, but instead the game was intriguingly poised at stumps. The last batting pair, Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark, will resume today at 9-337 with their country in the fight that world cricket has been craving.That should not diminish Hayden's achievement, a century on a slow pitch that he last night rated among the best of his 28 career hundreds. It was his sixth in seven Melbourne Tests, and came after he and Jaques survived a challenging first session.India wanted to bat first, having played to its strength by selecting two spinners, Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, who would be most dangerous on the fourth and fifth days. But Ricky Ponting won the toss and batted.Left-armers Zaheer Khan and RP Singh bowled well enough to strike but Hayden and Jaques took their chances. In one over Jaques didn't play a shot and was thumped on the pad, but survived, and in the next Hayden edged a four through a gap where third slip should have been.Having survived the new ball and a streaky first hour, the left-handed pair settled into their work against the only remaining seamer, Ganguly, and the off-spin of Harbhajan.Hayden was at his most gladiatorial, charging Ganguly when he could, while Jaques swept Harbhajan crisply to raise his half-century with his seventh boundary in 80 balls.After lunch Kumble broke the stand with a wrong 'un that slipped past the edge of Jaques' bat and allowed Mahendra Singh Dhoni to complete a simple stumping; the fall of the wicket created an opening for India to take 3-30 in the space of seven overs.He captured the wickets of five Australians - the 35th five-wicket haul of his career - and was unlucky not to be granted a sixth when Johnson edged a ball onto his pad that was caught close to the wicket, and given not out. While Kumble finished the day with 5-84 from 25 overs, it was Khan who arguably made the most significant breakthrough, and with the most brilliant delivery. It had to be to good to get through the defences of the Australian captain, who had not been bowled in a Test since West Indies paceman Fidel Edwards knocked his stumps over at Bellerive Oval two years ago.Khan produced a wonderful seaming delivery from around the wicket that started wide and flattened Ponting's off-stump. When Kumble struck again, inflicting on Mike Hussey his first failure in a year, the home team was 3-165 and, finally, in a contest.Australia steadied through Hayden and Michael Clarke until Clarke reached at a wide one from RP Singh and was caught in the slips for 20, and Kumble kept Boxing Day Test specialist Andrew Symonds from making India pay for a tough leg-side chance dropped by Dhoni before he had scored. Symonds fell to a wonderful catch by substitute fielder Dinesh Karthik.Hayden, who eventually popped up a catch on 124, believes India's star batsmen, too, will find the conditions difficult for batting when their turn comes today. "It was a difficult enough wicket and those conditions will be revealed over the next four days," the Queenslander said. If opening exchanges are any guide, it will make for an absorbing Boxing Day Test.
© 2007 The Age