Australia tour of India
3rd Test: India v Australia at Mohali, Oct 19-21, 2008
Australia's bowlers corrected the mistakes that added to their suffering during the morning session and were able to restrict the run-rate and take crucial wickets to reduce India's advantage in Mohali. They had conceded 104 runs during the first session but pulled India back by dismissing two set batsmen, Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid, and VVS Laxman during the second, which cost only 70 runs.
Mitchell Johnson, Australia's best bowler in Bangalore, was largely responsible for the fightback. He ended Virender Sehwag's charge in the morning, caught down the leg side, and dismissed Laxman in a similar manner after lunch. In between those wickets he contained Dravid by bowling full and wide with seven fielders on the off side, and forced an edge from Gambhir as he tried to drive another full delivery through cover. Australia had picked up three wickets for 17 runs and regained ground lost earlier in the day when Gambhir and Sehwag raced away at nearly six an over.
The frequent showers in the days before the Test had caused concerns about the pitch at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium. The curator Daljit Singh feared it would be sluggish; however it was anything but. Unlike the surface in Bangalore, the bounce was true, there was hardly any swing or movement off the pitch, and the ball came on to the bat, and sped off it. The pitch allowed the batsmen to drive on the up, or hit through the line, and Sehwag and Gambhir took advantage of it.
They were aided by a supply of loose deliveries. Brett Lee began by spraying one for five wides outside off stump in his first over and he, and the debutant Peter Siddle, bowled several that were too full, wide and sometimes too straight.
Gambhir experienced an unsettling moment when Siddle's first ball in international cricket struck him on the back of the helmet. He recovered and, moving his feet smoothly, drove Siddle through cover, a stroke that would become a feature of his innings.
Sehwag had an edgy start to his innings: he slashed Lee in the air past gully and was beaten by one from Siddle which seamed away from him. However, he ensured the run-rate stayed around six an over by piercing the infield frequently. He punished Siddle when the line was too straight, nudging him down to fine leg, and flicking to the square-leg boundary twice in succession.
The batsmen hit 10 boundaries in the first hour and raced to 63 in 13 overs. Ponting employed a man on the sweeper boundary and also brought in a conventional square leg. The cordon, which had three slips at the start, now had only one.
Having tried all his fast bowlers, Ricky Ponting gave the final over of the session to the left-arm spinner Michael Clarke. Gambhir took the opportunity to reach his half-century before lunch by stepping out to loft Clarke twice in a row over mid-on.
The Australians came out after the break with different lines of attack. Watson and Siddle restricted Gambhir's scoring by aiming short balls at his ribs. Their strategy to Dravid, however, did not work for they angled deliveries into him and often drifted on to the pads. Dravid thrived against this line: he glanced one delivery towards the fine-leg boundary, and flicked three between square leg and mid-on, in the space of eight balls.
Ponting eventually brought Johnson and Lee back and their restrictive lines were successful in slowing down the innings. Johnson slanted deliveries full and wide outside off stump and asked the batsmen to drive through a string field. Dravid chased one and was beaten after which he let several go. He had moved from 11 to 33 in 21 balls but scored only six off the next 20 before playing on while trying to force Lee through the off side.
India had two new batsmen at the crease a short while before tea and had to begin from scratch. They went into the break with Sachin Tendulkar two runs short of becoming the leading run-scorer in Test cricket but their strong start to the game had been weakened.
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