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Australia v India: Day 1

Friday, January 2 2004

The atmosphere was electrifying, the stage was set, the script was written. With a warrior bowing out of the game, the ingredients were there for an unforgettable encounter against two foes.

The Sydney Cricket Ground was the venue which had the honour in staging one of the greatest encounters in cricketing history and had the distinct honour in bidding a fond farewell to one of the greatest cricketer's and minds to play the game, Stephen Rodger Waugh.

A beaming bright summer's day, not a cloud in the sky and the SCG appeared as one of the prettiest sites one could ever see in the world. A 1-1 was the proposition for salivating cricket fans all over the world, as Sourav Ganguly's chargers were pitted against the greatest team and the greatest captain in contemporary cricket history.

Sourav Ganguly won the toss, a vital toss at the beautifully prepared SCG. Ganguly decided to bat, much to the discontentment of the entire Sydney 'Pro-Waugh' crowd. Ganguly, who has displayed shades of 'Waugh' in this series had no doubt in making the decision.

Two vital changes were made for the touring Indians. Impressive Railways left arm spinner, Murali Kartik and the ever determined young left arm fast bowler, Irfan Pathan were included in place of the aggressive Zaheer and the struggling Ashish Nehra.

The Aussies had a difficult choice to make. Unlucky was the tag allocated to speedstar Brad Williams. The fiery young man from Western Australia had to be left out, after a stellar performance in Melbourne. Everything was set to go, as Chopra and Sehwag faced the explosive Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie.

It was drama and fireworks straight away, as a nervous Chopra survived a close caught behind appeal from the Australian fast bowlers. Chopra continued to ride his fortune as he was caught by Adam Gilchrist off a Brett Lee no ball. The very next ball, Chopra survived once more with Simon Katich dropping a relatively simple catch at gully.

With Chopra trying to be the anchor and riding his luck, Virender Sehwag didn't appear fussed nor worried in the slightest. Sehwag continued with his philosophy of domination and aggression, as the two compiled an opening partnership of 123. Sehwag reached a well deserved half century and was looking extremely threatning.

Sehwag (72), however couldn't continue with his domination as he got a feather touch to the wicket keeper off Jason Gillespie's persistent bowling. Akash Chopra and Rahul Dravid applyed themselves and tried to consolidate whilst being ever solid at the crease.

However, Chopra's luck ran out as he was bowled by a vicious inswinging yorker by Brett Lee. Not even the greatest of batsmen could've dug that out, and Chopra fell victim for 45 off an extremely good delivery.

Due to Chopra and Sehwag's immense application and efforts throughout the test series, the highly valuable Indian middle order have been allowed to play freely, and without pressure. It seems to be that India's 20 year search to find that elusive opening pair is now close to being over.

This bought the little master to the crease, as Tendulkar looked to start the year 2004 with a bang. Tendulkar played two trademark 'Sachin' strokes to race to 10. Tendulkar had the look of a determined man, as the rushing cover drives that had dismissed him in previous tests were not there to be seen today.

Tendulkar played with a touch of genius, a touch of control mixed with a plentiful of determination which only meant bad news for Australia's bowlers. After a period of consolidating, Rahul Dravid unleashed into Stuart MacGill after the tea break with gloriously elegant cover drives. Dravid (38) looked solid, before being lbw to Jason Gillespie.

Tendulkar unleashed his trademark straight drive and leg glances as he too reached a well deserved and well fought out half century. VVS Laxman arrived to the crease to accompany Sachin Tendulkar and appeared as calm and circumspect as his illustrious team mate.

Tendulkar rallied on, and guided his tally into the 70's with a beautifully played boundary off his pads. Tendulkar and Laxman safely guided India into a very good position of 3/284, with Tendulkar on 73* and Laxman on 29*.

Another glorious day of cricket awaits all of us tomorrow, with no doubt the Indian's wanting to push home the advantage so India can once again retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Another sell out is guaranteed at the SCG for tomorrow, and a certain Stephen Rodger Waugh no doubt will be marshalling his troops and fighting hard as always.

Please join us tomorrow for the Day 2 Bulletin, at the end of play on Day 2 at http://www.cricketweb.net

Brief Score Summary:

India (1st Innings): 3/284 (Tendulkar 73*, Sehwag 72, Chopra 45, Laxman 29*, Gillespie 2/51, Lee 1/80)



Posted by Sangrah