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Inevitable draw in 1st test.

Tuesday, December 9 2003

A Brutal 140 run stand between Ricky Ponting & Matthew Hayden , pitted against some flashy batting from Indian pair Rahul Dravid & V.V.S.Laxman was not enough to avoid a draw in the first test between Australia & Brisbane , however it did make for an interesting spectacle to end a very frustrating affair for both sides.

Starting the day at 6-362 , the tourists lost allrounder Ajit Agarkar to the first ball of the morning , edging an Andy Bichel loosener into the safe hands of Matthew Hayden at first slip , Jason Gillespie then struck the very next over , luring stubborn keeper Parthiv Patel into a hook shot , Bichel then taking a superb catch from the resulting top edge on the fine leg boundary.
With both overnight batsman out early the Indians seemed likely to fold early , however removing Zaheer Khan & Harbhajan Singh proved a more difficult proposition than expected , the tailenders batting with patience not suggested by their averages , Harbhajan pulling Gillespie elegantly through midwicket & Zaheer driving Nathan Bracken back over his head for 6 , however just as he was beginning to make a real nuisance of himself , Zaheer was bowled by a huge turner from Stuart MacGill for 27 , number 11 Ashish Nehra was then adjudged leg before to a MacGill full toss in the leg spinners next over.
India all out for 409 , an 86 run lead , Jason Gillespie was easily the best of the bowlers with 4-65 , while MacGill picked up a confidence boosting 4-86.

Faced with the unusual situation of having to play for a draw , the Aussies were uncharacteristically tentative early on , Justin Langer was caught behind pushing at an away swinger from Agarkar for 0 , while Ricky Ponting was anything but convincing early on at one stage playing & missing at 5 consecutive Zaheer deliveries ,
however to their credit the Australian’s managed to reach lunch only 1 wicket down .

Despite being convincingly outplayed in the morning session , the Aussie’s fought back admirably after lunch , Matthew Hayden driving & pulling with the sort of ferocity that gives bowlers nightmares while Ricky Ponting showed just how different a player he is to the one Harbhajan dismissed five times in 2001 , using his feet to drive the off spinner for several elegant boundaries on the way to his second half century of the match.
However just as he was looking set to go on to 3 figures Ponting lost patience , driving on the up at a wide Nehra delivery , only to be well caught by Virender Sehwag at gully for 50. Hayden further upped the tempo as the drinks break neared , hitting Sachin Tendulkar & Nehra for massive straight sixes , as he moved on to 99 from just 95 deliveries , surely a 17th test hundred was just around the corner , unfortunately it wasn’t to be , Hayden slog sweeping a ball from Harbhajan , only for Sehwag to take a simple catch 10 metres in on the square leg boundary , Hayden trundled off in a casual manner , not typical of a man out one run short of his hundred , his 99 coming from 98 deliveries & including 10 fours & 2 sixes.

Steve Waugh’s final stride out to the middle of the Gabba was greeted with typically rapturous applause , despite his slow start , which included a missed stumping on 8 , Waugh soon began to find the middle of the bat , going to tea unbeaten in the thirties.

The veteran skipper brought up his half century soon after tea , Damien Martyn also reached an elegant fifty , driving Harbhajan for a massive 6 in the process.
Commentators & spectators alike were warming to the prospect of a farewell hundred for Waugh , when he surprised all , declaring the innings at 3-284 & setting India 199 in 23 overs.
Waugh remained on 56 , with Martyn going strong on 66.

The Indians were always unlikely to chase the target , and when they lost both openers to Nathan Bracken within 2 balls , Sehwag by virtue of a dreadful shot & Chopra falling to a great catch by Langer at gully.
Rahul Dravid & Laxman then batted at an upbeat tempo for the remainder of the day , Dravid’s unbeaten 43 is his highest score in Australia & will no doubt fill him with confidence going into the Adelaide test.
The Indians were 2-73 at stumps , Laxman remaining on 23 , Bracken’s 2 early wickets giving him 2-12.

Zaheer Khan is under an injury cloud for the Indians after bowling just 3 overs today , while Brett Lee is rated a 50% chance of returning for Australia.

Summary – Australia 323 (Langer 115 , Ponting 54 , Khan 5-95) & 3-284 dec (Hayden 99 , Martyn 66*) drew with
India 409 (Ganguly 144 , Laxman 75 , Gillespie 4-62) & 2-73 (Dravid 43* , Bracken 2-14)
Man of the match: Sourav Ganguly


Posted by DavidH