Highlights-
The batting of the top four was forgettable. Jaffer and Chopra were getting starts and then threw their wickets away. Badrinath was done in by a bad decision, and his early dismissal was a shocker, especially since he's the one most likely to make a Test debut. It's good to see Kohli and Rohit Sharma pile on centuries in quick time, as this is a team against which a good performance counts, even if it's not a Test match.
Both looked supreme against the spinners. They used their feet well, made full use of the token boundary ball that was coming and made full use of that free-scoring opportunity that came along. They didn't face the seamers too much, and eventually, the seamers got them out on a very slow pitch. Sharma looked more stable out there, while Kohli was quite impulsive and took more than a few risks. The running between wickets was also very neat, as also pinching gaps in the outfield.
The Australian seamers were fast and too hot to handle. Bowling in the 140's regularly, Lee, Johnson and Siddle made batting very uncomfortable for the Indian reserves. This is a taste of what's to come for the Indian frontline batting, and given their weaknesses against pace, they won't score too much, especially in the initial overs. Clark got a wicket and didn't bowl as fast, but kept things steady. Johnson struggled a little with his line, but at his pace, even bad balls looked like taking wickets. He didn't try to swing the ball, but kept it down that channel and was rewarded with three wickets.
In comparison, the Australians have major problems with their spinners. Jason Krejza bowled utter rubbish, offering a boundary-ball every over, and even got his foot down too far at times. Even as there is talk of the Indians not playing spin as good as they used to, they can surely smash what comes from him easily all around the park. In fact, it makes sense not to include him in the playing XI and go in with an all-pace attack, as that will give the Indians little breathing space.
