Wow.. what a day!!! Absolutely demoralizing despiriting. Think first time we have had such a day under Kohli.. Guess it had to happen sometime or the other. The game can bite you in the ass when you try to be too fancy and Virat is finding it out the hard way. Everything goes back to how he tried to manufacture a 5-fer for Umesh and it all went downhill since.
The worst part is the pitch si a bunsen mafia is back. The idiotic posts calling all wickets during the home season as "bunsens" were seen earlier int he thread. And the nauseatingly arrogant and smug Michael Clarke on commentary just makes it worse.
Wish India could catch half decently, we might have been batting by the end of the day. Ashwin must be so tired, he has basically carried the bowling this innings. And seen two of his Chennai mates drop dollies to help Smith get to 60.
All is not lost though. Burgey will be happy to know, I am sure, that Chennai boy Sriram worked the magic potion that made Australian spinners threatening again.
Seriously though, brilliant bowling by Steve O Keefe. The ptich is a turner but the turn is slow and the bounce and pace are pretty consistent, which means when batsmen, like the aussies in both innings, are intent on just defending the LBW and the stumps and dont mind being beaten on the outside edge, it is easier to bat on. Problem is, Aussies were nowhere near the ball, so in a way, not being that good at picking and reacting to spin has helped them stay put, while the Indians have followed the line of the ball, tried to score off them and lost their wickets in a heap to SOK. He deserves the wickets, I have been saying he is good ever since the SL tests and nice to see him justify all the hype. He is perfect for the track as he also gets it through at a better pace. Jadeja's improvement as a spinner over the past 12 months has actually hindered him on this track, which is made for his old bowling style of darts that turn.
Having said all that, it would be a massive massive choke job if Australia were to lose from here. The pitch is still not a demon even though the turn is increasing and there are patches on the track which might btring in inconsistent bounce, but I still think India would fancy a chase of upto 350. Very interesting weekend on the cards.
