da brdice： Hurdles keep confronting them and yet Australia’s cricketers continuetheir eminently successful negotiation of most obstacles in theircontemporary Test cricketing path
John Polack11-Dec-1999Hurdles keep confronting them and yet Australia’s cricketers continuetheir eminently successful negotiation of most obstacles in theircontemporary Test cricketing path. That is again the bottom line afteranother uncompromising six hours of cricket from the home team on daytwo of the First Test left India 123 for four in response to their 441by stumps here at the Adelaide Oval today.In essence, this was a day when two of Test cricket’s key definingingredients – namely, steely competitiveness and the ability of thegame’s great players to rise effortlessly to the top – were inabundance.After medium pacer Ajit Agarkar (2/86) had revived India’s flickeringhopes of dismissing the Australians for a modest first innings totalby sensationally claiming the wicket of Adam Gilchrist (0) with thevery first ball of the day’s play, it was Steve Waugh (150) and ShaneWarne (86) who were the first to underscore these principles when theaction began.Although they were tested by some accurate bowling at the outset andwere not always in command, the pair at first resisted the Indians’best attempts to launch a decisive wicket taking burst beforeunleashing a withering assault.Around two sweeping showers which forced the players from the fieldfor a total of 37 minutes, Warne, in particular, was in cavaliertouch. Whilst he rarely conformed to the copybook in the course ofequalling his highest Test and first class score, he played sometremendously forceful shots. On a pitch which showed increasing signsof developing into the sort of true batting surface for which AdelaideOval wickets are renowned, the Victorian trusted his attackinginstincts almost from the outset of a lustily belligerent inningswhich spanned just 126 minutes and contained 13 fours and onesix. Signs of his ruthlessness were especially evident as he hammeredfour boundaries in the space of six balls from Venkatesh Prasad (3/83)and Javagal Srinath (1/117) in the middle of the first session. Thenoisy, if small, crowd was also delighted by a contemptuous slog sweepfor six over backward square leg off fellow leg spinner Anil Kumble(2/101) five minutes prior to the lunch adjournment.At the other end in their partnership of 108 runs for the seventhwicket, Waugh also continued to pose problems for the manful, albeitlargely disheartened, Indian attack. Like it had been yesterday, itwas his easing of the ball into gaps in the leg side field whichearned him many of his runs but he also showed a willingness to drivepowerfully through the off side when permitted the opportunity. Hisvigil finally came to an end only moments after he had become theeighth most prolific runscorer in Test history, a loose, tired-lookingdrive at an Agarkar outswinger heralding his demise.When India’s turn finally came to respond, more woe followed. Thefirst blow came in extraordinary fashion as Sadagoppan Ramesh (2) wasrun out in the third over attempting a fourth run from a shot playedby opening partner Devang Gandhi through mid off from Glenn McGrath’sbowling. Having leisurely run each of the first three, Ramesh wascaught short by a freak direct hit by Greg Blewett, who had pursuedthe ball toward the extraordinarily long straight boundary at theRiver Torrens end of this ground. Worse was to follow as Gandhi (4)himself fended nervously at a short McGrath delivery in the fifth overof the innings, succeeding only in directing the ball into the waitinghands of Michael Kasprowicz at short backward square leg.While they continued to be pinned down by some brilliant bowling fromMcGrath (2/11) and Warne (1/43) throughout the remainder of the day,it was then that India’s own stars took to the batting stage. Theelegant VVS Laxman (41) and Rahul Dravid (35) were the first to answerwhat had, at that point, become a deafening call for some steadfastresistance with a stylish liaison of 81 runs that threatened tosubstantially frustrate the Australians. Both executed a classicalmixture of defence and attack and alternated between the back andfront foot as they gradually wore down a lineup suddenly prone tooperating more erratically than normal. Paceman Kasprowicz’s displaywas reflective of the Australians’ fleeting loss of focus, 15 runscoming from his first over and a profligate eleven no balls deliveredin his eight overs in total.Although the Indian fightback suffered bad lapses when Laxmanultimately slashed McGrath’s first ball of a sublime second spell intothe gully and Dravid inside edged a Warne delivery to short leg, thekey figures of Sachin Tendulkar (12* in 89 patient minutes) and SauravGanguly (also 12*) then attempted to continue the act ofconsolidation. McGrath presented them with few opportunities to scorein an eight over burst which netted him the extraordinary figures of1/1 but they survived and will duly be there again in the morning totry to resist the almost indefatigable Australians through what mightconceivably represent the Test’s most crucial phase of all.