Sport

Gripping final day’s play in the offing scoreboard

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

SHOULDERING ARMS: Australia’s Mike Hussey completely misreads this one from Harbhajan Singh to be castled even as M.S. Dhoni and Rahul Dravid celebrate.

Bangalore: It promises to be a gripping final day on a surface of variable bounce. And the Indian batting will be under scrutiny.

Australia, 263 runs ahead with five wickets intact at stumps on the fourth day, is likely to declare after a possible 60 odd minutes of hectic batting on Monday. The Aussie pace-pack will then seek to exploit the developing cracks on the pitch. Decisive front-footed play will be vital for India’s survival.

The Aussies themselves were under some stress on Sunday before the loose limbed Shane Watson, a powerful and a bold striker of the ball, and Brad Haddin, a quick-thinking, quick-footed batsman, added 65 runs in 104 balls for the unbeaten sixth wicket to put the pressure back on India.

Australia, ahead by 70 in the first innings, finished at 193 for five at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

A sore shoulder kept skipper Anil Kumble off the field for 103 minutes when the Aussies began their second innings — M.S. Dhoni led the side during the period — but the leg-spinner returned to bowl seven overs in the evening.

Harbhajan shouldered the spin mantle well. He ripped and flighted the ball to extract turn and bounce; he believes in the use of the wrist more than the value of pivoting.

The off-spinner castled a fluent Michael Hussey (31) with a piece of deception. Bowling round-the-wicket to the left-hander, Harbhajan disguised his back-of-the-hand doosra. Hussey, playing for off-spin, shouldered arms.

The predictably determined Simon Katich (34), rather unpredictably, jumped out to Harbhajan, striking the ball over the man at cover.

The next delivery spun away sharply and the left-handed Katich, committed to the front foot, was held at silly point. It was the subtle change in length as much as bounce that did Katich in. Had Gautam Gambhir been more alert close to the bat, Harbhajan could have nailed Katich earlier.

Harbhajan exploited the rough created by left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan to hound Ricky Ponting with four fielders hovering around the bat. He was unlucky not to scalp the Australian captain but Ishant Sharma did.

The highlight of a captivating afternoon was the Ishant-Ponting face-off. Ishant bowled an off-stump line with a predominantly single-preventing off-side field.

The only men saving the boundary on the leg-side were stationed at deep mid-wicket and deep square-leg. Ponting, in a gamble, flicked Ishant from off-and-middle to the fine-leg boundary. The Punter was being set up.

In the same over, Ishant struck Ponting on the glove with a lifting delivery that jagged back from a length, straightened one and cut one back for a confident leg-before shout.

Not much later, Ponting was walking back, attempting to hit Ishant with the inward movement only to find the ball straighten a trifle.

A waiting V.V.S. Laxman snaffled up a sharp catch at short mid-wicket.

Interestingly for someone who predominantly sends down off-cutters, Ishant does not deliver from wide off the crease.

He kept the left-handers guessing from over-the-wicket, seaming or angling the ball away or straightening the odd one; the reverse of a left-arm paceman operating to a right-handed batsman.

Ishant also switched his line well. When the right-handed Michael Clarke arrived, he was relentless around the off-stump. Clarke flirted with danger, striking on the up on a surface of this nature and almost being picked up at short cover. He repeated the stroke in the same over and Ishant celebrated.

Cricket in the middle was intriguing. Zaheer Khan tormented an uncomfortable Matthew Hayden with two-way movement around the off-stump and prised out the left-hander with a delivery that swung in. Hayden’s high back-lift did not make batting easier for him on a surface with inconsistent bounce.

Zaheer also displayed exemplary commitment with the bat. During his unbeaten 57 (121b, 7x4) that stretched the Indian total to 360, he got solidly behind the line and was judicious in his strokeplay.

The Indian batsmen will have to display similar resolve on a critical Monday.

SCOREBOARD