Final Session, Day 1
Zaheer Khan's reverse swing towards the fag end of the day's play shifted the advantage towards India despite an unbeaten century from opener Shane Watson. The visitors had a horrible last session which saw them score a dull 45 runs in as many as 33 overs and at Stumps are at a vulnerable 224 for 5! It was in the 83rd over that Zaheer Khan came back into the bowling attack perhaps to warm up with the old ball before taking the second new ball. However, the old ball was reverse swinging a lot to account for the wickets of the left handed Michael Hussey and Marcus North in quick succession.
Hussey was caught napping when he attempted a casual forward defence which was defeated comprehensively by an alarming inswinger from Zaheer that had him plumb infront of middle. The left hander made a laborious 17 from 96 balls! Watson got his 2nd Test hundred but he too was in a shell in the final session defending almost every delivery. He lost another partner in Marcus North (0) when the left hander offered no shot to a reversing inswinger from Zaheer which swung back just enough to kiss the off stump bail! While Zaheer was the most successful bowler with 16-4-45-3, credit also needs to be given to Pragyan Ojha for conceding a paltry 39 runs in 31 overs which included a dozen maidens!
Afternoon Session, Day 1
India managed to claw their way back on the first day's play of the Mohali Test by reducing Australia to 179 for 3 in 57 overs. A much better fielding performance backed the bowlers to make the Aussies work hard for their runs. Just the 78 runs were scored in the post lunch session in 29 overs with left arm spinner Pragyan Ojha strangling them up with tight figures of 18-6-25-0. Australia are still looking good though with Shane Watson on an unbeaten 75.
The two wickets to go down in this session were that of Skipper Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke. Ponting was run out by a direct throw from Raina at mid wicket after he was called for a quick single by Watson in the 42nd over. Ponting was furious to be run out on 71 (from 124 balls with 10 fours) and also had a spat with Zaheer Khan while walking back to the pavilion. Ponting put on 141 runs for the 2nd wicket with Watson. Michael Clarke (14) got out just about 10 minutes before Tea when he edged a rash square cut against the turn of a Harbhajan Singh off break to Dravid at slip. In what was the last ball before Tea, Michael Hussey was lucky to survive after edging Pragyan Ojha on the bounce to slip.
Morning Session, Day 1
Australia recovered after an early loss to finish at a solid 101 for 1 in the 28 overs that were bowled during the morning session. The Mohali pitch was devoid of any real pace and bounce. The ball would often struggle to carry to the wicket keeper once it kissed the turf. Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting after a slight struggle got their bearings right to put up an unbeaten 88 runs for the 2nd wicket. Watson is on 44 from 86 balls with 5 fours and Ponting is on 40 from 78 balls with 5 fours.
Both Watson and Ponting had their share of luck with Ponting getting caught behind down the legside off a noball from Ishant and Watson getting dropped twice, first off Zaheer in the very first over of the match at gully by Sehwag and later by MS Dhoni off a turning ball from Ojha. Zaheer Khan was the only wicket take so far and he got Katich lbw when the left hander shuffled far too across to miss an inswinger around middle. Pragyan Ojha is the other bowler to do well for India with figures of 7-2-10-2 while Ishant and Harbhajan have been below par.
Toss and Teams
Ricky Ponting has won the toss and his team will be batting first in the 1st Test at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. The big news is that Harbhajan Singh has been declared fit and is part of the line up! Australia have gone in with three quicks and the lone spinner in Nathan Hauritz. India on the other hand have two pacers and two spinners with Pragyan Ojha getting selected ahead of leggie Amit Mishra.
India : V Sehwag, G Gambhir, R Dravid, SR Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, SK Raina, MS Dhoni (C&WK), Harbhajan Singh, I Sharma, Z Khan, PP Ojha
Australia : SR Watson, SM Katich, RT Ponting (C), MJ Clarke, MEK Hussey, MJ North, TD Paine (WK0, NM Hauritz, MG Johnson, BW Hilfenhaus, DE Bollinger
