23 wickets fall on Day 2

SA seems to be in the driver's seat in this Test, as 23 wickets fell like nine pins on Day 2.

Australia were all out for 284, with Clarke scoring a brilliant 151. SA were bowled out for 96, with Harris taking 4-33 and Watson 5-17.

Then Australia were bowled out for 47, with Philander taking 5 for 15 and Morkel 3-9.

SA are 81/1, needing 155 runs to beat Australia ! Anything can happen, as the wicket seems to be a fast bowler's Paradise.

Australia's last wicket ensured that they did not hit the record books for the lowest total in Test history. They were 21/9 and the last pair ( Siddle and Lyon ) added 26 runs to take Australia to 47. The lowest total record is 26, by NZ against Eng in Auckland in 1955. Australia's all time low was 36 against Eng in Birmingham in 1902.

Amla and Graeme Smith batted with care and the Proteas seem comfortably placed at 81/1. Smith on 36 and Amla on 29 now battle it out with the Kangaroos.

Debutant Vernon Philander took 5-15 and Morkel 3/9 on a pitch which offered plenty of seam movement than on the first day.

Clarke on 107 was helped by Siddle (20) in the first innings, as the Kangaroos added 70 runs to their overnight total of 214. The value of Clarke's innings shone like gold, as Watson in a devastating spell, captured five wickets for 17 runs to rattle the Proteas and make them all out for 96.

Australia's collapse for 47 was dramatic, as it was all over in 18 overs. There were three ducks in the Aussie innings, as Ponting, Haddin and Hussey went back to the pavilion without scoring.

To make the day more dramatic, Amla was dropped of the last ball, off Harris, when Hussey could not hold a slash at backward point.

Clarke scores century

A valiant century by Clarke saw Aus at 214/8, after Dale Steyn threatened to rip through the Aussie batting line up.

The Kangaroos were 40/3, as Steyn devastated with some genuine fast bowling. Clarke scored 107 not out and Steyn starred with 4/31.

Shaun Marsh was the only other batsman who brought in a touch of respectability, scoring 44.

Greame Smith won the toss and sent Aus in to bat and his decision was justified as Steyn struck some lethal blows and the Kangaroos were tottering at 40/3.

The Proteas could not get the wicket of Michael Clarke, who played a glorious innings of 107 not out. He still represents Aussie hope.,

Sachin proves his critics wrong !

There has been criticism in some quarters that the Master Blaster had not played any matchwinning innings, despite his 99 tons in international cricket.

He proved it wrong with a classic 76. He found an able partner in Laxman (58*) and India won the First Test by five wickets.

He may not have scored his 'ton of tons' but clearly it was a matchwinning knock. His tenure at the crease tormented the West Indian bowlers.

Sachin and Laxman were involved in a 71 run partnership which sealed the fate of the Test. Sachin brought up his 62nd half century and all eyes were on him as Laxman hit boundaries after boundaries. But then he misread a Bishoo delivery and was adjudged lbw.

On the other side, Dravid could only add one run to his overnight total of 30. When Sachin was dismissed, India needed only 43 more to win. Yuvraj and Laxman took the score to 254/4 at lunch and India had already plundered 102 runs in the pre lunch session. Then Laxman completed his 55th half century in the post lunch session. Yuvraj continued his bad patch, run for 18!


Ashwin was delighted about his effort and now he is in a happy mood to marry, having established himself in the Indian team as an ace spinner. Said he at the post presentation ceremony. "It's a pleasing effort. I expected to get a few wickets but not so many. I don't know if it's gift for me and my wife before the marriage but it is a very happy feeling to go into my wedding with such a performance".

"It helped that Ojha was bowling so many maidens from the other end. The batsmen did not have the fear of being caught at bat-pad, which is not the best thing for spinners."

"The only thing was the variation in bounce, if you were slower through the air, you would be slower off the pitch. So I bowled a bit quicker in the second innings," said the master carrom ball bowler.

Dhoni was ecstatic.

"That was a big lead, We all felt we did not bat the way we should in the first innings but it was not like panic. We said we will have to make it up. Ojha bowled well in the first innings, Ashwin has got a few variations and he was supported by the other bowlers.

"We got a good start in both innings, and the middle order did well in the second. It was not an easy wicket to score, you had to be aware of the ball that kept low" said the maverick Indian captain.

Sammy said you can only learn via Trial and Error.

"When you play against a top team, you want to create the opportunity to win, we did that in the first innings but did not bat well in the second and that cost us. The pitch played much better on the third and fourth days.

"We want improvement, we have to look to create opportunities and hopefully cash in. We believe we can win matches here" said the demon all rounder.

Test delicately poised !

India needs 124 runs, WI needs 9 wickets within 124 and that is the equation for this Test.

Well, cricket has been defined as a game of glorious vicissitudes and it was proved true yesterday as Ashwin six for brought India back into the match. Pulverising shots by Sammy and Chanderpaul saw WI set India a challenging total of 276, but then Sehwag's brilliant strokeplay seemed to torment the Windies. But then Sammy got the wicket of Sehwag, bringing WI right back into the game. Fortunes fluctuated. But then the Wall ( 30 * ) and Sachin ( 33*) stalled the West Indians with the game hanging delicately in the balance !

Batting fourth is not something desirable and everything depends on Bishoo et al. Let us see whether the ball or the bat will predominate. It will be better to say that India is on the cusp of registering a grand victory !

Cusps can be dangerous and with only Yuvraj, Dhoni and Laxman as recognised batsmen to come, loss of some early wickets can spell doom. Pessimism always raises her ugly head. If Bishoo can strike form as Ashwin did, it can difficult for India.

But India has the greatest run assimilators on the crease. Sachin crossed 15 K runs yesterday and is partnered by the second largest run getter in Tests. They had put on an unbroken 57 run partnership, after a devastating 55 from V Sehwag laid the foundation to chase the 276 run target set by Sammy and Co.

After scoring 15 K, Sachin requires another 67 to register a century of centuries. Can he do it on a turning track? He had done it on turning tracks before. All eyes will be on the Little Master when he takes guard tomorrow morning.

India can pip SA to second position in Tests, if they can beat WI 3-0 and if the Proteas lose to formidable Australia 0-2 in the two Test series. SA is only ahead of India by just one rating point. England is placed first and Australia 4th.

If India wins all the three Test, they can get 119 points. A 2-0 series win will leave India with 118 rating points. while a 1-0 or 2-1 will keep them on 117 rating points.

And a 0-1 series loss against Australia will leave SA on 112 points and a 0-2 series defeat will leave the Proteas to join Australia on 110 rating points. SA will be ranked higher than the Kangaroos when the rating are calculated beyond decimals.

Indian carelessness may cost them the match

Just imagine ! 89 runs for the first wicket off just 12 overs and things
looked ominous for the Carribeans. Then the Indians handed the game on a
platter to the West Indians.

It was inefficiency of the highest order. Now future looks bleak for India
( at least in this Test ) and looms over them like a grim Sahara.

Indian greats fell like nine pins before some mediocre bowling. Indian
recklessness made it interesting, on a pitch where the ball kept low. India
had some satisfaction at the end, when they picked up two wickets and WI are
21/2.

Sehwag was given a life when he was bowled by Fidel Edwars off a no ball and
had hit 3 fours in six balls, when a straight drive was delected onto the
nonstriker's stumps, thus cruelly running Gambhir out for 41.

Sehwag's penchant for innovation saw him stumped, as he was executing some
sort of dance and his leg was in the air. Laxman seemed too lazy, poking
away from the body to be caught by Baugh. Indian chances of taking a lead
appeared remote as the lead footed Indian batsmen committed follies after
follies.

Yuvraj took 19 balls to score his first and was never comfortable against
spin. He lambasted Bishoo for a six. Dravid was the only dependable batsman
and scored 54. Sehwag got 55. The rest of the Indian batsmen were
lacklustre, to the amazement of millions of Indian fans !

Dhoni was ingloriously bowled through the gate by Sammy and Sammy also
accounted for Yuvraj. Two wickets in one over saw India plunge to abysmal
depths, from which they never recovered.

Sammy said he wanted to set a target of 350

"Our bowlers did a great job today to bowl India out (for 209). Considering
the slow and low pitch, the plan was to bowl at the right areas and from
wicket-to-wicket. We stuck to the plan," Sammy said at the end of the second
day's play. It was not a perfect day for us but we supported each other and
played fearless cricket and it paid off" said the maverick all rounder.

"We want to score minimum of 250 runs in our second innings and set 350-plus
for India as they have very good batsmen in their ranks."

"We expect India to come hard on us. We will play fearless cricket and if we
stick to our plan, we can come on top" said the all rounder, whose place in
the side is suspect.

He said he was not surprised by the pitch.

"We have come across such slow and low pitches in Bangladesh and that has
helped up in preparing our game here. Like Shivnarine Chanderpaul said, you
have to be patient and stay at the crease as long as possible and runs are
there to be scored."

Fidel Edwards got rid of Sachin and all Indians were gloomy. "Fidel was our
strike bowler and he was bowling very well. So I thought why should not I
give the ball to my best bowler to bowl at their premier batsman .We had a
similar experience in Bangladesh and I knew that once the ball was old, the
run rate would be down. At lunch break I told my players to maintain the
line and length and stick to basics. We did that and it paid off" .

Honors even on Day I

WI were 256/5 and the Indian spinners took all the five wickets between
them. India will try to keep WI within 350 and WI will try to post a 400+
total, with Chanderpaul still there on 110.

Chanderpaul played a superb knock, 110 not out, to stifle the Indian
spinners. In Baugh he seemed to have found an ideal partner, as both forced
Dhoni to take the second new ball. Chanderpaul scored his 24th Test ton,
his seventh against India.

Ashwin found the faint edge of Samuel's bat and WI were in trouble. Samuels
had to depart for 16, caught Dhoni bowled Ashwin.

Ojha obliged his skipper several times. He got Brathwaite out of his crease
and had him stumped, thus ending a 108 run fourth wicket partnership.
Kraigg Brathwaite st Dhoni b Ojha 63.

Darren Bravo, touted as the new Lara, committed hara kiri. He failed to read
the quickish off break from Ashwin and was beaten and bowled. D Bravo b
Ashwin 12

Kirk Douglas went after the left arm spinner Ojha, but only succeeded in
lobbying the ball to him. Kirk Edwards c&b Ojha 15

Ojha dropped Powell in the last ball of his first over, but then made amends as he
trapped the WIndian right in front. Kieran Powell lbw b Ojha 14

Dhoni picked up Yuvraj instead of Kohli, Yadav instead of Aaron and
Ojha instead of Rahul Sharma.

All Indians are expectant of the century of centuries from Sachin.

Meanwhile, Chanderpaul said that the WI side is not dependent on him.

"That is not a fair statement. We have other quality batsmen in the team.
They have done well in the series in Bangladesh. We have very capable
players. I am doing what I am supposed to do and playing my role in the
team," said the master batsman. who is nearing 10 K runs.

He said he is helping the youngsters. "I have been helping my team-mates especially the youngsters how to go about batting. I am helping them in whatever way I can. When they have any doubt they come to me and I helped them." said the formidable 37 year old. He smashed seven fours and two sixes, despite being a slow starter.

"The wicket was pretty good to bat on. It might deteriorate later but it was
nice to bat today. So I started at a good pace" Chanderpaul said.

He was controversial before but Chanderpaul said, "I can't control my
selection in the team. I can do things under my control. When I was dropped
I played cricket only in the Caribbean and now I have come back."

He praised Ojha, Ashwin and Yadav.

"They (Ashwin and Ojha) are good spinners. They are competitive. He (Yadav)
has good pace and is sharp though there was not much on the wicket for him."
said Chanderpaul.

Meanwhile, Ojha said he did not get much help from the wicket.

"There was not much in the wicket for bowlers, so I stuck to one line,
played with basics. I just tried to put the ball in the right areas and did
not do any other thing"

"My last match was against New Zealand and I played county cricket after
that. I honed my skills there, learnt variations and that helped me a lot. I
also take advice from Anil Bhai and Bhajji whenever I fee" said
the maverick left arm spinner.

Ojha was all praise for Chanderapual. "He (Chanderpaul) is one of the
legends of the game. But more than the pitch which helped the batsmen, he
was using all his experience. It was a nice contest with him. There were a
couple of half chances and I thought I should have got him. I hope I can
take his wicket on Monday. West Indies batsman were not trying too much.
They were playing straight and did not play fancy shots. I hope we can take
the remaining five wickets soon on Monday"

Ojha was delighted when he removed opener Kraigg Brathwaite, who scored 63.
"I was elated with the wicket. I think he was beaten by the flight"

About being the main spinner, Ojha said, "I took it in a positive way. I tried not to
think much and focus on my performance. I take advice from Anil bhai,
Bhajji, VVS Laxman and Dravid. They told me to play in county cricket. They
want me to do well for the country."

Ton of Tons to affect Tendulkar

Gibson, the WI coach, feels that the milestone - century of centuries - for Tendulkar may affect his performance in the Airtel Test Series. The First Test between WI and India begins tomorrow.

"I was not aware of the milestone and haven't thought much about it. But I
feel if there is too much hype, it would be tough for Tendulkar" said
he after a practice session at the Delhi Cricket Ground.

"But Tendulkar is a legend and he would get it anyways any time soon" said
Gibson.

Rampaul, the spearhead of WI attack, said he is aware of the milestone and the WI will play positive cricket.

"We know that Tendulkar is on the verge of a personal milestone but our
target is to play good cricket. We have to stick to our plan" said the formidable
swing bowler.

Sachin scored his 99th Test century against SA this year, during the World Cup, which saw the ascent of India.

All expected Sachin to score his century of centuries in England but India and he had
a miserable tour. However in the fouth Test at the Oval, he almost came to achieve that landmark, scoring 91.

Sammy and Dhoni unveiled the AirTel Trophy for the three Test series. With gold
plating, the trophy is made of silver. For all international cricket
matches to be played in India till 2013, .Bharti Airtel has won the sponsorship rights.

In domestic cricket, Ravindra Jadeja scored a triple century confirming his ability. He is amongst the 36 players on BCCI's payroll.