da bet sport： Other than for one session at its very outset, this first Test betweenAustralia and India here at the Adelaide Oval has been characterisedby the home team’s indomitable capacity to wear down itsopponent
John Polack13-Dec-1999Other than for one session at its very outset, this first Test betweenAustralia and India here at the Adelaide Oval has been characterisedby the home team’s indomitable capacity to wear down itsopponent. And, aside from the odd moment of anxiety and one notableindividual failure, there was little disruption to the trend on dayfour. Indeed, if anything, there was an acceleration as Indiaplummeted headlong toward disaster, yet another controversial SachinTendulkar (0) dismissal featuring as they plunged to 76 for five bystumps in their second innings in an already grave looking bid toavert defeat.Under sparkling blue skies, the Australians nonetheless did starttentatively today in a pre-lunch session that came to be dominated farmore by incessant appealing from the Indian bowlers than by convincingstrokeplay. The tone was set on the very first ball of the day when anervous-looking Mark Waugh (8) survived a beseeching lbw appeal fromAnil Kumble and was reinforced as they scored just 51 runs in thefirst two hours of play.Around Waugh’s fifth successive dismissal for a single figure score(one which left his shaky Test berth hanging gravely in the balance),and his brother Steve’s departure for five, the Australians wereindeed well contained by some tight Indian bowling and fine groundfielding during that phase. Following yet another scratchy innings,the former perished when he fiddled at an Ajit Agarkar outswinger andedged a low catch to VVS Laxman at second slip. That setback ensuredthat the New South Welshman, now a veteran of 98 Tests, has tallied amere 18 runs in those last five innings. Consequently the calls forthe inclusion of either Darren Lehmann or Andrew Symonds in his placewill become ever more deafening in the lead-up to the Second Test ofthis series in Melbourne in two weeks’ time.But once the shackles were broken shortly after the twins’ respectiveexits, the same insatiable will to win that has seen Australia triumphin each of its last four Tests became spectacularly evidentagain. Whilst they were never entirely assured, Greg Blewett (88),Adam Gilchrist (43) and Ricky Ponting (21) each capitalisedsufficiently on the opportunities for easy runs permitted them by anIndian team increasingly looking to play defensively. Their effortsultimately led to a declaration 25 minutes into the final session ofthe day, Gilchrist’s dismissal bringing a cessation to the inningswith the score at 239 for eight and setting India a massive victorytarget of 396. More to the point, it consigned the visitors to theardour of having to survive a little under four sessions to clinch adraw.If India’s position was accordingly not disastrous enough, it was thenthat it began to unravel even more horribly as the Australians movedin on their prey with ravenous intent. In the space of the first ninedeliveries of the innings, Devang Gandhi (0) and VVS Laxman (0) werecomprehensively undone by deliveries from Glenn McGrath and DamienFleming. Rahul Dravid (6) was gloriously beaten not long after by asharply spinning Shane Warne leg break which brushed his glove on theway through to Gilchrist. And the tourists’ rapidly sagging spiritswere then completely crushed by another dubious decision from umpireDaryl Harper. This came a mere 45 minutes into the innings when ashort McGrath delivery which stayed much lower than expected struckthe crouching Indian captain on the shoulder and evinced Harper torule against the only man who probably had any capacity at all to savethe tourists’ cause.