Melbourne: Sachin Tendulkar gave glimpses of his vintage form but the record 100th international century continued to elude him as India responded with a strong batting display from Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar to keep the first cricket Test against Australia on an even keel here on Tuesday.
After dismissing Australia for 333 in the first innings, Indians rode on useful contributions from most of the top-order batsmen to reach 214 for three at close on the second day.
Tendulkar who looked fluent during his innings of 73 was done in by a beauty from Peter Siddle. The delivery cut back sharply at a scorching pace as the senior pro tried to reach for a drive only to be bowled through the gate. He hit eight boundaries and a six off Siddle with his trademark upper cut over third-man region.
The foundation of India’s reply was a solid 117-run third wicket partnership between Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid (68 batting) after opener Virender Sehwag smashed a quickfire 67 after being dropped twice on 54 and 58 respectively. Australians were also unlucky as a Siddle in-dipper breached Dravid’s defences but the TV replays confirmed that the speedster had bowled a no-ball. Dravid was batting on 65 then and the team’s score was 202 for two.
Only Gautam Gambhir (3) failed among the top four as he was done in by the awkward bounce and away movement generated by Ben Hilfenhaus.
Earlier Australia, resuming at their overnight score of 277 for 6, were all out for 333, half an hour before lunch break with Zaheer Khan (4 for 77), Umesh Yadav (3 for 106) and Ravichandran Ashwin (3 for 81) sharing the spoils.
Dravid has now batted for more than four hours (245 minutes) facing 185 deliveries in the process. He has hit six boundaries.
The performance of the troika of Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dravid has again proved that India’s ageing stalwarts haven’t yet lost the hunger.
Admittedly, all the three fast bowlers, Siddle, James Pattinson and Ben Hilfenhaus, bowled well in patches but the weakest link was off-spinner Nathan Lyon whom Indian batsmen treated with utter disdain. (PTI)
