Zeenews Bureau
Perth, Jan 18: The final session of play saw two wickets falling for Australia, after which the pair of Ponting-Hussey added valuable runs to elevate the home team’s total to 65 runs. They still require 348 runs more to clinch a victory while India are just eight dismissals away from crafting a historic win. Irfan Pathan and VVS Laxman proved to be the stars of the day with sublime performances.
Indian seamer Irfan Pathan struck a fatal blow to the Australian batting top order as he claimed opener Phil Jaques for a score of 16 runs with a jaffa of a delivery. Wasim Jaffer took the catch that saw the Australian scoreboard reading 43 runs for the loss of two wickets. Mike Hussey walked in to give support to Ponting as both the openers were back into the pavilion.
Prior to this, Pathan struck gold for India as he made early inroads into the Australian camp by claiming Chris Rogers. The opener was out for a score of 15 runs as he edged a short of a good length delivery into the hands of MS Dhoni.
Australian pace spearhead Brett Lee gave the final blow to the Indian innings as he got the prized wicket of VVS Laxman, wrapping up the Indian total at 294 runs. The batsman edged a touch short of a good length delivery into the hands of Adam Gilchrist, sending him back to the pavilion at a total of 79 runs. The Indian batting line-up managed to amass a lead of 412 runs over Australia.
Clark gave Australia the much needed breakthrough as he got the wicket of RP Singh, but not before the latter notched up his career highest score of 30.
The Indian total read 245 runs at tea time as VVS Laxman held fort while eight wickets had fallen. RP Singh gave company to the elegant batsman as India consolidated on a solid lead of 363 runs. With more than two days of play left, the batsmen would like to pile up some precious runs inn the last session of third day’s play.
Andrew Symonds got the desired breakthrough for his team as he took two quick wickets, claiming skipper Anil Kumble for a duck after he spun a vicious one that got Dhoni by surprise, claiming his wicket. Dhoni managed to score 38 runs before the ball took the top edge of his bat and wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist took a brilliant catch to keep the match from skipping away from his team. India were 235 runs for the loss of 8 wickets as RP Singh came in to bat.
The dynamic duo of very very special Laxman and MS Dhoni powered India past 200 runs and extended the lead over Australia by over 350 runs. Laxman slammed a brilliant half-century at a time when the team required it the most. The pair milked the bowlers for precious runs and the partnership was studded with hard hitting boundaries, including two massive sixes by Dhoni.
Earlier, Australia’s Stuart Clark had plunged the Indian batting into an abyss as he claimed yet another wicket with his deadly pace in the form of Irfan Pathan. The batsman scored a valiant 46 runs before he was plucked by Ponting in a low, left diving catch. India were 160 runs for the loss of six wickets as Dhoni walked in to bat.
Prior to this, Indian duo of Pathan and Laxman had consolidated the batting to help India go past 150 runs in the morning session as four quick wickets had put pressure back on the visitors. The Australian seamers made apt use of the chances that came their way and put the home team on top position with disciplined line and length bowling. The Indian scorecard read 158 runs for the loss of five wickets at lunch time in Perth.
India were in dire straits with Mitchell Johnson starting his spell with the wicket of Sourav Ganguly. The batsman edged fuller length delivery into the hands of the wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.
The Indian innings ran into a road block as Lee took his second wicket of the morning, getting Tendulkar out LBW to a tearing fast delivery. With the loss of three quick wickets, it was up to Ganguly and Pathan to stabilize the innings as the lead touched 234 runs.
Australian pace spearhead Lee made full use of the window of opportunity offered to him and claimed the key wicket of Dravid before he could pose as a threat to the Australian squad. The Indians were suddenly on the back foot with the loss of two quick wickets.
India received its first hiccup of the morning in the form of the wicket of Sehwag. The batsman was clean bowled by a straighter one from the seamer at a score of 43 runs. India were 79 runs for the loss of two wickets as Dravid came in to bat.
The morning started on a positive note for India as the overnight batsmen looked in good touch and added precious runs to the second innings tally, taking the total past 50 runs.
