Zeenews Bureau
Nagpur, Nov 07: The day 2 of the fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy, belonged to Australians in general and debutant off-spinner Jason Krejza in particular. The tweaker from Tasmania, produced an astonishing spell in the post lunch session, snaring 5 wickets as India slipped from a commanding 422/5 to 441 all-out. The visitors then wrested the initiative from the hosts when Simon Katich, with an unbeaten 92 and Mike Hussey with 45, stitched a fine unconquered 115 partnership for the third wicket to take Australian score to 189/2 at the end of play on the second day, 252 adrift of the Indian total with 8 wickets in the kitty.
India had a good start to the day with the overnight pair of Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni plucking runs with consummate ease. Ganguly, playing his last Test match for India, notched up a fine half-century and looked set to reach the coveted 3 figure mark. With Dhoni providing good support at the other end, India went to lunch at 404/5.
However, the post lunch session spelled doom for India, when the unheralded Krejza decided to take control of the proceedings. For probably the first time in the series, the Aussie bowling attack rose to the occasion, crippling India’s batting charge. Krejza, who already had 3 wickets to his name on the first day, halted India’s charge when he uprooted Dhoni’s (54) left-stump. Two balls later, Krejza broke a million hearts when Ganguly became his fifth victim. The thick edge of Dada’s blade was lapped up sharply by Michael Clarke at slip, bringing curtains to a fantastic 85 run effort. The southpaw consumed 153 balls in an effort laced with 8 sweetly timed hits to the fence and a solitary six.
The Indian tail failed to wag as Krejza with his guile, wiped them off, picking the remaining 3 wickets as well, to end with figures of 8/215 of 43. 5 overs.
After restricting India to a below par score of 441, Australian batsmen came out all guns blazing. Dhoni’s ploy of opening the bowling with Harbhajan did not yield desired results as both the openers Matthew Hayden and Simon Katich were quickly of the blocks. However, in a stroke of luck for India, a direct hit from M Vijay found Hayden (16) short of the crease, providing India the much-needed breakthrough.
India tasted its second success when ‘Turbunator’ Harbhajan Singh claimed the prized scalp of skipper Ricky Ponting with a wily turner. Ponting, who has been Harbhajan’s bunny over the years, becoming Singh’s 300th Test victim. He made 24.
That was the last hurrah for India, as the rest of the day was spend in retrieving the leather from the boundary. Katich, often criticised for being too defensive, turned the heat on the Indians as he raced away to 92 off just 120 balls when the stumps were drawn on day 2. Ever-dependable Mike Hussey too chipped in with unbeaten 45 as the duo completely blunted the Indian attack with some quick running between the wickets. While Zaheer Khan struggled for rhythm, Amit Mishra looked a pale shadow of himself. Ishant Sharma and Bhajji, besides claiming Ponting’s wicket, seemed to lack penetration for most part of their brief spells. Sachin and Sehwag too got a chance to roll their arms over as Dhoni searched hard for the elusive breakthrough.
With both the teams having their task cut out, tomorrow’s morning session could well decide which way the Border-Gavaskar trophy is heading to.
