Australia v India at Adelaide: CricInfo Report

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Australia v India at Adelaide
10-14 Dec 1999 (John Polack)

Day1 | Day2 | Day3 | Day4 | Day5

Day1: Ponting, Waugh turn Indian joy to despair

Spectacularly stern middle and late order batting resistance has been the defining feature of this summer of cricket for the home team and so it proved again today on the first day of the First Test between Australia and India here at the Adelaide Oval. After they had once more looked to be courting disaster on the back of failures from four members of their upper order, the Australians found it within themselves to mount yet another stunning reversal of fortune through the last two sessions of this opening bout of the series, finishing the day at 5/298 after they had looked consigned to concluding at a significantly less flattering scoreline.

Following on from monumental partnerships in each of the previous two Tests of the season, it was Ricky Ponting (125) and Steve Waugh (117*) who stole the lion's share of the accolades today. Joining together to post an all time record fifth wicket association for their nation in Tests against India, Ponting and Waugh were in irresistible form throughout a liaison of 239 runs for the fifth wicket - one which lifted their team from a state of peril to one of almost complete command. Whilst they did survive the odd moment of anxiety (indeed, replays appeared to suggest that the former was caught behind off Ajit Agarkar as he underedged a pull with his score on 62; Rahul Dravid at mid off failed to run out Waugh on 67 as he attempted a ridiculous single; and VVS Laxman at second slip grassed a chance to catch Ponting off Agarkar on 90), theirs was a tremendous effort. In combination, they surpassed the unbeaten 223 added by Sir Donald Bradman and Arthur Morris at Melbourne in 1946/47 and such was the conviction of their display that few would have begrudged their rearrangement of the mark.

On a pitch which seemed to be offering more encouragement to bowlers than is traditionally the case in Adelaide, Ponting and Waugh each started slowly before accelerating their scoring, some of their strokeplay (and their use of the short square boundaries at this picturesque ground) delightful to behold. Although they benefited significantly from some strange tactics from the Indians immediately after the lunch break (part time medium pacer Saurav Ganguly surprisingly preferred to Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble when his team possessed some strong momentum), little credit could be taken away from their double act. Ponting was the chief aggressor, registering his sixth Test century and his second in succession with a fine mixture of front foot drives and back foot strokes through the point and mid wicket regions. Waugh, however, lost little by comparison as he set about adding a century of his own, many shots behind the wicket evident in his twenty-first Test century - a milestone which now ensures that he has made at least one century against each of the world's other Test nations.

Through the pre-lunch period, though, the story had been a substantially different one. India indeed began brilliantly, capturing four wickets inside the first ninety minutes of the day for the meagre tally of just fifty-two runs. In eerily similar fashion to the last Test played between the teams at this venue as many as eight years ago, Australia plunged to the position of 4/76 after winning the toss, only nine runs in advance in fact of their plight all those summers ago.

Essentially, it was a morning for India's pacemen and, more specifically, Prasad and Javagal Srinath. Srinath (1/83) established his team's early position of dominance, capitalising on the early life evident in the pitch by operating upon a tight, disciplined line and length. He made a crucial early strike - dismissing local hero Greg Blewett (4) in just the third over of the day - and continued to beat the bat throughout. On either side of Ganguly's dismissal of the belligerent Michael Slater (28), Prasad (2/50) then conceived a tremendous eight over spell from the River Torrens End. Illustrating much the same control and accuracy as had been exhibited by Srinath, Prasad refused to bowl too short, and gained due reward for the strategy when he trapped a somewhat unluckily inside edging Justin Langer (11) on his crease and then induced a still struggling Mark Waugh (5) to thick edge a ball through to wicketkeeper MSK Prasad.

In such circumstances, it seemed that the Indians merely needed to maintain their concentration and the same metronomically accurate line and length to continue to hold the upper hand. However, they let things slip in the period immediately after lunch, and lost their way rapidly throughout the subsequent course of that session. As both their bowlers and fieldsmen surrendered the enthusiasm that had graced their play through the early moments of the day, it became virtually no contest thereafter and it was instructive that the mix-up that saw Ponting finally run out in the shadows of stumps seemed as much of a surprise to the visitors as it did to a crowd of over fifteen thousand largely appreciative fans.

Day2: Indians Warne down as absorbing Test continues

Hurdles keep confronting them and yet Australia's cricketers continue their eminently successful negotiation of most obstacles in their contemporary Test cricketing path. That is again the bottom line after another uncompromising six hours of cricket from the home team on day two of the First Test left India 4/123 in response to their 441 by stumps here at the Adelaide Oval today.

In essence, this was a day when two of Test cricket's key defining ingredients - namely, steely competitiveness and the ability of the game's great players to rise effortlessly to the top - were in abundance. After medium pacer Ajit Agarkar (2/86) had revived India's flickering hopes of dismissing the Australians for a modest first innings total by sensationally claiming the wicket of Adam Gilchrist (0) with the very first ball of the day's play, it was Steve Waugh (150) and Shane Warne (86) who were the first to underscore these principles when the action began. Although they were tested by some accurate bowling at the outset and were not always in command, the pair at first resisted the Indians' best attempts to launch a decisive wicket taking burst before unleashing a withering assault.

Around two sweeping showers which forced the players from the field for a total of thirty-seven minutes, Warne, in particular, was in cavalier touch. Whilst he rarely conformed to the copybook in the course of equalling his highest Test and first class score, he played some tremendously forceful shots. On a pitch which showed increasing signs of developing into the sort of true batting surface for which Adelaide Oval wickets are renowned, the Victorian trusted his attacking instincts almost from the outset of a lustily belligerent innings which spanned just one hundred and twenty-six minutes and contained thirteen fours and one six. Signs of his ruthlessness were especially evident as he hammered four boundaries in the space of six balls from Venkatesh Prasad (3/83) and Javagal Srinath (1/117) in the middle of the first session. The noisy, if small, crowd was also delighted by a contemptuous slog sweep for six over backward square leg off fellow leg spinner Anil Kumble (2/101) five minutes prior to the lunch adjournment.

At the other end in their partnership of 108 runs for the seventh wicket, Waugh also continued to pose problems for the manful albeit largely disheartened Indian attack. Like it had been yesterday, it was his easing of the ball into gaps in the leg side field which earned him many of his runs but he also showed a willingness to drive powerfully through the off side when permitted the opportunity. His vigil finally came to an end only moments after he had become the eighth most prolific runscorer in Test history, a loose, tired-looking drive at an Agarkar outswinger heralding his demise.

When India's turn finally came to respond, more woe followed. The first blow came in extraordinary fashion as Sadagoppan Ramesh (2) was run out in the third over attempting a fourth run from a shot played by opening partner Devang Gandhi through mid off from Glenn McGrath's bowling. Having leisurely run each of the first three, Ramesh was caught short by a freak direct hit by Greg Blewett, who had pursued the ball toward the extraordinarily long straight boundary at the River Torrens End of this ground. Worse was to follow as Gandhi (4) himself fended nervously at a short McGrath delivery in the fifth over of the innings, succeeding only in directing the ball into the waiting hands of Michael Kasprowicz at short backward square leg.

While they continued to be pinned down by some brilliant bowling from McGrath (2/11) and Warne (1/43) throughout the remainder of the day, it was then that India's own stars took to the batting stage. The elegant VVS Laxman (41) and Rahul Dravid (35) were the first to answer what by had, at that point, become a deafening call for some steadfast resistance with a stylish liaison of 81 runs that threatened to substantially frustrate the Australians. Both executed a classical mixture of defence and attack and alternated between the back and front foot as they gradually wore down a lineup suddenly prone to operating more erratically than normal. Paceman Kasprowicz's display was reflective of the Australians' fleeting loss of focus, fifteen runs coming from his first over and a profligate eleven no balls delivered in his eight overs in total.

Although the Indian fightback suffered bad lapses when Laxman ultimately slashed McGrath's first ball of a sublime second spell into the gully and Dravid inside edged a Warne delivery to short leg, the key figures of Sachin Tendulkar (12* in eighty-nine patient minutes) and Saurav Ganguly (also 12*) then attempted to continue the act of consolidation. McGrath presented them with few opportunities to score in an eight over burst which netted him the extraordinary figures of 1/1 but they survived and will duly be there again in the morning to try to resist the almost indefatigable Australians through what might conceivably represent the Test's most crucial phase of all.

Day3: Australians relentlessly tighten their grip

A continuation of Shane Warne's fine individual form in the match, two controversial decisions by Umpire Daryl Harper, and some generally unremarkable batting from the tourists have all combined to consign India to a troubled state after the third day of the First Test against Australia here at the Adelaide Oval. Following another relentlessly tough day of cricket, the Indians face an overall deficit of 227 runs; Australia positioned at a scoreline of 2/71 in its second innings.

For the second successive day, the principal star of proceedings today was Australian leg spinner Shane Warne. Although India is a nation against which he has generally struggled at Test level, the Victorian showed no signs of being out of his depth at all today in this particular company as his teasing accuracy and control forced most of the batsmen to whom he bowled into a defensive mould. Closing in on Dennis Lillee's record for the most number of wickets ever taken by an Australian in Tests all the while (he is now just eight short of equalling Lillee's mark of 355), he returned the figures of 4/92 in a due tribute to how intelligently varied his flight, his line and his pace. So efficiently did he bowl, in fact, that it looked very likely for a long period that he would ultimately be able to claim his first ever five wicket haul in an innings of an Adelaide Test.

Possibly the highlight of Warne's day came in the middle of the post-lunch session when he bowled MSK Prasad (14) with a classically prodigious leg break. He had been threatening to make that particular incision for some time, and was duly ecstatic when he pitched a delivery well outside the right hander's leg stump and spun it back in stunning fashion to bowl a completely confounded Prasad around his legs. And ranking not far behind it in terms of spectacle - and certainly ahead of it in effect - was his dismissal of Saurav Ganguly (60). After an innings in which he had executed very few false shots, the lithe left hander advanced down the pitch shortly after lunch, only to be beaten by a ball which, having been deliberately directed well outside off stump on a flat fast trajectory, stayed low, travelled under his defensive bat and presented Adam Gilchrist with a gleefully accepted stumping opportunity.

Nevertheless, for the first ninety minutes of the day, the complexion of proceedings had looked entirely different. For this was the period during which India's two key figures with the bat, Sachin Tendulkar (61) and Ganguly himself combined brilliantly to frustrate the home team. In stark contrast to some dull, overcast weather at the Oval through the early morning, the duo constructed a lucent display. A mixture of front and back foot strokes were in evidence as they vented their considerable skills upon anything even vaguely erring in either line or length. Two stunning shots in succession from Tendulkar from the bowling of Michael Kasprowicz just after the first drinks break of the day - one an imperiously directed shot along the ground to the backward square leg fence and the other an audacious cover drive - were probably the enduring highlights, but their partnership of 108 for the fifth wicket was littered with superb strokeplay throughout.

In fact, it was only when Harper chose thirty minutes before lunch to uphold an appeal for a bat pad catch against Tendulkar that the Australians truly began to reassert their dominance in the game. Prior to Harper's decision - which came when the Indian captain tried to defend a fast, flat delivery from leg spinner Shane Warne (2/71) down leg side - the visitors had looked to be upon the verge of hauling themselves back into a competitive position in the Test. It was a hard call for the local umpire, and exhaustive replays neither seemed to prove or disprove the validity of his verdict that the ball had attracted the barest of inside edges. Tendulkar looked to be attempting to simply prod the ball into the leg side field before it crashed into his pad and flew straight to Justin Langer at short leg. The Australians were convinced that they had their man but Tendulkar himself remained unmoved until Harper's finger was raised. Together with another call by the same umpire to deny a convincing Ajit Agarkar lbw shout against Justin Langer before he had scored and with the Australians at 1/1 the second time around, it will likely prove a decision that will be debated for some time. Unfortunately, it also shapes as one that may have significant ramifications in the match.

This reality continued to be borne out after the Indians were eventually dismissed for 285. Indeed, although little conviction was evident in the Australian batting through the early stages of their second innings, the Indians remained pinned to the ropes for the rest of the day. They were able to induce Michael Slater (0) to fish at a Javagal Srinath leg cutter and afford Ganguly the chance to take an excellent catch moving to his left at first slip; to encourage Greg Blewett to play and miss repeatedly; and to force Langer (38) to tickle a catch to short leg off Anil Kumble in the very shadow of stumps but they were unable to translate this into the regular flow of wickets they so desperately craved.

Day4: Australians punish wilting Indians

Other than for one session at its very outset, this First Test between Australia and India here at the Adelaide Oval has been characterised by the home team's indomitable capacity to wear down its opponent. And, aside from the odd moment of anxiety and one notable individual failure, there was little disruption to the trend on day four. Indeed, if anything, there was an acceleration as India plummeted headlong toward disaster, yet another controversial Sachin Tendulkar (0) dismissal featuring as they plunged to 5/76 by stumps in their second innings in an already grave looking bid to avert defeat.

Under sparkling blue skies, the Australians nonetheless did start tentatively today in a pre-lunch session that came to be dominated far more by incessant appealing from the Indian bowlers than by convincing strokeplay. The tone was set on the very first ball of the day when a nervous-looking Mark Waugh (8) survived a beseeching lbw appeal from Anil Kumble (1/73) and was reinforced as they scored just fifty-one runs in the first 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 were indeed well contained by some tight Indian bowling and fine ground fielding during that phase. Following yet another scratchy innings, the former perished when he fiddled at an Ajit Agarkar (3/43) outswinger and edged a low catch to VVS Laxman at second slip. That setback ensured that the New South Welshman, now a veteran of ninety-eight Tests, has tallied a mere eighteen runs in those last five innings. It is consequently a given that calls for the inclusion of either Darren Lehmann or Andrew Symonds in his place will become ever more deafening in the lead-up to the Second Test of this series in Melbourne in two weeks' time.

But once the shackles were broken shortly after the twins' respective exits, the same insatiable will to win that has seen Australia triumph in each of its last four Tests became spectacularly evident again. Whilst they were never entirely assured, Greg Blewett (88), Adam Gilchrist (43) and Ricky Ponting (21) each capitalised sufficiently on the opportunities for easy runs permitted them by an Indian team increasingly looking to play defensively. Their efforts ultimately led to a declaration twenty-five minutes into the final session of the day, Gilchrist's dismissal bringing a cessation to the innings with the score at 8/239 and setting India a massive victory target of 396. More to the point, it consigned the visitors to the ardour of having to survive a little under four sessions to clinch a draw.

If India's position was accordingly not disastrous enough, it was then that it began to unravel even more horribly as the Australians moved in on their prey with ravenous intent. In the space of the first nine deliveries of the innings, Devang Gandhi (0) and VVS Laxman (0) were comprehensively undone by Glenn McGrath (2/19) and Damien Fleming (1/13) deliveries. Rahul Dravid (6) was gloriously beaten not long after by a sharply spinning Shane Warne (2/21) leg break which brushed his gloves on the way through to Gilchrist. And the tourists' rapidly sagging spirits were then completely crushed by another dubious decision from Umpire Daryl Harper. This came a mere forty-five minutes into the innings when a short McGrath delivery which stayed much lower than expected struck the crouching Indian captain on the shoulder and evinced Harper to rule against the only man who probably had any capacity at all to save the tourists' cause.

Day5: Home team surges to 1-0 advantage

Since the 1993/94 season, Australia has not lost a home Test series at home and India not won one away. Accordingly, it was probably to be expected that the first match of their three Test battle in Australia would provide the platform for the home team to flex its considerable contemporary cricketing muscle. And so it proved here at the Adelaide Oval; the locals today putting the seal on a comprehensive 285 run victory.

As it eventuated, play on the final day only lasted a mere fifty-four minutes. Overnight batsmen Saurav Ganguly (43) and MSK Prasad (11) battled gamely through the first twenty of those but, after that, the sparse crowd of 4717 witnessed little more than a procession. Once the former was out hooking at Damien Fleming, presenting Adam Gilchrist with the chance to take a brilliant one-handed catch down leg side in the process, there was indeed precious little resistance. Fleming (5/30) rapidly became the star for the home side, capturing four of the five wickets to fall today and ending not only with a third five wicket haul at this level but his finest ever Test figures no less.

On a wearing pitch, the Australians only required Fleming and fellow paceman Glenn McGrath (3/35) to even bowl today, those two wholly exposing the breaches that had been made evident in the Indians' defences yesterday evening. Around McGrath's dismissal of Javagal Srinath (11), Fleming captured four wickets for seven runs in the space of twenty-three deliveries in an excellent performance. There was, however, time for one moment of extreme disappointment in between. After removing Ganguly and Ajit Agarkar (0) in successive deliveries, the speedster was on the verge of the rare feat of a second Test hat-trick to complement one taken in Pakistan in 1994. But, in an extraordinary scene, the Victorian had his hopes dashed when Shane Warne at first slip grassed a regulation catch offered to him by a slashing Srinath.

Against an opponent with a record away from home as poor as their own on home soil is brilliant, this was by the end another emphatic triumph for the Australians. A result which extended their winning sequence to the impressive tally of five in this form of the game and the clinically slick efficiency by which it was underpinned, it was typical of an outfit rapidly and deservedly beginning to comparisons with some of the great all-time Test match teams. Gloss will certainly be taken off the win in some quarters on account of the fact that several close decisions went against the Indians but it is hard not to accept the fact that the bottom line here was that the Australians' performance was simply too polished and too ruthlessly convincing for its foe. Fleming's post-match comment that the Australians did not merely want to win this game but also wanted to do so "on a big note" was a perfect indicator of the mindset, the unity and the sheer professionalism of this team.

In the opposite camp, it is hard to imagine that anything but the opposite mood would be prevailing. They will have come to Adelaide with high hopes of acquitting themselves well on a ground generally suited to batsmen, but they will be leaving one down in the series with tough back to back matches to follow in Melbourne and Sydney. Whilst they bravely attempted to defy the inevitable, there will be many points for them to rue at the end of this contest. Among these, it should be their act of wanton self destruction after lunch on the first day upon which they focus most sharply. It was then that they surrendered the initiative to the Australians (an initiative they never wrested back at any stage) in permitting Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting to resurrect a cause which showed some signs of teetering at 4/52. Captain Sachin Tendulkar remained typically gracious and upbeat in defeat, stating that his team still has "a good chance" in the series, but he will well recognise that it will take a supreme effort for his team to launch a swift turnaround.

Notwithstanding the notion that its one-sided nature rendered this a game which will not necessarily assume any great place in history, this was a Test which will ultimately come to provide several different talking points. Foremost among these will be the worth of the two decisions made by Umpire Harper to fire out Tendulkar and the prospect (rightly or wrongly) of having umpires exclusively from 'neutral' countries officiating at Test level in the future. Although the Australian selection panel has illustrated an extreme reluctance in recent times to axe players from its outfit, it might also even be remembered as the last match of number four batsman Mark Waugh's lengthy Test career.

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Date-stamped : 14 Dec1999 - 07:50