It was India's day except the first hour of play in which India lost the first two wickets with just 27 runs on the board.The Indian line up this time had to miss Harbhajan due to the toe injury and retain the leggie Amit Mishra. The long and vigorous debates on whether Kumble should be back or not with debutant Amit Mishra performing well in the 2nd Test went without much further deliberations as Kumble was back and Amit Mishra playing his second test. Australia made one change with Siddle sitting in the dressing room giving way for experienced Stuart Clark.
Kumble winning the toss and batting first, would have expected a good start. But, Sehwag was dismissed in the first ball of the third over by Lee. The ball strum plumb in front of the wicket and India were 5 for 1. Dravid looked like settling, but his poor short selection sent him back. It was surprising to see Dravid chasing the ball that was pitched well away from the off stump and swinging further away. The ball took the outside edge and went straight to first slip where Hayden took a good low catch to his right. Dravid out for 11 and India were 27 for 2.
The little master Tendulkar walked in played another life of his innings. With Johnson and Clark bowling, he waited patiently for sometime and then starting punishing the bad balls from Johnson.
Couple of bouncers would have struck Tendulkar if it were old age where no helmets were available. He drove through covers or drove straight back when Lee was firing with his full pace. Sachin reached his 51st fifty in Test Cricket off 79 balls with 8 fours.
He added 130 runs for the third wicket along with Gambhir. He was caught by Haddin of Johnson for 68 with 11 fours.
The series is turning out to be very good for Gambhir in his career. The agressive batsman scored another scintilating century (back-to-back). His storke play for amazing and good to watch. He is in great form--probably, the form of his life.
After Tendulkar's departure, Gambhir and Laxman played sensibly not taking any risks. Laxman has to score in this match and clear that he was under tremendous pressure. He did not perform the in the last two matches and he was expected to score runs in this crucial time when India had a moderate score of 157 for 3.
Gambhir reached his 100 in style. He was on 91 and hit two fours in the over of Johnson. With one run required to reach his second 100 of this series, he came down and hit Watson for a good six over long on. A six to reach his 3rd Test Hundred of his carrer, 2nd against Australia. He scored 100 in 190 balls with 15 fours and a six.
At the end of the day, India is in strong position at 296 for 3 in 89 overs with Gambhir batting on 149 and Laxman batting with 54. If India can post another 200 runs and put pressure on Austrlia, India has a good chance of winning the series.
We see all kinds of changes in the Australian cricket. They have used 7 bowlers including Katich. Main spinner White bowled just 4 overs in the day. Stuar Clark was the most economical bowler with 1.38 runs per over.
Scoreboard at the end of Day 1:
India 296 for 3 in 89 overs (Sehwag 1, Gambhir 149 batting, Dravid 11, Tendulkar 68, Laxman 54 batting, Extras--13 (b 4, lb 5, nb 4), Lee 19-1-70-1, S Clark 21-8-29-0, Johnson 17-1-69-2, Watson 13-4-41-0, White 4-0-27-0, M Clarke 9-0-34-0, Katich 6-1-17-0)
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