 Australia set to seal series in Adelaide
27th Jan 2008 20:00 IST
Agencies
Ponting finally fell when he under-edged a ball on to his stumps from Sehwag. He batted resolutely for 392 minutes and hit 10 fours from 266 balls.
His partner Clarke showed better form than his skipper and had a close call on 84 when he moved away to cut Sehwag and edged it Dravid at first slip who could get his hands to it without quite getting his fingers around it.
The afternoon session, in many ways, belonged to Sharma, who tormented Australian batsmen with his pace, line and the ability to reverse swing his deliveries.
Sharma finally managed to get reward for his effort when Clarke edged a catch to second slip where VVS Laxman, diving to his right, picked up a brilliant catch. The middle order batsman faced 244 balls in 314 minutes and hit eight fours in his knock of 118 runs.
India claimed four wickets in the final session, including the brilliant spell of Sharma who troubled Andrew Symonds no ends up before the batsman under-edged a cut on to his stumps.
Gilchrist came in for a standing ovation and two sumptuous cuts, interspersed by a glorious straight drive which had umpire Billy Bowden rolling over in turf for cover, showed the wicketkeeper-batsman wanted to go out in a flourish.
However, his dash wasn't to last long and he drove Pathan straight to Sehwag in covers. Everyone in the stadium rose on his feet to bid him good-bye and the Indians too, on their part, formed a cluster to clap the great man till he disappeared in the stands.
Pathan carved a little niche of glory for himself when he claimed Brett Lee caught behind the wicket to complete his 100th Test victim, this being his 28th Test match.
India didn't have much trouble in wrapping up the tail and Harbhajan was finally rewarded with a wicket in his 47th over, a scalp of Mitchell Johnson caught in the deep.
India clearly were under pressure when they began their second innings and the dismissal of Pathan didn't help.
The visitors will have to bat well in the final day's play tomorrow to ensure a draw which would still leave the Aussies winners of the Gavaskar-Border trophy. Should India be bowled out cheaply, the home side could even win the Test. |
