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Australia v India: Day 4

Monday, December 8 2003

Finally a ray of much wanted and much deserved Queensland sunlight shone down on the Gabba surface as on day four it was all India and all due to captain courageous, Sourav Ganguly.

Starting the day on 0/11, it seemed that on a green track against a fiery Australian new ball attack India would capitulate to 150 odd all out. Not only were the critics defied, but the fans were defied as well.

Sehwag and Chopra began solidly, with the former being as dashing as he always is and Chopra being as solid as a rock himself. Sehwag was given a life earlier, as Damien Martyn dropped a relatively simple catch in the slips which gave Sehwag a reprieve.

Sehwag exploded then, with shots all around the wicket which drove Andrew Bichel to tear his hair out. When both batsman were set however, Sehwag was dismissed by Nathan Bracken for 45. The accurate left arm seamer getting his first wicket in test match cricket.

Rahul Dravid strode out into the middle, with much expected of him. A splendid overseas average of 57 in his career is only shadowed by a poor Australian tour last time around in 1999. Dravid, however could not better his Australian tour of 1999 as Gillespie dismissed him, edging to the slips for 1.

As the hopes and dreams of every Indian strode out into the middle, Gillespie warmed up and gave Tendulkar a wide delivery in which the little master seemed very tentative. In what's only to be described as one of the most shocking and appauling decisions ever witnessed, the little genius was given out lbw to a ball which was several inches above the stumps.

Hawkeye proved such a delivery to be rising all the time, and Tendulkar looked like he had seen a ghost, when Steve Bucknor raised the dreaded finger. With the score at 3/62 all of a sudden and with Tendulkar back in the pavillion for 0, India were looking dead and buried.

Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly however appeared to mouth words to himself, clench his teeth with grit and sometimes punch the blade of his bat with his hand in order to try and motivate him.

For here was a man who had received so much of unwanted criticism before the match and in the last four years, and it seemed inevitable that the gods were on the side of Sourav Chandidas Ganguly.

The crowd then witnessed some of the most exhiliratingly elegant strokeplay that they had ever seen. Very Very Special Laxman and Sourav Ganguly left both the Australian and Indian fans in awe with their combination of crisp timing, and near perfect placement.

Ganguly's off side play was near perfection and was sheer ecstasy for the cricketing enthusiast. Laxman and Ganguly rescued the Indian innings in great style and provided a solid 146 run partnership as Laxman raced to a superb knock of 50. But it was Sourav's day, as Ganguly reached his century, his first against Australia.

Ganguly jumped up in the air with a clenched fist which was almost Langer like, and the sheer relief on his face was evident. After copping a barrage full of criticism, the captain had fought back hard and like a certain Australian captain had done on so many occasions, he had lead his young side from the front.

VVS Laxman (75) didn't last too long after that however, as he cut a bouncy, spinning delivery from MacGill straight down the point fielder's throat. The loss of a wicket slowed things down as the little Indian battler, Parthiv Patel and Sourav Ganguly started to accumilate the runs, rather than blaze away with strokeplay.

Patel continued in his solid way, while Ganguly raced into the 140's. MacGill was to have his second wicket soon as Ganguly tried to clear mid off, only to be caught by the mid off fieldsman, Jason Gillespie. Ganguly finished up with a very respectable 144 as he received a standing ovation from the Gabba crowd.

Parthiv Patel (37*) and Ajit Agarkar (12*) guided the Indian's towards the end of the day in a strong position with 362/6 on the board. A very entertaining day's cricket was played here today, and the Indian fans can be very proud of their team and their captain's efforts.


Brief Score Summary:

India (1st Innings): 6/362 (Ganguly 144, Laxman 75, Gillespie 3/45, MacGill 2/85)


Posted by Sangrah