MOHALI: India suffered a dramatic batting collapse after Sachin Tendulkar missed his 49th century by a whisker to eventually fold out for 405 in their first innings at stumps on day three of the first Test against Australia on Sunday.
Tendulkar (98) fell short of his 49th Test century by just two runs as, riding on Mitchell Johnson's five for 64, Australian bowlers made a splendid comeback and dismissed the last six Indian batsmen in the final hour of the day for just 51 runs.
Having scored 428 in their first essay, Australia will go into the penultimate day of the match with a slight edge over the home team after registering a 23-run first innings lead.
Part-time off-spinner Marcus North turned out to be party pooper for Indian fans, trapping Tendulkar leg before two runs short of century.
Tendulkar's 189-ball innings consisted of 13 boundaries, bulk of which was hit through region between point and extra cover. Along with Suresh Raina (89), he added 124 runs for the fifth wicket to lay the foundation for a big score.
India were cruising along at that stage with scoreboard reading 354 for four and with Raina for company, it looked as if Tendulkar would provide a substantial lead for his team. But it was not to be as after Tendulkar's dismissal, the lower middle-order fell like a pack of cards with Johnson inflicting the maximum damage.
Johnson dismissed skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (14) and Habhajan Singh (0) in successive deliveries and later accounted for Raina, who dominated the opposition attack from the onset with an aggressive 86 which was studded with 14 boundaries.
Raina failed to keep a Johnson delivery out of his way as it kept low and got him plumb in front.
VVS Laxman, who is suffering from a back injury, came out with a runner to bat at the number 10 position but could hardly make an impact before being the last man to depart.
Earlier, Rahul Dravid wasted a golden opportunity of surpassing Sir Don Bradman's tally of 29 Test hundred as India reached 280 for four at tea.
Dravid scored 77 and looked barely troubled by the Aussie bowlers before he edged a Doug Bollinger delivery to wicketkeeper Tim Paine.
The ball pitched on the middle stump and moved a shade as it kissed the edge of Dravid's bat. He batted for 205 minutes and faced 134 deliveries, hitting 12 fours in the process.
Tendulkar and Dravid put on 79 runs for the fourth wicket where the former was the dominant partner.
Unlike Sehwag, who bludgeoned the opposition bowlers yesterday, Tendulkar seemed to caress the ball to boundary. Out of his nine boundaries, the first five were pierced through the region between point and extra cover.
The first time Tendulkar played on the on-side was a slog sweep off Hauritz that went through the mid-wicket boundary. The next was a drive that went through the vacant mid-on region. Not only did he hit boundaries but he also ran the quick singles and twos well.
Raina also looked confident as he hit some lovely cover drives.
Earlier, the only batsman to be dismissed in the pre-lunch session was night-watchman Ishant Sharma, who scored 18 before shouldering arms to a Bollinger delivery that held its line before hitting the stumps.
A total of 81 runs were scored in the opening session as Indian batsmen played cautiously after starting on their overnight score of 110 for two.
Dravid, who was unbeaten on 21 overnight, started cautiously with Ishant, who did a commendable job and played out the first session to help the top-order batsmen to follow.
Growing in confidence watching Dravid comfortably negotiate the pace-spin duo of Mitchell Johnson and offie Nathan Hauritz, the lanky pacer played a few plucky shots, including a cover drive of Hauritz.
He added 45 runs with Dravid, who was a picture of concentration as he mostly left the deliveries on the off-stump channel. The only risky shot he played was off Hilfenhaus as the ball flew past the vacant third slip region.
Dravid and Ishant took India's score to 150 in the 37th over. But it was after the first drinks' break that Australia managed a breakthrough when Bollinger disturbed Ishant's timber.
On the other hand, the highlight of Dravid's innings was a bowler's back drive off Johnson. He reached his half century when he deliberately opened the face of the bat to guide a Johnson delivery past gully.
Having reached his 50, Dravid square cut Hauritz for a boundary.
Tendulkar too looked in superb form after arriving at the crease and started middling the ball right from the onset.
The Australian bowlers strangely did not attack much. Also the slowness in the strip is causing a problem for the pacers as they love to hit the deck.
Johnson, who has figures of two for 45, has bowled well in patches, while Bollinger was impressive in the morning as he scalped the only wicket of the session.
However, both Hilfenhaus and Hauritz were on the expensive side. While Hilfenhaus gave away 64 runs in 16 overs, Hauritz had an unimpressive none for 48 to show for his efforts.
The off-spinner often bowled short and gave a lot of width to the batsman to go for their cut shots.
TOI
Tendulkar (98) fell short of his 49th Test century by just two runs as, riding on Mitchell Johnson's five for 64, Australian bowlers made a splendid comeback and dismissed the last six Indian batsmen in the final hour of the day for just 51 runs.
Having scored 428 in their first essay, Australia will go into the penultimate day of the match with a slight edge over the home team after registering a 23-run first innings lead.
Part-time off-spinner Marcus North turned out to be party pooper for Indian fans, trapping Tendulkar leg before two runs short of century.
Tendulkar's 189-ball innings consisted of 13 boundaries, bulk of which was hit through region between point and extra cover. Along with Suresh Raina (89), he added 124 runs for the fifth wicket to lay the foundation for a big score.
India were cruising along at that stage with scoreboard reading 354 for four and with Raina for company, it looked as if Tendulkar would provide a substantial lead for his team. But it was not to be as after Tendulkar's dismissal, the lower middle-order fell like a pack of cards with Johnson inflicting the maximum damage.
Johnson dismissed skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (14) and Habhajan Singh (0) in successive deliveries and later accounted for Raina, who dominated the opposition attack from the onset with an aggressive 86 which was studded with 14 boundaries.
Raina failed to keep a Johnson delivery out of his way as it kept low and got him plumb in front.
VVS Laxman, who is suffering from a back injury, came out with a runner to bat at the number 10 position but could hardly make an impact before being the last man to depart.
Earlier, Rahul Dravid wasted a golden opportunity of surpassing Sir Don Bradman's tally of 29 Test hundred as India reached 280 for four at tea.
Dravid scored 77 and looked barely troubled by the Aussie bowlers before he edged a Doug Bollinger delivery to wicketkeeper Tim Paine.
The ball pitched on the middle stump and moved a shade as it kissed the edge of Dravid's bat. He batted for 205 minutes and faced 134 deliveries, hitting 12 fours in the process.
Tendulkar and Dravid put on 79 runs for the fourth wicket where the former was the dominant partner.
Unlike Sehwag, who bludgeoned the opposition bowlers yesterday, Tendulkar seemed to caress the ball to boundary. Out of his nine boundaries, the first five were pierced through the region between point and extra cover.
The first time Tendulkar played on the on-side was a slog sweep off Hauritz that went through the mid-wicket boundary. The next was a drive that went through the vacant mid-on region. Not only did he hit boundaries but he also ran the quick singles and twos well.
Raina also looked confident as he hit some lovely cover drives.
Earlier, the only batsman to be dismissed in the pre-lunch session was night-watchman Ishant Sharma, who scored 18 before shouldering arms to a Bollinger delivery that held its line before hitting the stumps.
A total of 81 runs were scored in the opening session as Indian batsmen played cautiously after starting on their overnight score of 110 for two.
Dravid, who was unbeaten on 21 overnight, started cautiously with Ishant, who did a commendable job and played out the first session to help the top-order batsmen to follow.
Growing in confidence watching Dravid comfortably negotiate the pace-spin duo of Mitchell Johnson and offie Nathan Hauritz, the lanky pacer played a few plucky shots, including a cover drive of Hauritz.
He added 45 runs with Dravid, who was a picture of concentration as he mostly left the deliveries on the off-stump channel. The only risky shot he played was off Hilfenhaus as the ball flew past the vacant third slip region.
Dravid and Ishant took India's score to 150 in the 37th over. But it was after the first drinks' break that Australia managed a breakthrough when Bollinger disturbed Ishant's timber.
On the other hand, the highlight of Dravid's innings was a bowler's back drive off Johnson. He reached his half century when he deliberately opened the face of the bat to guide a Johnson delivery past gully.
Having reached his 50, Dravid square cut Hauritz for a boundary.
Tendulkar too looked in superb form after arriving at the crease and started middling the ball right from the onset.
The Australian bowlers strangely did not attack much. Also the slowness in the strip is causing a problem for the pacers as they love to hit the deck.
Johnson, who has figures of two for 45, has bowled well in patches, while Bollinger was impressive in the morning as he scalped the only wicket of the session.
However, both Hilfenhaus and Hauritz were on the expensive side. While Hilfenhaus gave away 64 runs in 16 overs, Hauritz had an unimpressive none for 48 to show for his efforts.
The off-spinner often bowled short and gave a lot of width to the batsman to go for their cut shots.
TOI
