Sachin holds fort after North’s century

Bengaluru, Oct. 10: The vociferous Sunday crowd which had turned out in large numbers to cheer the home side fell silent for a brief period when Virender Sehwag (30) departed after the Australians had scored 478 on the second day of the second Test at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.

However, Sachin Tendulkar (44 n.o.) in the company of Murali Vijay (42 n.o.) took India’s total to 128 for 2 at stumps, thereby ensuring that the Indian fans did not return home dejected.

Earlier in the day, India allowed Australia to pile a formidable total, thanks to a career best effort by Marcus North, who scored a fighting 128 off 240 deliveries. In reply, India were in spot of bother when they lost Sehwag and Rahul Dravid (1) in quick succession. But Tendulkar brought solidity to the innings, raising an unbeaten 90-run stand for the third wicket with M. Vijay.

Sehwag provided the usual explosive start, but miscued a pull to deep mid-wicket and Dravid, who got out to a left-arm seamer for third time in a row in this series, left India precariously placed at 38 for 2.

But, Tendulkar and Vijay were up for the challenge on a pitch that offered little assistance to the bowlers, as the day progressed. During the effort the little master also completed 14,000 runs in Tests. Tendulkar’s effort somewhat managed to take the limelight away from the visitors, especially North, who showed why he has scored more than 10,000 runs in first class cricket.

The last recognised pair of North and Paine responded splendidly to pressure. In the first hour of the day under overcast conditions, the ball darted around to trouble the batsmen, but the hosts could not bag a wicket till lunch. Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth in particular, failed to use the conditions to their advantage. Sreesanth bowled too many short deliveries that denied him a chance of picking a wicket. North looked in sublime touch, scoring runs all round the wicket at a healthy pace with minimal risks as he led the Aussies to a dominant position.

He first added 149 runs for the sixth wicket with Paine (59) and later put on 43 crucial runs for the seventh with Nathan Hauritz. While North’s knock was chanceless, the same cannot be said about Paine. He edged a few and was also caught behind off a Sreesanth delivery which turned out to be a no ball.

Pragyan Ojha finally provided the breakthrough when Paine was beaten in the flight and was stumped by M.S. Dhoni. Mitchell Johnson did not last long but Hauritz proved to be an able partner for North.

Scoreboard
Australia 1st innings
S. Watson c Dhoni b Ojha 57, S. Katich c Dravid b Harbhajan 43, R. Ponting lbw b Raina 77, M. Clarke c Raina b Harbhajan 14, M. Hussey c Sehwag b Zaheer 34, M. North c Sreesanth b Harbhajan 128, T. Paine st Dhoni b Ojha 59, M. Johnson lbw b Ojha 0, N. Hauritz run out 17, B. Hilfenhaus n.o.16, P. George st Dhoni b Harbhajan 2.
Extras: (b-9, lb-12, nb-9, w-1) 31
Total (all out in 141 overs) 478
FoW: 1-99, 2-113, 3-132, 4-198, 5-256, 6-405, 7-415, 8-458, 9-459, 10-478.
Bowling: Zaheer 23-5-84-1, Sreesanth 21-1-79-0, Ojha 42-7-120-3, Harbhajan 43-3-148-4, Sehwag 4-1-7-0, Raina 8-1-19-1.
india 1st innings
M. Vijay n.o. 42, V. Sehwag c Johnson b Hilfenhaus 30, R. Dravid c North b Johnson 1, S. Tendulkar n.o. 44.
Extras: (b-4, lb-2, w-5) 11
Total (in 34.2 overs) 128/2
FoW: 1-37, 2-38 .
Bowling: Hilfenhaus 9-2-18-1, Johnson 7-2-30-1, George 5-1-18-0, Hauritz 11.2-0-45-0, Clarke 2-0-11-0.