Dravid ton spurs India

HOBART, DECEMBER 17: Rahul Dravid finally struck form hitting a fine century in the Indians' match against Tasmania here today but another...

HOBART, DECEMBER 17: Rahul Dravid finally struck form hitting a fine century in the Indians8217; match against Tasmania here today but another middle-order collapse would have done no good to the morale of the team that got thrashed in the first cricket Test.

The Indians, who are searching for stability in their batting after their poor performance in the Adelaide Test slumped from a healthy 227 for three to 241 for six by close on the opening day of the four-day match here today.

Walking in at five for one in the third over, Dravid 107 batted till just three overs remained in the day, raising 114 runs for the third wicket with left-hander Hrishikesh Kanitkar, who made a responsible 58, before a minor collapse saw the tourists lose three wickets for eight runs.

Kanitkar fell after tea when he was adjudged leg before wicket to Kremers Kothen. He had batted for 176 minutes, facing 140 balls, six of which he despatched to the fence.

On a wicket which offered more pace in the first two hours than the Adelaide track, Dravid rarely flexed his shoulders till the tea session, and found the gaps at will to post his century at the stroke of the fifth hour of play. Dravid hit ten fours in his 324-minute innings off 257 balls.

Resuming on 69 after tea, the stylish batsman took a heavy toll of medium pacer-cum-spinner Collin Miller to reach his century, which should be a source of comfort for the Indian team looking to level the three-Test series in the Boxing Day game at Melbourne.

However, the Indian openers8217; failure continued in this match as both VVS Laxman 0 and S Ramesh 34 failed to provide a solid platform for the team to build on.

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Laxman, promoted to the opening spot after Devang Gandhi was dropped, fell in the third over itself, edging the seventh delivery he faced to the wicket-keeper without scoring.

Vijay Bharadwaj8217;s poor run continued. He could rarely put a ball beyond square and was finally run out going for a two to backward square leg. He made 14 and India were four down for 227.

SCOREBOARD :

India 1st innings: VVS Laxman c Atkinson b Wright 0, S Ramesh c Marsh b Downton 34, R Dravid c Atkinson b Wright 107, H Kanitkar lbw b Kremerskothen 58, V Bharadwaj run out 14, S Ganguly c Atkinson b Downton 5, N Mongia batting 4, T Kumaran batting 4; Extras: b2, lb5, nb7, w1 15. Total: for 6 wkts, 92 overs 241

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-55, 3-169, 4-227, 5-233, 6-235

Bowling: Wright 16-3-48-2, Downton 21-7-63-2, Miller 25-10-36-0, Young 10-3-22-0, Kremerskothen 13-1-47-1, Marsh 7-1-18-0.