CHENNAI, March 6: A closing score of 232 for five wickets, would on the face of it, indicate that honours were shared. But the Australians clearly had the better of the opening day of the first Pepsi Test against India at the MA Chidamabaram stadium here on Friday. Pegging India down after the openers had put on 122 runs was a creditable feat and in the evening shadows, as Mark Taylor led his team off the field, there was a spring in his gait.At the end of the third hour on the opening day, the bookies would have given prohibitive odds on an Australian victory. For, with determined batsmanship, Nayan Mongia and Navjot Sidhu had put on 122 runs in 42.3 overs. Neither the pace of Michael Kasprowicz and Paul Reiffel, nor the spin of Shane Warne and Gavin Robertson could trouble the Indian pair. Only a few months ago at Mohali, against Sri Lanka, the same pair had put on 120 runs, but this effort was no less creditable.Unfortunately, the manner of his dismissal was not in keeping with his approach. Heslashed at a rising delivery outside the off-stump and Healy, leaping in the air, completed the catch. But for three hours, he did very little wrong and off the 132 balls he faced, nine were struck to the boundary.The duel between Sidhu and Warne was easily the highlight of the morning. Sidhu was prepared to take Warne head-on and stepped out frequently to play him. Warne, never one to turn back on a challenge, tempted him with deliveries that were as alluring as the apple Eve handed to Adam. Sidhu did play Warne with some comfort, but the leggie saw Taylor put down a leading edge off the opener.Sidhu's dismissal, however, was an anti-climax. He stepped out to Warne, squeezed the ball off the ground as it were to silly mid-off and tried to get back to his crease. But he could not beat Mark Waugh's reflex throw which hit the stumps. In a stay of a little over three hours, Sidhu faced 133 deliveries and besides the two sixes, hit seven boundaries.Just before the opening partnership had been broken, theAustralians looked a beaten side. The pace duo were, at best steady and Robertson looked out of depth. Only Warne, able to extract some turn and bounce from a pitch that seemed strangely somnolent, needed watching.And in mid-afternoon, he dealt the biggest blow by dismissing Sachin Tendulkar. The former India captain, with lazy elegance, drove the first he faced from Warne to the mid-off boundary. In the same over, he went for an ambitious drive and only succeeded in edging the ball to Taylor at slip.Suddenly, the Australians, having taken three wickets in 21 balls, were back in business.It was just as well that Rahul Dravid was around. He was the kind of batsman India wanted at this stage. He played the anchor role to perfection, but did not let the bad ball go unpunished. He was particularly severe on Robertson, off whom he got four of his five boundaries.Azharuddin flattered to deceive. The trademark wristy strokes, a blend of timing and elegance, were seen for a short while, but it was a chancyinnings he played before he cut a ball from Warne that bounced more than he bargained for, straight to backward point. However, the 56-run partnership between him and Dravid in 19.5 overs somewhat put India back on the rails.Robertson, who was harshly treated, had his stroke of good fortune when he found umpire George Sharp responding to his leg before appeal against Saurav Ganguly. From the opulence of 122 for no wicket, India had fallen to the poverty of 195 for five.However, Dravid and Anil Kumble came through unbeaten with a partnership of 37 runs in 19.1 overs to give India a chance of running up the kind of total with which they can put some pressure on Australia.
