India leave Oval with a big zero

HOBART, DECEMBER 20: The slow, painful operation Bellerive Oval finally came to an end, ironically in warm, sunny conditions. The match mu...

HOBART, DECEMBER 20: The slow, painful operation Bellerive Oval finally came to an end, ironically in warm, sunny conditions. The match must have done a load of good for the confidence of the Tasmanian side which is placed at number four in the Australian domestic cricket championship, the Pura Cup.

The same can’t be said of the Indians. Their bowlers took a beating for two days and their batsmen did not cover themselves with glory. They struggled to make runs in both innings. And the wicket here had little for the fast bowlers. In a nutshell, it was a performance which inspires little confidence.

On the final day, the Tasmanians added 76 more to their overnight 472, taking their score to 548. In the process, they lost only one more wicket, that of Daniel Marsh’s but not before the batsman had gone past 150-mark. The only bowler to get his act right was Vijay Bharadwaj, whose off-breaks may not have troubled the batsmen much, but it did help him to get three wickets.

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V V S Laxman was the only one to make good use of the placid conditions and made a half century. Bhardawaj, who is in contention for the second Test as he is perceived as an all-rounder, was sent at Number 3. He got rattled initially by a few rising deliveries, which hit him on the helmet and shoulder also. And after he had overcome his initial jitters, he found himself plumb in front to the leg-spin of Di Venuto. Runs made 15, time consumed just under two hours, this despite the Tasmanian captain bowling all his 11 players, including wicketkeeper Atkinson.

Scoreboard

India (1st innings): 316-9 declared
Tasmania (1st innings): J Cox c V Prasad b Ganguly 139, D Hill run out 84, De Vinuto c Mongia b Bharadwaj 12, A Dykes lbw Bhardwaj 61, D Marsh c Dravid b Bharadwaj 157, S Young not out 62, S Kremerskothen not out 1; Extras (lb11, b1, w 6, nb14): 32.
Total (for 5 wickets declared): 548
Fall of wickets: 1-205, 2-227, 3-277, 4-381, 5-546
Bowling: Venkatesh Prasad 21-5-52-0, D Mohanty 26-7-81-0, S Ganguly 18-0-42-1, T Kumaran 26-6-105-0, Harbhajan Singh 47-5-141-0, V Bharadwaj 32-2-105-3, H Kanitkar 5-0-10-0.

India (2nd innings): V V S Laxman st Atkinson b Young 58, S Ramesh c Atkinson b Kremerskothen 27, V Bharadwaj lbw De Vinuto 15, R Dravid not out 18, H Kanitkar not out 0; Extras (b 3, lb 3, w 3, nb 3): 12. Total (for 3 wickets): 130
Fall of wickets: 1-64, 2-98, 3-124
Bowling: Miller 16-7-29-0, Downton 8-1-30-0, Wright 8-3-10-0, Kremerskothen 9-3-22-1, Marsh 8-2-17-0, Young 2-0-6-1, Dykes 2-1-3-0, Atkinson 4-3-1-0, De Vinuto 2-0-6-1, Cox 1-1-0-0, Hill 1-1-0-0