Incorrigible India

Over the course of this series,hes also demonstrated how skilful a bowler he is. But a large part of Siddles appeal still lies in his personality. And like other big personalities before him Ian Botham springs to mind he sometimes seems to get wickets with just his presence,with deliveries that are nowhere near being the best of his spell. Its a priceless quality.

With Australia selecting four pacemen to exploit the hard,green WACA wicket,Siddle found himself in the unusual position of a second-change bowler. Ryan Harris and Ben Hilfenhaus,more markedly reliant on swing through the air,took the new ball. Mitchell Starc,with his left-arm angle,came on as first change.

Its harder to categorise Siddle. He can swing it,seam it,hit the deck hard and bowl endless spells at serious pace. In the last few months,hes married all this to a beautiful length. Happily for his captain,he makes things happen when hes thrown the ball during a lull in the game. When he unbent himself and started his run-up,India were 135 for four. Their fifth-wicket pair had put on 68,and were beginning to get to terms with the wicket. The sun was baking down on the WACA. If VVS Laxman and Virat Kohli stayed at the wicket till tea,India would have gone wicketless through the afternoon session.

If India were harbouring any such thoughts,Siddle cut them short. Kohli aimed a cover drive at a full,wide outswinger. It was in the slot,but the late shape caused him to slice it uppishly to point,where David Warner tumbled forward to take a smart low catch.

In his next over,Siddle got one to straighten a hint from an off stump line. Laxman stayed back,and got a tiny edge to first slip.

Siddle pointed to the sky and jogged a few yards down the pitch,a less exuberant celebration than he is usually prone to. As the Australians waited for the next man to walk in,Siddle reached gratefully for an ice pack. It was well deserved. The Indian innings had been snapped at the spine. The four remaining wickets added just 23,as India were bundled out for 161 in two sessions and a bit.

In reply,Australia picked up from where they had left off in Sydney,racking up 149/0 in just 23 overs,with David Warner batting on 104.

Sehwag zero,Dravid bowled

Six of the Indian batsmen were caught behind or by fieldsmen in the slip cordon. If you bowl the fifth-sixth stump line,they dont like leaving the ball, Warner later said. They like trying to hit every ball as much as possible. Just shows that if we keep fishing out there,they are going to nick it. And thats exactly what they have been doing.

As is often the case,Hilfenhaus began the slide,with a beautiful outswinger that began curling from leg and middle,pitched on middle and off and took Virender Sehwags edge a few inches outside off stump. Siddle came on in the 14th over and struck immediately,bowling Rahul Dravid with a near-blockhole delivery on leg stump that squeezed through inside edge and front pad.

Sachin Tendulkar walked in to the usual sort of reception,took guard a foot outside his crease and straightaway drove Siddle down the ground for two fours. One of the perils of a full length. But Tendulkar,who looked in superb touch,was done in by some smart Australian bowling. Over after over,they swung it away from him from off,forcing him to shuffle wider and wider to cover his stumps. Finally,Harris got one to nip back and catch him plumb in front.

Gautam Gambhir was next to go,caught behind after a dogged stay where he left well for most part,bunted the short singles as he likes to do,and survived an excusable number of plays-and-misses for a wicket as green as this one. On 31,however,he succumbed to the familiar poke outside off,to a brilliant bit of bowling from Hilfenhaus.

All through his spell,he had mixed up the big inswinger to the left-hander with balls that shaped back in just a touch,varying the angle of the seam and his wrist adroitly. This ball was one of the latter,laden with extra bounce. Gambhirs bat felt hesitantly at it,expecting swing back in. It swung,but not as much as he expected.