Warne epitomised Aussie determination

Sidhu led the way during the pre-lunch onslaught dancing merrily down the pitch to the spinners and depositing each of them into the stands. Sidhu and Mongia are a difficult combination for the spinners to combat as the wicketkeeper’s preference is to play off the back footwhich complements Sidhu’s style perfectly and constantly causes the bowlers to have to alter their length.

For the Australians the first session was Mark Taylor’s worst nightmare. He lost the toss and then didn’t get the breakthrough with the new ball as Michael Kasprowicz pitched a little too short too often and Paul Reiffel took a while to home in on his off stump line. If this trend continues Shane Warne is going to look more like a string bean than a stout purveyor of spin by the end of the series, no matter how many cans of baked beans he consumes.

After lunch it was Mongia who carried the attack to the Australians until Kasprowicz in the middle of a very determined spell finally achieved the breakthrough. The well-built Queenslander, realising Australia needed a lift bowled with extra pace and made one lift sharply to bring about Mongia’s downfall. Living up to their reputation as an excellent fielding side Ian Healy’s good catch was followed by a sharp piece of work from Mark Waugh which ran outSidhu. Then Taylor more than compensated for an earlier drop by pouching a slick chance at first slip to get rid of the dangerous Sachin Tendulkar.

In the space of twenty balls a combination of lion-hearted bowling and sharp fielding had brought Australia right back into the game. The eagerly awaited showdown between Warne and Tendulkar only lasted five balls but it was an action-packed appetiser. Tendulkar stroked the first delivery past the bowler for four, but Warne who visibly rose to the challenge produced a beauty to catch the edge of the flashing blade and Taylor plucked the ball out of the air as it flew near his right ear. This was courageous as well as good cricket and a sharp reminder to India that you can never relax against a determined Australian side.

Having stopped the Indian momentum the Australians gradually strangled the run rate and Warne capitalised by trapping Azharuddin. The ailing leg-spinner who was close to dehydration managed to dredge up the energy to bounce a leggie and thiscaused Azharuddin to mistime the attempted cut. This was Warne showing that he had the ability and the courage to overcome a few handicaps to lead a struggling attack back from the brink. Warne’s supreme effort seemed to inspire a nervous Robertson and a period of improved consistency in line and length resulted in his first Test wicket.

The Australians first successful lbw shout of the tour was a rather dubious one — the ball looked like it would have spun past Saurav Ganguly’s off stump, but it was a relieved Robertson who accepted the congratulations of his teammates.

The day finished in slow motion with the tired Australians holding on and Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble playing for survival. The Australians when they got back to the cool of the dressing room would have been happy with the end result and India I’m sure a little disappointed although wiser for the experience. They now know that to beat this Australian side you have to play well not just for a session, not just for a day, but for fivedays.