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If Ben Hilfenahaus’ four-wicket haul was not enough, Dave Warner’s swashbuckling century deflated whatever little that remained of the Indian morale on the first day of the WACA Test match.
We’ll bring you the live scores and commentary of the action throughout the second day of the third Test match, with the match starting at 13.30 am AEDT on Saturday.
Down 2-0 and under immense pressure to overturn a six-match losing streak away from home, India would have come into the Test hoping for a better batting performance. Instead they were bowled out for their second-lowest score since January 1 last year.
It was not a one-off for India. The much-famed batting line-up had, in the process, collapsed for a sub-200 score for the third time in five innings.
None of the top-order, bar Gautam Gambhir and Virat Virat Kohli to an extent fronted up too well to the swing, at good pace, of Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle.
Virender Sehwag’s form continued to desert him as he edged one from Hilfenhaus that swung as prodigiously as Gary Gilmour’s deliveries under the Headingley clouds. The tone was set and the rest of the side capitulated.
Not too many would have given India a chance to eke out a lead but there wouldn’t have been too many who would have expected what followed.
Warner cut and drove with as much élan as he did powerfully in his 80-ball effort. It was his second century in his four Test matches and couldn’t have been more contrasting to his first – which tilted more towards a typical Geoffrey Boycott century than to any of Vivian Richards’ tons.
This one was Warner teaching the Indian bowlers a thing or three about batting in a T20 game.
Ed Cowan paled in comparison but was no mere spectator at the other end. His unbeaten 40 took only 58 balls.
He survived a caught-behind appeal, which sounded more like a whimper from a team resigned to its fate. The use of DRS would have helped the team but its non-existence negated that possibility. Even if it was in use, it seemed doubtful that the Indians would have taken that route.
Any kind of day on Saturday will be an improvement for the Indians. Really, it cannot get worse than the first, but given how India has gone about their business in the last six and a something Test matches away from home, I wouldn’t be putting my money on it.
On a flat pitch, Australia should be able to bat out the day and carve out a 300-run plus lead.
Unless of course, Zaheer Khan can send down the chunk of the overs and pick up a bagful of wickets. Because the southpaw swinger aside, none of the Indian bowlers looked close to getting a wicket.
We will bring you the coverage throughout the fourth day from the WACA, Perth and hope to receive your opinions as the action unfolds.
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