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While his teammates were enjoying lunch in the cool dressing rooms, James Pattinson decided to warm up with Aussie bowling coach Allister de Winter on the pitch adjacent to the main wicket.
Pattinson first bowled off a few steps and still got the ball to rise sharply and thud into the glove of de Winter.
A few balls later, Pattinson came off his standard 25 metre run and pitched one on the same length but this time around. As de Winter caught it, he felt full force and was thrown back on the ground.
That was enough of the warm up and time for the real time action. Except this time the middle stump of Murali Vijay felt the full brunt of the Pattinson’s ball, as it was sent flying five metres back.
Vijay had managed to get an inside edge but replays showed his bat coming down as the ball was almost past it. It was sheer pace.
Virender Sehwag’s dead bat was not enough to stop the momentum of yet another thunderbolt. The ball kept rolling even after solid impact to hit top of middle stump.
In the space of three overs, Pattinson had suddenly sprung a graveyard wicket for fast bowlers to life.
Pattinson had a very simple game plan – to bowl the ball full and straight at the stumps. He had also changed his approach to the wicket. He was running in at an angle, a slight change made so he could bowl more deliveries at the stumps.
He revealed, “In India there isn’t much in the wickets, so I knew I had to use the crease to my advantage. Running in at an angle allows me to bowl right at the stumps, something you need to do in these conditions.”
Pattinson’s next wicket was due to fact he went wider on the crease and got a ball to jag in off the deck to peg back Pujara’s off stump. In the space of six overs, Pattinson had destroyed the timber work of the three Indian batsmen.
Luckily for the Indians, Michael Clarke had decided six overs was enough for Pattinson.
Asked if he was under bowled, Pattinson said, “The plan is use me in short bursts and I was about to bowl another couple at the end but Starcy (Mitchell Starc) bowled quite well so Pup decided to hold me back. Hopefully he will get those extra overs out of me tomorrow morning.”
Everything that Clarke has done has turned into gold so far and maybe he senses another sharp burst at the start of day three from his pace weapon can change the balance towards Australia.
A good indicator will be the way Pattinson warms up tomorrow morning.
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