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Australia Vs
India, 2nd Test at Chennai |
Day 5 - October 18th, 2004
Australia 235 (Langer 71, Kumble 7/48) & 290/6 (Martyn 104
Gilchrist 49, Kumble 6/132)
drew with India 376
(Sehwag 155 Kaif 64, Warne 6/125) & 19/0
(Sehwag 12*)
Full Scorecard
No play was possible on Day 5 due to heavy
overnight rains and continuous drizzles in the
morning. The Match was finally called off at
1.00 PM IST.
India required 210 more runs to win the match
with 10 wickets in hand. Both India and
Australia had an equal chance of winning, but
India perhaps had the upper hand with Sehwag in
good form. A draw here meant that Australia
still lead the Series 1-0 with the 3rd Test
starting in just over a week's time at the
Vidarbha Stadium in Nagpur. Anil Kumble was
awarded the Man of the Match for taking 13
wickets in the match.
Day 4 - October 17th, 2004
Australia 235 & 290/6 (Martyn 104
Gilchrist 49, Kumble 6/132) lead India 376
& 19/0
(Sehwag 12*)
by 209 runs
Damien Martyn scored a wonderful century, as
Australia posted a target of 229 runs for the
Indians to level the Series 1-1.
Resuming at 150/4, India who had the upper hand,
failed to consolidate on their good position. Martyn soon reached his 50, which included 6
glorious boundaries. The Indian bowlers were
unsuccessful in taking any wicket, as Martyn and
Gillespie continued their attack on the bowlers.
They made it to Lunch with 230 runs on the board
without losing a single wicket. The post lunch
session saw Martyn and Gillespie continuing from
where they had left. Martyn soon reached his 8th
Test century with a wonderful six. Gillespie
gave good support to Martyn by holding on the
other end for 165 balls and over 200 minutes.
Harbhajan got the 1st wicket for the day when he
dismissed Martyn, as he edged the ball to Dravid
at slip. Harbhajan struck twice, as he dismissed
Gillespie in the same over who edged a
straighter one and Dravid took a marvelous
catch. Clarke and Lehmann added 62 runs for the
7th wicket, when Lehmann tried to pull a
long-hop from Kumble but the ball hit the toe of
the bat and Parthiv did the rest by taking a
simple catch. Warne got a pair as Kumble induced
a leading edge into silly point Laxman's hands.
Kumble and Harbhajan wrapped up the Aussie
innings at 369 by dismissing Kasprowicz and
McGrath respectively in quick time.
Chasing 229, both the makeshift openers for
India, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh had to
negotiate 3 overs from McGrath and Gillespie.
Both the batsmen knocked off 19 runs, leaving
India to get 210 runs to level the series on the
final day.
Day 3 - October 16th, 2004
Australia 235 & 150/4 (Gilchrist 49
Hayden 39, Kumble 3/53) lead India 376
(Sehwag 155 Kaif 64 Patel 54, Warne
6/125) by 9 runs
Australia ended Day 3 at the score of 150 with
just 6 wickets in hand in their 2nd Innings.
They lead India by just 9 runs at stumps.
 Resuming
the day at 291/6, Kaif and Parthiv played
confidently to reach their 50's before Lunch.
Parthiv was the first wicket to fall as he
faintly edged an away going Shane Warne delivery
into the gloves of Gilchrist for a well made 54.
Parthiv and Kaif had put 102 runs for the 7th
wicket. Kaif on the other end was badly cramped
up due to the immense Chennai heat and difficult
conditions. Kumble gave good support to Kaif at
the other end, as India went into lunch at
363/7. Kaif also retired hurt at the same score,
as he was barely able to stand in the centre.
Warne quickly packed off Kumble and Harbhajan to
the pavilion to achieve his first 5-wicket haul
in India. Kaif came in again with the score at
372/9 with Yuvraj as his runner. But, he did not
last long as he tried to run in spite of having
a runner, and failed to come back to the crease
before Gilchrist knocked off the bails. Thus,
India ended at 376 with a lead of 141 runs.
The Australian opening pair of Langer and Hayden
started off well as they did in the 1st Innings,
as they put 50 in quick time. India struck
immediately after tea, with the star of the 1st
Innings - Anil Kumble taking the edge of
Langer's bat, who went for a wild shot and
Dravid did the rest at slip. Hayden made 39 runs
and was looking good for a big score, but he got
out to an overconfident shot as he tried to slog
Kumble out of the ground, but just managed to
get a leading edge and Laxman took a comfortable
catch. Gilchrist who had promoted himself by
coming at No.3 looked very confident from the
start and he along with Katich added 45 runs for
the 3rd wicket before Katich got out plumb in
front to Zaheer, who took his 1st wicket for the
match. Martyn then joined Gilchrist, and put on
some quick runs as they went past India's lead
of 141 in quick time. But with just 2 overs left
in the day's play, Kumble got his 3rd scalp in
the form of Adam Gilchrist as he was bowled
brilliantly around his legs for an unlucky 49.
Gillespie came in as the night-watchman with
just 1.3 overs left in the day, and he played
safe to see Australia end Day 3 at 150/4
with 6 wickets in hand. Martyn was unbeaten on
19, and Gillespie was yet to open his account. Kumble
ended with 3/53 in the 2nd Innings, with overall
match figures of 10/101.
Day 2 - October 15th, 2004
Australia 235 trail India 291/6
(Sehwag 155 Kaif 34*, Warne 3/95) by 56
runs
Day 2 of the 2nd Test between India and
Australia at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium saw
Shane Warne breaking Muralitharan's world record
of 532 wickets to become the highest wicket
taker in Test Cricket.
 Resuming
at 28/1, the Indians were very slow to start off
in the morning. Shane Warne's 533rd wicket came
in the form of Irfan Pathan, as he edged an away
going delivery into the hands of Matthew Hayden
at slip. Both Warne and Murali have been
swapping this record for the past 2-3 months and
with Murali out of the game for some time, Warne
would love to get a big lead to be at the top.
Dravid then added 95 runs with Sehwag, before he
dragged an off-cutter of Kasprowicz onto his
stumps. Sehwag meanwhile, went on to score his
7th Test century which comprised of 15 hits to
the fence. The Indian Captain was the next to
bite the dust, as he edged Gillespie into the
hands of Gilchrist. Laxman, who has always been
effective against the Aussies seems to have lost
his glamour as he got his off-stump uprooted to
a low ball from Gillespie for 4. Kaif then
joined Sehwag and got a life early in his
innings, as he was dropped by Hayden at slip of
the bowling of Warne. Sehwag was finally
dismissed for a brilliant 155 of just 221 balls,
when he tried to pull Warne from outside the
off-stump, but managed to find Clarke who took
an outstanding diving catch at deep mid-wicket.
Parthiv and Kaif played cautiously and added a
valuable 58 runs till the end of the 2nd Day's
play, with Kaif unbeaten on 34 and Parthiv on
27. Warne was the most successful bowler for
Australia with 3 wickets for 92 runs. India thus
lead Australia by 56 runs, with 4 wickets in
hand.
Day 1 - October 14th, 2004
Australia 235
(Langer 71 Hayden 58, Kumble 7/48)
lead India 28/1 (Sehwag 20*) by 207 runs
The 2nd Test between India and Australia started
at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today.
Both the teams paid homage to the late Keith
Miller by observing silence prior to the start
of the Match. Australia won the toss for the 2nd
time in a succession in the series and elected
to bat. The Aussies went with the same team as
in Bangalore, where as for India, Mohammad Kaif
came in for the out-of-form Akash Chopra.
 The
Aussies wearing black bands in remembrance of
the late Keith Miller, started off brilliantly
with both Langer and Hayden in ominous form.
Harbhajan was introduced into the attack in the
10th over of the Australian Innings and he was
welcomed with a six of Hayden's bat in his very
first over. Both Langer and Hayden reached their
fifties comfortably and the Aussies were at a
commanding 111/0 at Lunch. Harbhajan finally got
the first breakthrough in the form of Hayden as
he danced down the track to hit Harbhajan out of
the ground, but ended up spooning the ball to
Laxman at long-off who took a comfortable catch.
Two balls later, Langer got out as he edged
Harbhajan to Dravid, who completed a fine low
catch. Martyn along with Katich added 53 runs
for the 3rd wicket before Martyn got out to
Kumble, as he edged the ball to Yuvraj at
forward short leg. Lehmann continued with his
poor form as he bottom edged Kumble into
Parthiv's gloves, who took a wonderful low
catch. The 2 centurions at Bangalore - Michael
Clarke and Adam Gilchrist got out cheaply to
Anil Kumble with the Australians struggling at
210/6. Kumble's 5th wicket came in the form of
Shane Warne as he gave a simple catch back to
the bowler. Thus, Kumble became just the 6th
bowler in Tests to take 25 five-wicket hauls.
The Australian tail failed to wag, as the
Australians were bundled out for a mere 235
after the wonderful start that the openers gave.
The last 8 wickets added just 46 runs and Katich
was unbeaten till the end at 36. Anil Kumble was
absolutely devastating with figures of 7/48.
The Indians had a new opening pair as Yuvraj
opened with Sehwag in place of Akash Chopra.
Yuvraj got an early life as Clarke dropped him
at 2nd slip of the bowling of McGrath. But with
just 3 balls left in the day, Yuvraj went after
a tossed ball from Warne outside the off-stump
but only managed to nick it to the keeper who
took a wonderful catch. Yuvraj Singh's wicket
was the 532nd wicket for Warne as he came on par
with Murali who is also on 532 Test wickets.
Irfan Pathan - the Night Watchman negotiated the
last 2 balls carefully, and India closed on at 28/1
at Stumps with Sehwag unbeaten on 20.
Teams:
Australia: A Gilchrist, M Clarke, J
Gillespie, M Hayden, S Katich, M Kasprowicz, D
Martyn, G McGrath, J Langer, D Lehmann, S Warne
India: V Sehwag, R Dravid, VVS
Laxman, S Ganguly,
Y Singh, M Kaif, P Patel, I Pathan, Z Khan, H Singh, A Kumble.
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