McGrath and Gillespie strangle India

India 146 for 5 (Kaif 47*) trail Australia 398 (Martyn 114, Clarke 91) by 252 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Only in cricket can pigeon mean predator. Glenn McGrath, playing his 100th Test, spearheaded a powerful Australian attack, perhaps their best in the subcontinent, as India were restricted to 146 for 5 in reply to 398. They were choked for runs, and no-one pulled the noose tighter than McGrath, who took 2 for 18 in his 20 overs. Mohammad Kaif's 47 not out, an innings that was both obdurate and fluent, helped India back on track, but Australia were far ahead.

Start as you mean to go on, they say, but India's start was completely at odds with what followed. Virender Sehwag smashed four boundaries off Jason Gillespie's first over, but once he was out, the runs stopped flowing. Or even trickling. Aakash Chopra made 9 off 42 balls, Rahul Dravid made 21 off 140, and Sachin Tendulkar managed 8 off 36. The Indians collected only 60 runs in the afternoon session, as the run rate dived below two an over, and stayed there. It was not all the batsmen's fault. The bowling was magnificent.

McGrath's bowling was an encapsulation of his essence. It was as if he strode in to bowl and said to the world, "You want to see how I've made it this far? Watch this." His line was mostly in that narrow strip that is so often described as the corridor, which leads batsmen to their doom. His length, just back-of-a-length, allowed the batsmen neither to drive nor cut or pull. And he got the ball to jab both ways, teasing and tormenting. He only took two wickets all day, but what wickets they were - Sehwag, the irresistible force, and Dravid, the immovable object.

His companions were lesser men only in comparison to him. Gillespie, after that first burst of looseners, bowled with hostility all day long, and Michael Kasprowicz was accurate and parsimonious, and unlucky not to take a wicket. They relished bowling on a pitch that offered them pace, even bounce and some lateral movement, and their strategy was to prise out wickets by restricting runs. Australia had decided that, while bowling, defence was the best form of attack, and they were vindicated.

It didn't work for Dravid, though. His innings was a puzzling throwback to the early part of his career, when his immaculate defence was often not matched by the elegant strokeplay that makes him such a joy to watch. Sanjay Manjrekar once remarked that Dravid during India's tour of Australia in 1999-2000 had made the same mistake that Manjrekar himself had made there in 1991-92: focussing on keeping his wicket intact and not caring to score runs. With that approach, you could spend two or three hours at the crease, but it would be to no avail when you got out, because the score would not have progressed much. In Dravid's defence, though, it must be said that the bowling was outstanding, and quite a few crisp shots failed to elude the fielders, who were lively and athletic. A great foe can make a lesser man of anyone.

Tendulkar played with self-restraint and obvious determination, but was set up beautifully by Gillespie, and was lbw for 8 to a lovely incutter (49 for 3). VVS Laxman came in and batted uncertainly against the fast bowlers, but it was again to Shane Warne that he perished, rocking back to a short one that spun away from him prodigiously, and trying to cut, only managing a top-edge to Michael Clarke at point (75 for 4). Dravid was out shortly after tea, lured into edging a staple McGrath delivery to slip (103 for 5).

Kaif was the most impressive of the Indian batsmen on view. He played the kind of innings one has come to expect from Dravid, defending solidly but keeping the scoreboard ticking, and capitalising on loose balls. He survived an uncertain period against Gillespie just before close of play, when Gillespie kept bowling short to him. Kaif was well supported by Parthiv Patel, whose batting, at odds with his shambolic wicketkeeping, was adequate against all the challenges thrown his way. The last of them involved McGrath bowling with a close-in circle of seven fielders on the off side, like the broken seal of a bottle of mineral water. To his credit, he survived.

It had been a good day for the bowlers from the start. The morning had begun with the threat of Clarke, aided by the tailenders, taking Australia much closer to 500, which would have shut India out of the match. But India struck with the second new ball, as Zaheer Khan bowled beautifully to pick up the wickets of Clarke and Gillespie. McGrath played an entertaining cameo of 11 not out, which included two hooks for four, and some immaculate head-over-the-ball elbow-high defence.

But it was with the ball that McGrath would dominate. The Australian bowlers charged in, and the Indians crawled all day. Now would they die, or rise up?