Honours even in Bangalore

A bold declaration by Ricky Ponting breathed life into the opening Test in Bangalore but India's batsmen were up to the task and batted out the final day to secure a well-earned draw and set things up nicely heading into the second Test, which begins on Friday.

After a few early wickets, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman steadied the ship for India and when Tendulkar fell just short of his half-century, fellow veteran Sourav Ganguly joined forces with Laxman to see India home to safety.

It was interesting to see Zaheer Khan claim that Australia had been unusually negative throughout the match, and it will be equally interesting to see what effect that has on the Aussies come the second Test.

Bet365 are predicting another close-run affair, making both sides 9/4 for victory, while the draw is the early favourite at 23/20.

As for the series betting, India are now slight favourites at 11/8, while Australia are 7/4 and the drawn series, quite popular early on, is now a 9/4 chance.