India v Australia
Paul Weaver
15-Apr-2005
At Bangalore, October 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 2004. Australia won by 217 runs. Toss: Australia.
Test debut: M. J. Clarke.
Gilchrist, leading Australia in place of Ponting, who was recovering from a broken
thumb, called heads. The tottering coin was going to fall tails but then hit one of the
larger cracks on the crazy-paving pitch and flipped over the other way. The luck would
remain with Australia throughout the match but they also played the better and more
purposeful cricket. Their approach surprised many. Rejecting the nuclear option that
had served them so well in recent years, they relied more on conventional warfare:
line and length and crease occupation. They played with patient care, sticking to a
game plan that had started to evolve since they lost their last series in this country
over three years earlier.
"I didn't know what it was like to lose a Test match when we lost here last time,"
said Gilchrist. "I think it's good to have a little fear, to know what it feels like to lose
and what it takes to win." The player of the match, however, was gloriously unscarred
by previous battles. Michael Clarke became the 17th Australian to score a century on
his Test debut, and the first since Greg Blewett almost a decade earlier. More than that,
he played with real audacity, particularly against the spinners, picking the length early
and using his feet to get to the pitch of the ball. The opening day was evenly contested
until he and Katich put on 107 for the fifth wicket.
When Australia closed on 316 for five, Clarke was
unbeaten on 76, of which 56 had come in boundaries.
When he reached 98 on the second morning he replaced
his helmet with the baggy green, which he kissed with
great emotion when he reached his century. Then, if it
was possible, he became even more aggressive, striking
Kumble for two sixes over mid-wicket on his way to
151. It took 341 minutes and 248 balls, and included 18
fours and four sixes. Kumble will prefer to recall this match for becoming the ninth
bowler and the third spinner to reach 400 Test wickets.
If Clarke's innings swung the game Australia's way it was, as so often, Gilchrist
who demoralised the opposition. His 11th Test hundred came from just 103 balls and
included 13 fours and three sixes. Kumble and Harbhajan Singh were launched high
and hard, and scores of 0, 0, 1 and 1 to finish his last series in India quickly forgotten.
Australia's tail was swept away by Harbhajan, who finished with five for 146, but they
had scored 474 and were in confident control. When India batted it was Australia's
fast bowlers who caused most problems. The ball reversed precociously, helped by the
abrasive nature of the pitch, and McGrath and Kasprowicz, who also found cut,
exploited this with great skill. India looked out of the match at 150 for six at the end
of the second day. On the third, Australia took India's four remaining wickets for 96
runs, though they were held up by an obdurate innings of 46 by the wicket-keeper
Patel, who appeared anxious to make up for his maladroitness on the other side of the
stumps. Fresh-faced and diminutive and looking even younger than his 19 years -
when he toured England in 2002 Alec Stewart asked him whether he bought his pads
from Mothercare - Patel batted with fierce concentration for three and a half hours.
India's 246 fell 29 short of the follow-on target. But Australia, perhaps spooked by
the ghosts of Kolkata, did not enforce it. Instead, they widened their advantage to 355
runs by the end of the third day. Harbhajan, bowling even better than in the first
innings, returned six for 78 in the second as Australia eventually finished on 228,
setting India 457, a remote prospect even on a pitch that had not crumbled as many
had anticipated. They made an awful start when umpire Bowden, who had an unhappy
match, gave Sehwag out lbw despite a thick inside edge. Pathan, who overcame an
87-minute wait on seven to score his maiden Test fifty, put on a defiant 89 for the
ninth wicket with Harbhajan, before being given out caught behind - another of the
decisions that went against them - and India were bowled out for 239 shortly after
lunch on the final day. Green and gold had prevailed over the wonderful silk saris that
decorated the concrete of the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Man of the Match: M. J. Clarke.