Ponting's double-hundred puts Australia in charge
Ricky Ponting's restrained and mature 257, his second double-century in successive Tests, was the highlight of the third day at the MCG, one that went almost perfectly for Australia
The Wisden Bulletin by Chandrahas Choudhury
28-Dec-2003
Close India 366 and 27 for 2 (Dravid 6*, Ganguly 6*) trail Australia 558 (Ponting 257, Kumble 6-176) by 165 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
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Ricky Ponting's 257 put Australia in a position to dictate terms © Getty Images |
Ricky Ponting's restrained and mature 257, his second double-century in successive
Tests, was the highlight of the third day at the MCG, one that went almost
perfectly for Australia. First, batting much more cautiously than they did on the
second day so as to deny India any chance of coming back into the game, they ground
out a lead of 192 in two-and-a-half sessions. Then, in what was a dramatic change
of pace and mood in the game, they whipped out Akash Chopra and Virender Sehwag late in the day to leave India 27 for 2 at stumps.
Australia's gradually ascending dominance,
culminating in the dismissal of a pair who had put on 141 in the first innings,
overshadowed the lion-hearted effort of Anil Kumble, who took 6 for 176 in 51 overs.
Ponting's double-century was the third of a remarkable year, one in which he
averages almost 100 in Tests, and his name was the common thread in a series of
partnerships that completely took India out of the game. Ponting's double-century
here appeared much more inevitable than the one at Adelaide, where he attacked the
Indian bowling relentlessly and often chancily. His approach was closer to that
adopted by Rahul Dravid in the second Test: he knew he was in command of the
bowling, and set himself the task of batting as long as possible. He entered
yesterday with the score at 30 for 1, and by the time he was out late in the day,
Australia were 555 for 9.
Indeed, Australia's tactics were markedly different from that of the day before,
when they attacked with gusto and piled up over 300 at great speed. On a pitch with
uneven bounce, and with batting becoming steadily more difficult, they realised that
ensuring a big first-innings lead was more important than scoring quickly, and
set about grinding out that advantage. They added 79 runs in the first session for
the loss of Damien Martyn, and 84 in the second for the loss of Simon Katich. (As a
measure of comparision, they made 114 runs between lunch and tea yesterday, and 158
in the last session.) The final session today yielded 88, as wickets fell in a flurry, but by this time the advantage was sizeable.
India watched the game slip away from them slowly over the course of the day,
though they would not have been too displeased with their morning's work. Not only
did they remove Martyn, caught behind off Ajit Agarkar for 31, they also
sent Steve Waugh back to the pavilion retired hurt.
Waugh came out to another standing ovation, but what followed was anticlimactic. He
left his first ball alone, and then, as Agarkar dropped the next ball short, turned his
back on the ball. His head was pointed in the direction of third slip as the ball
hit him painfully on the elbow, and after an examination from the physio, he
decided to go off.
Waugh was replaced by Katich, and if India could have claimed another wicket at
this point, they would have got into the tail. But Katich hung around to add 64
for the fifth wicket with Ponting, before he was caught off bad and pad by Chopra off Kumble (437 for 5). Waugh now returned, with an arm guard over his left
forearm, though he was never at ease during his innings of 19.
But Ponting at the other end was dominant, and as he neared his double-hundred he
came down the pitch to Kumble for the first time in the day and hit him over the
infield for boundaries in successive overs. He got to the landmark with a push on
the leg side off Ashish Nehra, and celebrated exuberantly before raising his broad
bat with the lime-green handle to the packed house.
Ponting lost Waugh soon after tea, lbw padding up once too often to Kumble (502 for
6). India then steadily worked their way through the tail, with one end kept
up all through the afternoon by Kumble.
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Anil Kumble took six wickets, including the prized scalp of Ricky Ponting © Getty Images |
Kumble bowled not only with great heart - something often said of him - but also
with great skill and guile in an overseas Test match, something of which he has often been accused
of being incapable. The great change discernible in his bowling over the last
year, especially in this series, is that of his stock ball. Previously it used to
be the top-spinner that hurried on to the batsman after pitching, but now it is the
googly, which is slightly slower, and not only turns into the right-hander but also
bounces. It is a wicket-taking ball: Waugh was out believing the ball would turn
the other way, and Katich beaten by the extra bounce to be caught off bat and pad.
Ponting was Kumble's final victim, charging down the wicket, missing, and being stumped
for 257 (555 for 9). Both men had put in magnificent efforts on the day.
Australia were bowled out for 558, at just the right time for them, and India were
left with the task of seeing out 11 overs before stumps. It was not to happen,
though Chopra could consider himself unlucky to be given out caught behind off
Nathan Bracken when the ball actually brushed the top of his back pad (5 for
1). When Brett Lee dismissed Sehwag, flicking uppishly and caught brilliantly at
square leg by Brad Williams, Australia were jubilant (19 for 2).
Lee would have fancied his chances of a second wicket when Sourav Ganguly emerged
at No. 4, in a effort to ensure that Sachin Tendulkar was available to India on the
crucial fourth day, but Ganguly batted with great composure, before nearly giving it away in
the dying stages with a couple of inside-edges past his stumps. He lived to fight
another day, but India will be hard-pressed to save this game from here.
Chandrahas Choudhury is a staff writer with Wisden Asia Cricket magazine.