Australia had the better of the morning session. But that was only because the batsmen were able to get on top of the bowlers, not necessarily to milk them for runs, but because of their ability to see through the overs and consolidate after the early loss.
For an Australian side that has only four players who have played Test matches in India before, the wicket of Matthew Hayden was all too crucial. After all, Hayden has not had the torrid time that skipper Ricky Ponting has had in India. It gave the Indians a huge fillip in the morning session at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. But it also gave the Australians and the skipper in particular the opportunity to show Australia’s mettle on day one of the first of four Tests.
Hayden’s dismissal will be played out a million times, in the minds as well as on television. To lose a wicket of such important in the first over of the first morning of a Test match can be a critical disadvantage. To make matters worse, there is always a “what if” when the decision involves as much as doubt as Hayden’s did. Hayden appeared to get a faint nick on the ball as it deviated past his bat. However, he had struck his pad with his bat virtually simultaneously, creating sufficient doubt if the sound produced was from the bat hitting pad or the sound produced from the faint nick.
But what mattered in the end was the umpire’s decision and Asad Rauf had no doubt in declaring the burly left handed opener out, giving India a wicket without conceding a run. Perhaps a case for the umpire referral system to bring in the review.
But the onus was then on Ponting to consolidate the innings with Simon Katich to ensure India did not capitalize on their early fortunes. Ponting did not have the most comfortable time at the crease as Ishant Sharma tried him out on more than a couple of occasions. Against the spinners, especially Harbhajan Singh , Ponting had to dig his heels in and show all the determination he could muster.
The reward for the Australians was an unbeaten forty-one for Ponting and an anchor-like innings of twenty-eight from Katich as Australia went into lunch in better shape on seventy-five for one.
