BANGALORE: Australian captain Ricky Ponting hit a gutsy 77 to steer his faltering team out of trouble on the opening day of the second and final Test against India. Ponting’s 54th half-century helped the tourists survive a middle-order collapse to reach 285 for five by stumps in front of 20,000 boisterous home fans at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
Marcus North was unbeaten on 43 and wicket-keeper Tim Paine was on eight when bad light halted play after 85.1 overs.
Shane Watson and Simon Katich gave the tourists a flying start with an opening stand of 99 after Ponting elected to bat in overcast conditions.
Watson hit 57, his third successive half-century in the series, and Katich made 43 on a moisture-laden wicket before India’s spinners Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha turned the tables in the post-lunch session, grabbing three wickets for 33 runs as Australia stumbled to 132 for three.
Ponting led his team’s revival by adding 66 for the fourth wicket with Michael Hussey (34) and 58 for the fifth with North. The captain hit 12 boundaries and was dismissed in the final session after missing a straight ball from part-time spinner Suresh Raina.
Earlier, India’s Venkatsai Laxman was ruled out of the Test after failing to recover fully from back spasms suffered during his match-winning knock of 73 not out in the first Test at Mohali.
Laxman was replaced by debutant Cheteshwar Pujara, while opener Murali Vijay and Sreesanth came in for the injured duo of Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma.
Australia awarded a Test cap to lanky fast bowler Peter George, who replaced the injured Doug Bollinger as the tourists seek a series-levelling win after they lost the dramatic Mohali Test by one wicket.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2010.
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