Centurion Michael Clarke spoiled R Ashwin's party rescuing Australia from a shaky position to one of safety at the end of day one
Captain Michael Clarke led from the front with a sparkling unbeaten century under pressure as Australia recovered from a precarious position to post a respectable 316 for seven on the opening day of the first cricket Test against India in Chennai on Friday.
Clarke brought up his 23rd Test century off the second last ball of the day hitting left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja towards long-off to remain unbeaten on 103 on a day which saw an engrossing battle between the bat and the ball.
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Clarke negated all the good work done by off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (6/88) who took all but one among seven wickets that fell on the day at the Chepauk.
Clarke was well-complemented by debutant Moises Henriques (68) as the pair added 147 runs for the sixth wicket after Ashwin's terrific post-lunch spell saw the visitors being reduced to 153 for five.
The Tamil Nadu offie finally broke the partnership by dismissing the impressive Henriques, trapping him leg-before much to the relief of his teammates.
R Ashwin. Pic/Atul Kamble
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Ashwin, who took his sixth five-wicket haul in Test matches ended with fantastic figures of six for 88 in 30 overs but should consider himself unlucky being robbed off Clarke's wicket due to the absence of Decision Review System (DRS).u00a0
The Australian captain was batting on 39 when he offered a simple bat-pad catch to Cheteshwar Pujara at forward short-leg but umpire Kumar Dharmasena turned down the vociferous appeal from the Indians.u00a0
The television replays clearly indicated that the ball had hit Clarke's bat before flying off to the close-in fielder.u00a0
The rival skipper took advantage of the situation and did not look back as he took his team to a position of safety with other Indian bowlers looking pedestrian.u00a0
A lot was expected of Harbhajan Singh playing his 100th Test match but the experienced off-spinner went off the boil after the first few overs giving away 71 runs in 19 overs.u00a0
Debutant Bhuvneshwar Kumar's performance also left a lot to be desired. With a pace of about 130 kmph, he could hardly pose much problems for Clarke and Henriques.u00a0
After Australia had opted the bat first, David Warner showed decisive footwork during the first couple of hours as he attacked both Harbhajan and Ashwin.u00a0
Ed Cowan also looked confident although both the openers got a reprieve in the first hour. Cowan charged down the track and Dhoni missed a stumping chance while Warner's catch was dropped by Virender Sehwag at the first slip.u00a0
The bowler on both occasion was Ashwin.u00a0
However, the burly home boy had the last laugh against left-hander Cowan (29), who confidently charged down the track to loft Ashwin. The ball turned and bounced as Dhoni whipped the bails off in a flash.u00a0
Phil Hughes (6) didn't look comfortable at all during his brief stay and dragged a wide short delivery from Ashwin onto the stumps.u00a0
Warner, however, continued to attack as he completed his 50 off 77 balls with five fours in company of Shane Watson (28).u00a0
The duo put on 54 runs for the third wicket as Australia went into lunch at 126 for two.u00a0
The first hour in the post-lunch session turned out to be very productive for India as Ashwin dismissed Watson, Warner and Matthew Wade in quick succession as the visitors suffered a mid-innings collapse.u00a0
Both Watson and Warner were leg before trying to play deliveries that were skidding and were caught on the backfoot.u00a0
Warner made 59 off 93 balls with the help of six fours.u00a0
But it was skipper Clarke, who responded to the crisis situation as he batted with a lot of authority. His footwork was assured and he decided to wait for the loose deliveries hitting as many as 11 fours and a six.u00a0
Michael Clarke. Pic/ Agencies
He drove well and also played the cut shot perfectly. The six off Ashwin over long-on was majestic as it brought up his half century.u00a0
Clarke also completed 7000 Test runs on the day, when he reached a personal score of 11.u00a0
A lot of credit should also be given to Henriques, who showed maturity playing second fiddle to Clarke. He faced 132 deliveries and hit five boundaries in the process. He also ran well between the wickets and proved to be the ideal foil for someone like Clarke, who found the gaps with ease.u00a0
Any total in excess of 350 could prove to be challenging for the Indians as the ball is getting roughed up quickly on a bone dry surface.u00a0
With three potent quicks in the opposition ranks and two of them being exponents of reverse swing, the Indians will have to be at their best when they get a chance to bat tomorrow.u00a0
For the Indian bowlers, Ashwin's performance was the only silver lining as he bowled in excellent areas throughout the day. Had he got a bit of more support from the other end, India might have been able to dismiss Aussies for a far lesser score.u00a0
While Harbhajan was again guilty of bowling flat, Jadeja didn't have any variation in his bowling.u00a0
The Saurashtra all-rounder did get a wicket in the end bowling Mitchell Starc through the gate but by then the visitors had reached a position of safety.u00a0
There was little cheer for the opening bowlers too as Bhuvneshwar and Ishant Sharma gave 94 runs in 22 overs bowled between them. It wasn't a pretty sight to find Dhoni standing upto the stumps to a new ball bowler in the fifth over of the day.u00a0
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