Bangalore test ends in a hard fought draw

India managed to achieve what they could not in Sydney earlier this year and managed to save the first test in Bangalore against the Aussies. The test match ended with a slight advantage to Australia as the dominated for the most of it. The Indians though would be happy that their batsmen got a good workout on the final day and almost everyone made some runs in the match.

The Australians would be dissapointed with their efforts in the Indian first innings where they allowed India to escape from a 232/7 to 360 reducing the lead to just 70. Australia’s major concern would be their spin department as Cameroon White did not pose any problems to the Indians on a wearing pitch. The Indians too would be worried about Kumble, who did not pick up a single wicket in this test match and has problems with his shoulder. Harbajan’s performance also was below par, even though he bowled well in the second innings.

India’s star this test match was undoubtedly Zaheer Khan with his gritty 57 in the first innings and picking up 6 wickets in the match on top of that. Zaheer deservedly won the man of the match award for his allround performance. The other top performer for the Indians was Ishant Sharma who constantly troubled the Australians to fininsh with 7 wickets in the match. The batting which failed to Impress in the first innings held their own in the second.

The Australians had a good match. Ricky Ponting finally scored runs in India with a superb hundred in the first innings. Hayden’s failure would be a worrying factor for the Aussies as he is their best in Indian conditions. Johnson bowled beautifully and troubled the Indians in the first innings taking 4 wickets in the process. Australia’s only worry would be their spin department.
All in all it was a gripping 5 days of test cricket. Both teams would be hoping to put up a better show in Mohali to go one up in the test series. Indian would be hoping that Anil Kumble recovers from the shoulder injury. Sachin would be hoping that he will reach the milestone in the next test match which he is currently behind by 13 runs.

Day 1 - Rain curtails an interesting contest

Srilanka finished on 85/2 on a rain curtailed first day at SSC. The Indian new ball pair of Zaheer and Ishant took one wicket each for their efforts. The pitch was dead and is supposed to help the spinners on the last couple of days and Srilanka would just want to bat once on this track. The Indians will be really happy that one of the two wickets was of Sangakkara considering the form he is in. The days play was too short to determine which team has the upper hand but I would say that the visitors would feel satisfied with their display.

The Indian new ball bowlers bowled impressively on a slow pitch and were rewarded with two wickets. The second days play is very important for both the teams and if India manage to remove Mahela early then Srilanka’s inexperianced middle order will have their task cut out. Removing the Srilankan captain will be really crucial for the visitors as he averages around 80 on this ground.

Hopefully the second days play will take place without any further interruptions. India would like keep chipping away at the wickets and Srilanka would want to put up a huge total. All in all an interesting day ahead.