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 Martyn's ton puts Australia on the saddle - Scorecard
 Nagpur, Oct 26: Damien Martyn slammed his second consecutive century as Australia recovered from an early scare to take control of the crucial third cricket Test against an injury-hit India here today. Martyn struck a rollicking 114 to lead an Australian fight back and steer the visitors to 362 for seven at close on the opening day which saw India claw back to some extent with three quick wickets in the last hour's play. Michael Clarke was batting on a quickfire 73 and Jason Gillespie (4) gave him company at stumps on a day which saw the Australians scoring at a brisk pace of four runs an over on what appeared to be a good batting track at the VCA stadium.
 The 33-year-old Martyn, who hit a match-saving 104 in the Chennai Test, recorded his ninth Test century to not only pull Australia out of an uncertain 86 for three but also put the team on course for a healthy first innings total. The stylish right-hander found an able ally in Darren Lehmann (70) as the duo put on a breezy 148-run fourth wicket partnership to torment the Indians who had to go into the match without the services of captain Sourav Ganguly and spinner Harbhajan Singh. The hosts managed to scuttle the Australians from laying the foundation for a mammoth total by snapping up the wickets of Martyn, dangerman Adam Gilchrist (2) and Shane Warne (2) in the span of six overs late in the day with Murali Kartik doing the bulk of the damage.
 The mini middle order collapse began with the dismissal of Martyn who, after hoisting Kumble over long off, tried a similar shot only to top edge it for a simple catch to Ajit Agarkar at long off. Kartik, who had dismissed Darren Lehmann for his first wicket of the match before tea, then induced a return catch of Gilchrist before Shane Warne was deceived in the air and stumped. More success could have come India's way if only Parthiv Patel had kept up his good work. But diminutive 19-year-old Patel's poor form with the gloves came back to haunt him soon when he missed an easy stumping chance of Clarke on 56.
 He reprieved Clarke once more on 62, as he looked blinded at a straightforward edged catch off Zaheer Khan. Martyn and Lehmann had earlier performed the salvage job by sharing a blistering century partnership which put the home team on the backfoot after claiming three wickets in the pre-lunch session. Their association ended when Lehmann, troubled by a hamstring and needing a runner, edged a simple catch to stand-in captain Rahul Dravid at first slip off Murali Kartik. Lehmann's 70 came from 83 balls and contained 10 fours. The Australians piled up 142 runs in 29 overs in the second session and the run rate only dipped with the loss of three wickets for 23 runs in the last session.
After Adam Gilchrist won the toss for the third time, the visitors were straightaway on the offensive with Justin Langer (44) and Matthew Hayden (23) adding 67 runs for the opening stand. But Zaheer Khan then struck twice in the space of 11 balls to remove both the opening batsmen before Kumble had Simon Katich caught at forward short leg. Martyn and Lehmann then turned the heat on the Indians as they rattled up runs at a furious pace. Martyn continued from where he left off in Chennai where he scored his first century in India.
 The right-hander, who had scored back-to-back centuries in Sri Lanka early this year, struck Kumble for three fours in an over in the afternoon and perched him in the uppermost tier after crossing the hundred mark. Agarkar was slammed for two successive fours to the point region by the right-handed Martyn which broke the shackles imposed by Kumble at the other end before the break.
Lehmann followed suit in the very next over with a crashing square cut and a paddle sweep for two fours before Martyn too drove and cut the ace Indian leg spinner for three fours in Kumble's 13th over to force him off the attack. (Agencies)
Published: Tuesday, October 26, 2004
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