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 Kumble traps Australia in spin web
- Scorecard
 Chennai, Oct 14: Anil Kumble wove his magic over the strong Australian batting line-up with a deadly seven for 48 to bundle out the visitors for 235 and give his team an opportunity to level the series after the opening day of the second cricket Test here today. However, the world champions struck back before the close of play by getting new opener Yuvraj Singh cheaply as India ended the day on 28 for one. The fortunes of the Test and probably the series will hinge on how the Indian batsmen perform tomorrow. The dramatic day also saw Shane Warne equalling Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan's world record when he claimed his 532nd wicket by dismissing
Yuvraj.
 The Australians were cruising along comfortably at 136 for no loss before Kumble dramatically turned the game on its head. The veteran leg spinner exploited the bounce of the track at the M A Chidambaran Stadium to claim his 25th five-wicket haul in an innings in Tests and the seventh against the Aussies. The fall of top scorer Justin Langer (71) virtually opened up the floodgates as the visitors lost as many as eight wickets for just 46 runs after electing to bat first. Matthew Hayden (58) and Simon Katich (36 not out) were the other notable contributors for Australians, two of whom walked off without waiting for the umpire's verdict.
Kumble, in the process, went past Curtly Ambrose on the all-time bowlers' list to be placed eighth. His 7-48 was also his fifth best at Chennai. However, it was Harbhajan Singh who triggered the collapse when he dealt the Aussies a double blow in the 34th over after lunch. Hayden, who had clouted the off spinner for a huge six into the top tier earlier, miscued a lofted shot for a simple catch to V V S Laxman at long off. Two balls later, Harbhajan found the outside edge of Langer for a catch to Dravid in the first slip.
But Simon Katich and Damien Martyn maintained the brisk scoring rate with a 53-run third wicket stand until the latter was caught at forward short leg for the second time in the series. Martyn (26) groped forward to Kumble to end up with a bat-pad catch to Yuvraj Singh to give the bowler his first wicket of the day. Darren Lehmann, who has been under pressure since Michael Clarke's successful debut in Bangalore, tried to cut Kumble only to end up with a snick to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel. Clarke himself could hardly last only a little longer as he was ruled leg before for five.
Skipper Gilchrist then walked off even before the umpire could raise his finger, a gesture that was emulated by Kasprowicz later in the innings. Gilchrist, who had also walked off in a World Cup match last year, did not wait for the umpire's decision on an appeal for catch, although his team was in disarray. Then came Kasprowicz's stunner when the Aussie, to the bewilderment of umpire David Shepherd who turned down an appeal for bat-pad catch, declared himself out and walked to the pavilion. In between the drama, Kumble had Warne caught and bowled, before Jason Gillespie was consumed at short leg.
Glenn McGrath's run out ended the Aussie debacle. The Australians ended what was a sorry day for them on a positive note with Warne dismissing Yuvraj to equal Muralitharan's record. Yuvraj, promoted to the opening slot in place of Aakash Chopra, was dropped on zero in the very first over by Clarke at second slip. But the left-hander's unconvincing show ended when he made a wild heave at Warne outside the off, only to make a faint edge to the keeper. The Aussie leg spinner was denied his record in Bangalore but his new red shoe seems to be lucky for him in Chennai.
It did not look so bad for the visitors when the day began, with Gilchrist winning the toss for the second successive time in the series and opting to bat on a sporting track. They were off to a flier with Langer and Hayden in supreme form. With the conditions suited to stroke-making, Langer and Hayden quickly stepped on the accelerator. Hayden took his time to settle down but a six into the topmost tier over long on off Harbhajan signalled what was to come thereafter. The Queenslander struck three boundaries off Zaheer, and then lofted Anil Kumble on the on side. That six brought the Australian hundred and also the batsman's 16th fifty, his sixth against India, coming off 67 balls with six fours and two sixes.
 Two balls later, Langer raised his bat after reaching the half century mark in 73 balls with six fours. The Chepauk ground once again proved to be happy hunting ground for Harbhajan as he turned out to be India's saviour and provided the team the much-needed breakthrough. He bowled 18 overs on the trot on either side of lunch to break the strong association between Langer and Hayden. A major concern for Sourav Ganguly, apart from the batting form of the visitors, must be the wicketkeeping of Parthiv Patel who looked out of sorts yet again. Early in the day, he remained unmoved as a Langer edge sped between him and Dravid in the first slip off Zaheer. Later, he fumbled on a take down the leg and the ball hit the fielder's helmet for five penalty runs. (Our Correspondent)
Published: Thursday, October 14, 2004
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