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 Brisbane,
Dec 6: Rain thwarted the first cricket Test between India
and Australia from developing into an pulsating contest,
washing almost the whole of third day's play at Gabba
here today. After the entire first two sessions were
washed out, only 32 ball were bowled before another spell
of steady drizzle brought the game to an early halt. In the brief period, Australia failed to add
to their overnight score of 323 as they lost their last
wicket off the first ball of the day.
Stuart
MacGill tried to pull a loosener from Ajit Agarkar but
ended up skying a simple catch to Aakash Chopra in the
gully region. The wicket gave Agarkar figures of 3 for 90,
while Zaheer Khan was the pick of the bowler for the
tourists with 5 for 95. At close, India were 11 for no
loss with opening batsmen Aakash Chopra and Virender
Sehwag on an identical score of five.
 In
all, only 84.2 overs had been bowled in 3 days of action.
But the Met men had encouraging news for the cricket fans
with clear skies forecast for tomorrow and the day after.
Chopra looked steady against the Australian new-ball
bowlers but Sehwag had his moments of doubts against
in-coming deliveries from debutant left-arm paceman Nathan
Bracken. Gillespie, returning to the Australian team after
missing the Indian tour because of side-strain, looked
sharp, but Chopra showed neat footwork against the
aggressive fast bowler.
Sehwag
could once drive Bracken on the onside but he had problems
in picking the bowler's line, who mostly bowled inswinging
deliveries at the Indian openers. Although wet conditions
helped the ball swing, the dampness in the pitch meant
Gillespie and Bracken could not hit maximum speed they
were capable of. That however could change tomorrow when
the sun comes out shining. (Agencies) Scorecard
Published:
Saturday, December 06, 2003
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