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 Brisbane,
Dec 8: Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman shared a crucial half
century partnership for the third wicket to thwart
Australia's valiant attempt to force a result in the first
cricket Test at the Gabba here today. Set an improbable
target of 199 in 23 possible overs, India lost two quick
wickets but pulled up their socks in time to reach 73 for
2 in their second innings to earn a commendable draw
against the world champions. Dravid remained unbeaten on
43 and Laxman on 24 at close on the fifth and final day.
 The
teams will now clash in the second Test at Adelaide from
Friday. While India could claim a morale victory after
gaining the first innings lead and also dominating the
hosts during a crucial phase of the game, Australia would
take heart from the fact that their batsmen found their
much vaunted form on the last day and toyed with the inept
Indian bowling. After the Indian tail wagged a bit longer
to make 409 -- a first innings lead of 86 -- in the
morning, Australian batsmen made the most of lackadaisical
bowling performance by the tourists to post 283 for three
before captain Steve Waugh declared the innings in an
attempt to score some psychological points over the
rivals.
 Sourav
Ganguly and his men might have accepted draw as a foregone
conclusion but the way their bowlers struggled to keep a
check on hosts batting must worry the Indian captain.
Waugh (56 n.o), after the ignominious first innings
performance, joined hands with Martyn (66 n.o) to score
runs at a frenetic pace of more than 4.5 runs an over. The
38-year-old veteran of 165 Tests might have also hoped to
pick a hole in the tourists batting with his declaration
since Sachin Tendulkar rendered himself ineligible to take
to the field for 48 minutes of the Indian chase after
being substituted in the post-lunch session.
His plans
seemed to come to fruition when Virender Sehwag played an
innocuous shot to become a victim of Bracken once again
and Chopra poked outside the off stump for a catch behind.
It was four for two and the Kangaroos had their tails up.
Dravid and Laxman, however, not only prevented further
disaster but scored runs at will, indicating the nature of
the Gabba track.
Whatever
upper hand the Indians enjoyed then was reduced to the
morning session of the day when the tail-enders frustrated
the Australian bowling for well more than an hour and
their bowlers dismissed first innings centurion Justin
Langer for no score. Resuming at their overnight score of
362 for 6, India notched up 409 in their first innings
with Zaheer Khan (27) and Harbhajan Singh (19 n.o) sharing
a vital 41-run stand for the ninth wicket.
India
lost the two overnight batsmen - Parthiv Patel and Ajit
Agarkar - without any addition to their total but Zaheer
Khan and Harbhajan Singh defied the home bowlers with
their resolute batting. For Australia, fast bowler Jason
Gillespie and leg-spinner MacGill finished with 4 for 65
and 4 for 86 respectively. Continuing the previous day's
pattern, the bat definitely dominated the ball. Except for
Langer's dismissal for zero, caught by Parthiv Patel off
Ajit Agarkar, rest of the Australian batsmen feasted on
the Indian attack.
 Matthew
Hayden missed a century by one run but when he ran a four
in the first over, he became the third batsman after West
Indian Brian Lara and South African Graeme Smith to
complete 1,000 runs for the calendar year. It was also the
third consecutive time the world record holder for highest
Test score was scoring 1,000 or more runs in a calendar
year. The lefthander played some breathtaking strokes to
make 99 from 98 balls with 11 fours and two sixes before
he was caught while trying to sweep Harbhajan Singh at
square-leg boundary by Virender Sehwag.
Ricky
Ponting (50) was the other batsman out when he drove
uppishly for Virender Sehwag to grab the chance at gully
region. Steve Waugh was more cautious on his final
appearance at Gabba and got lucky on eight when Parthiv
Patel fumbled an easy stumping chance off Harbhajan Singh.
From there on, there was no looking back for Waugh who
added 128 runs for the fourth wicket with Martyn.
 Martyn
twice smashed Virender Sehwag for sixes down the ground
and was unbeaten on 66 from 100 minutes and 180 deliveries
when the closure was applied. Waugh himself had chalked up
56 against his name, his 49th Test half century from 102
balls when he decided to test to gain whatever
psychological points he could over the visitors. Some
combination at that, after the infamous run out on the
second day. (Agencies) Scorecard
Published:
Monday, December 08, 2003
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