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 Brisbane,
Nov 30: V V S Laxman's 74 was the only saving grace for
the Indians who were restricted to 208 for nine declared
in their first innings by the Queensland Academy of Sports
on the second day of the three-day cricket match here
today. The touring Indians batted disastrously to finish
their innings with a first innings deficit of 96 runs that
was swelled further with the hosts having reached 79 for
two in their second innings at stumps.
Indian
skipper Sourav Ganguly had said before the start of the
game that it was difficult to achieve a result in a
three-day game, but the hosts intended to do exactly the
same on the critical final day tomorrow. "We for sure
are looking to press the issue," declared Lee
Carsledine, the first innings centurion, who was unbeaten
on 31 in the second essay at close. Starting the day at 17
for three, the Indians suffered an immediate blow when
Ganguly was dismissed for six in the team total of 26 for
4.
Laxman
then played an elegant knock of 74 runs from 150 balls in
217 minutes which included 10 fours and a six before a
delivery from off-spinner Chris Simpson hurried on to him
and bent back his off-stump. He jumped from 50 to 74 in a
mere 11 deliveries as he opened out in the afternoon after
digging in his heels in the morning session. Laxman shared
a useful stand of 77 from 220 balls with Rahul Dravid, who
looked neat in his 38 runs before tamely lobbing a catch
at short midwicket off fast bowler Joe Dawes.
Laxman
played marvellous drives through the offside and once even
went down on his knees to smash off-spinner Simpson over
midwicket fence for six but his dismissal came at the
wrong time for the Indians. He had built up a swift stand
of 42 runs from 43 balls for the sixth wicket with
Sadagopan Ramesh (20) before his dismissal cut short what
appeared to be a certain century. Ramesh once again wasted
a very good start by dashing down the wicket for a
non-existent single and failed to regain ground after
being turned back too late by his partner Parthiv Patel.
Patel
(19) too was extremely positive in his short stay hitting
four fours before he cut straight to deep point off Steve
Magoffin. Ajit Agarkar, playing his first match on the
tour, contributed a valuable 18 before being dismissed by
Magoffin. The home team lost an early wicket when Chris
Simpson (5) departed leg before wicket to Irfan Pathan but
then they made good use of the remaining overs.
The home
team had powered to a score of 79 for two by close with
Carsledine (31) and Daniel Payne (35) sharing a second
wicket stand of 67 runs in 72 minutes. Indians got
something to cheer about at the fag end of the day when
Payne fell leg before in the first over of part-time
off-spinner Virender Sehwag. (Agencies) Scorecard
Published:
Sunday, November 30, 2003
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