Wow… Australia pursue history in two very important ways today. 1 – 17 test victories in a row… 2 – they literally ‘pursue’ the highest fourth innings run-chase on home soil, with 413 needed to obtain victory.
Some pundits declare it unobtainable, especially given the failure, yet again, of openers Jaques & Rogers. Last night, on yesterday’s discussion here, I stated:
“Really, really dangerous time for Australia: now.
A mere 40 minutes of play left… really, this is better for India than another 20 runs or so.”
And indeed it was. India’s Pathan picking up two quick wickets.
Still, if any team can chase down such an extraordinary run total, surely it is Australia. Only three sides in the history of the game have chased down a higher total, and no side in the 131 years of test cricket on Australian soil has chased down anything higher than 370. Australian coach Tim Nielsen told The Age,
“It’s an achievable result for us… In the back of their minds will be that this will be a special thing if they (Australian batsmen) can chase down this total. It could fire them up a bit.”
The only times a feat of this magnitude has been achieved were 7-418 by the West Indies against Australia in Antigua five years ago, 4-406 by India against the West Indies in Trinidad in 1976 and 3-404 by Australia against England at Headingley in 1948.
On the aforementioned pairing of Jaques & Rogers, I do believe that they will one day be good batsmen for Australia. However, as it stands at the moment, neither appear able to be the ‘senior guy’ out on the field.
The Indian side has certainly set up the match to be won. The only thing that could be worrying them is that they have left Australia 2 days in which to complete their task. Still, if play follows the previous 3 days, the Indian bowlers have given Australian batsmen nothing to play with.
Australia’s innings at the end of yesterday’s play:
| Australia 2nd innings (target: 413 runs) | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |||
| CJL Rogers | c Dhoni b Pathan | 15 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 83.33 | ||
| PA Jaques | c Jaffer b Pathan | 16 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 53.33 | ||
| RT Ponting | not out | 24 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 88.88 | ||
| MEK Hussey | not out | 5 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 31.25 | ||
| Extras | (lb 3, w 1, nb 1) | 5 | ||||||
| Total | (2 wickets; 15 overs) | 65 | (4.33 runs per over) | |||||
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | ||
| RP Singh | 5 | 1 | 24 | 0 | 4.80 | (1w) | |
| IK Pathan | 6 | 1 | 22 | 2 | 3.66 | ||
| I Sharma | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3.33 | (1nb) | |
| A Kumble | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6.00 |
Play begins at 11:30 local time, with Ponting on 24 & Hussey sitting on 5.
Game on.
Edit: ended up being a very good win to the Indian side. The batting was too good, the bowling too strong. Some issues for the Australian team, with the failure of the openers, and some poor bowling.
Here’s the card for the final innings:
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Australia 2nd innings (target: 413 runs) | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
| CJL Rogers | c Dhoni b Pathan | 15 | 22 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 83.33 | |
| PA Jaques | c Jaffer b Pathan | 16 | 46 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 53.33 | |
| RT Ponting | c Dravid b Sharma | 45 | 139 | 71 | 6 | 0 | 63.38 | |
| MEK Hussey | lbw b Singh | 46 | 165 | 113 | 5 | 0 | 40.70 | |
| MJ Clarke | st Dhoni b Kumble | 81 | 160 | 134 | 10 | 0 | 60.44 | |
| A Symonds | lbw b Kumble | 12 | 18 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 85.71 | |
| AC Gilchrist | b Sehwag | 15 | 51 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 68.18 | |
| B Lee | c Laxman b Sehwag | 0 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| MG Johnson | not out | 50 | 101 | 80 | 5 | 2 | 62.50 | |
| SR Clark | c Dhoni b Pathan | 32 | 55 | 35 | 3 | 1 | 91.42 | |
| SW Tait | b Singh | 4 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 | |
| Extras | (lb 6, w 8, nb 10) | 24 | ||||||
| Total | (all out; 86.5 overs; 396 mins) | 340 | (3.91 runs per over) | |||||
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| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | ||
| RP Singh | 21.5 | 4 | 95 | 2 | 4.35 | (3w) | |
| IK Pathan | 16 | 2 | 54 | 3 | 3.37 | ||
| I Sharma | 17 | 0 | 63 | 1 | 3.70 | (7nb, 1w) | |
| A Kumble | 24 | 2 | 98 | 2 | 4.08 | (3nb) | |
| V Sehwag | 8 | 1 | 24 | 2 | 3.00 |
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With Malice... 
What you said…