Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni struck his maiden double century to
lift India to a mammoth 515/8 in their first innings at the end of the
third day's play in the first cricket Test against Australia at the M.A.
Chidambaram Stadium here Sunday.
NEW DELHI: Mahendra Singh
Dhoni gave an exhibition of blistering strokeplay to hit a career-best
undefeated 206 while Virat Kohli cracked 107 as India rode on their
captain's batting brilliance to gain control of the first cricket Test
against Australia by taking a substantial 135-run first innings lead on
Sunday.
Scorecard | Match In Pics
Dhoni produced a stunning counter-attacking knock to notch up his maiden double hundred, his sixth Test century overall, while Kohli recorded his fourth in longer format as the hosts reached a commanding 515 for eight at close, on an eventful third day's play.
The Indian captain set the M A Chidambaram stadium ablaze with his amazing strokeplay as he smashed 22 boundaries and five sixes during his 243-ball assault much to the delight of a sizeable Sunday crowd which cheered the Indians as they went about consolidating their position in the match.
Dhoni, who was agonisingly run out for 99 against England in India last Test in Nagpur, changed the complexion of the game with his aggressive batting after the hosts lost Sachin Tendulkar (81) early in the morning session. Tendulkar, who gave glimpses of his vintage form yesterday, could add just ten runs to his tally.
Dhoni remained unbeaten on 206 and had Bhuvneshwar Kumar (16 not out) for company as India ended the day with an impressive lead of 135 runs. Australia scored 380 runs in their first innings.
Dhoni and Kumar added 109 runs for the unfinished ninth-wicket stand that took India to a dominating position after they were reduced to 406/8. It was a quick 243-ball knock by Dhoni and was studded with 22 fours and massive five sixes.
Though batting great Sachin Tendulkar failed to break his two-year wait for a Test century, falling for 81 in the morning, what followed next was pure carnage by Dhoni and heir to his captaincy Virat Kohli, who made a valuable 107.
But it was Dhoni's knock that stood out as he almost single-handedly blunted the Australian bowling attack.
The Indians found the going a little tough in the pre-lunch session as the runs dried up but the second new ball ball saw the game slipping away from the Australians as both Dhoni and Kohli attacked the bowlers with an array of shots on both sides of the wicket.
The duo added 128 runs for the fifth wicket before off-spinner Nathan Lyon provided the breakthrough for the visitors with India still 56 runs short of Australia's first innings total.
Kohli paid the price for a lapse in concentration as he tried to lift a delivery from Nathan Lyon over mid-on but could not get the desired elevation and Mitchell Starc latched on to a good catch. Kohli clobbered 15 boundaries and a six during his 206-ball knock.
Dhoni then took centrestage and virtually single handedly took India to a position of strength with a superb batting display in hot and humid conditions.
After Kohli's dismissal, India lost another three wickets in periodic intervals as Ravindra Jadeja (16), Ravichandran Ashwin (3) and Harbhajan Singh (11) were back in the pavilion.
However Bhuvneshwar Kumar (15 batting) complemented his skipper really well as they put on a record 109 runs for ninth wicket partnership against Australia.
There were times when Dhoni shielded Bhuvneshwar from the Aussie attack as he refused singles on a number of occasions.
The humidity took its toll but the skipper never gave in. Whenever the Aussies tried to keep him quiet, he responded with a typical big hit either straight or towards the deep mid-wicket range.
The 31-year-old Dhoni recorded the highest score by an Indian wicket keeper, eclipsing Budhi Kundaran previous best of 192 scored against England in 1964 at Madras Corporation Stadium.
Dhoni also surpassed 4000 Test runs during his game-changing knock.
With couple of days left in the match, India will look to increase their lead as much as possible and then try to push for victory by bundling out out the Aussies cheaply in the second innings as the track is expected to deteriorate gradually.
With rough being created by the bowler's footmarks on both sides of the track, the Indian team would expect both in-form Ashwin and senior pro Harbhajan to make best use of the conditions so that India doesn't have to bat last on this track. Even if they come out to bat, they would expect the target to be less than 50 runs which will mean that batsmen won't be under any kind of pressure.
Ideally, Dhoni would be expecting that Bhuvneshwar provides him with the same kind of support tomorrow which will enable him to take the lead closer to 200 runs.
The launchpad of this furious assault certainly was the 128-run fifth wicket partenrship with Kohli as India went into tea at a relatively comfortable score of 371 for six.
While Australia were hoping that the second new ball will help them make some decisive inroads into the Indian lower middle-order, Dhoni thought otherwise.
The new ball was taken in the 83rd over and in the next seven overs, Dhoni-Kohli duo had smashed the Aussie bowlers to the cleaners to score 54 runs.
Dhoni walked in after India had scored just 14 runs after an hour's play and had lost Tendulkar, who was bowled by off-spinner Nathan Lyon (3/182). Dhoni and Kohli then launched a counter-attack for their 128-run fifth-wicket stand but the scoring slowed down after Kohli was dismissed by Lyon. Kohli in his attempt to get aggressive was caught by Mitchell Starc off the bowling of Lyon.
Ravindra Jadeja (16), Ravichandran Ashwin (3) and Harbhajan Singh (11) all departed quickly and Dhoni risked running out of partners.
Kumar, however, proved an able ally for Dhoni. The debutant managed just 16 runs but made sure that his captain got the maximum amount of strike. Dhoni was in complete control of his brilliant innings and simply toyed with the Australian bowlers.
En route to his 206, Dhoni also crossed a few milestones, crossing the 4000-run mark in Tests. It was also the second highest individual score as an Indian captain and also the highest Test score by an Indian wicketkeeper. Dhoni is now just 28 runs short of the highest score by a wicketkeeper in the history of cricket, 232 by Zimbabwean Andy Flower.
Earlier, after losing Tendulkar, Kohli took the attack to the Australian bowling as he completed his fourth century -- a knock which included 15 boundaries and one six.
The first session was an evenly fought contest with Australian pacers bowling tightly. Tendulkar was well set to get his 52nd Test hundred until Lyon bowled him off a flighted ball that turned sharply. The 39-year-old last scored a Test hundred two years ago in January 2011.
If Kohli was ready to wait for the loose deliveries, Dhoni was even hitting the full-pitched deliveries over the bowler's head.
With a bottom-handed grip and powerful wrists, the Jharkhand dasher generated enormous power behind each of his shots with minimal backlift as the ball flew to all corners of the ground.
Kohli completed his century when he clipped a full inswinging delivery from James Pattinson to the square leg fence. The celebration was very unlike Kohli as there was a satisfying smile and no aggressive gesture as one normally associates with the Delhi lad.
Although, Kohli was out for 107, all-rounder Jadeja hung around for a while before shouldering arms to a delivery from Pattinson that knocked his off-stump back.
At the break, Dhoni was holding fort with R Ashwin (3) giving him company.
Dhoni completed his century off 119 balls by hitting Siddle over fine leg for a boundary.
While his first 100 came off 119 balls, his second hundred was a touch faster as he took another 112 balls to reach the landmark.
Among the Australian bowlers, Pattinson was certainly the best as he got four for 89 from his 26 overs but Siddle and Starc will be disappointed on not being able to get breakthroughs despite bowling 47 overs between them.
While left-arm pacer Starc wasn't able to hit the right length consistently, Siddle atleast managed to keep things tight. Nathan Lyon (3/182 in 40 overs) predictably bowled the most number of overs but was clobbered consistently by Dhoni.
0 comments:
Post a Comment