Symonds and Gilchrist rescue mission keeps Aussies alive
A typically belligerent Andrew Symonds and Adam Gilchrist are dragging Australia back into the third test against India, albeit with plenty of work still to be done.In reply to India’s 330, Australia is 5/148 at tea on day 2.
The pair came together at 5/61, with the pair putting on a staggering 87 runs in 13 overs. The overall Australian run rate has rocketed to 4.8 runs per over.
Symonds is 56 off 53 balls, with Gilchrist 34 off 33.
The duo have struck six boundaries each in the baking Perth sun. with Symonds also hitting a six.
Symonds was dropped early in his innings, when Sachin Tendulkar put down a relative sitter at first slip.
The Australians found themselves in trouble by virtue of India’s swing.
Chris Rogers opened his test account with four, before being trapped by left-arm medium paceman Irfan Pathan. The decision looked questionable, with the angle suggesting the ball may have drifted down legside. Phil Jaques half-heartedly drove at a full Pathan delivery, with the swing catching the outside edge. In a major blow before lunch, Mike Hussey was caught edging a cover drive off RP Singh for his first test duck.
Australia was reeling at 3/22 at the major break.
The Indian pacemen continued to exploit the Perth breeze, causing problems for the Australian batsmen. Ricky Ponting fended meekly at Ishant Sharma, edging to Rahul Dravid for 20. Michael Clarke had negotiated the swing better than his counterparts, until getting a faint touch off Sharma for 23.
Earlier, the Indians collapsed from 6/328 to be all out 330. Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark sharing the remaining wickets. Johnson finishing with 4 for 86.
With India’s demise and Australia’s shock start, seven wickets had fallen in nine overs, for just 16 runs.
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