By IANS
Adelaide : Riding on tons from skipper Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke, Australia took a 37-run first innings lead, but by the close of the fourth day’s play India were eight runs ahead in the final Test of the four-match series here Sunday.
Australia, resuming at their overnight score of 322 for three, made 563 in the first innings after Ponting hit a brilliant 140 and was ably supported with Clarke’s 118 at the Adelaide Oval. At the close of play, India were 45 for one in the second innings, with Virender Sehwag batting on 31 and Rahul Dravid on 11. India made 526 runs in the first innings.
Sehwag lived dangerously for his 54-ball innings and was dropped by Clarke off Brett Lee, and also survived two vociferous leg-before appeals. But the Indian opener ended the smartly by hitting Andrew Symonds for a six and four.
Earlier in the day, Ponting and Clarke belted the depleted Indian bowling attack with some fine stroke-play. The Australian skipper scored his 34th century and Clarke got his sixth. India have lost left-arm pacer Rudra Pratap Singh for the rest of the match with a hamstring injury. Captain Anil Kumble’s team trails 1-2 in the series and it now looks extremely difficult for India to eke out a win at the Adelaide Oval.
India’s best chance to end the partnership came 25 minutes before lunch, when Clarke moved away to cut Sehwag but Dravid standing at the first slip failed to hold on to the edge. Clarke was on 84 at the time.
Both Ponting and Clarke added 210 runs for the fourth wicket and set a new record, breaking the earlier 178-run partnership set by fellow-Australians Dean Jones and Allan Border in Madras (now Chennai) in 1986.
Ponting also had his share of luck in the morning, when he mistimed a hook off Ishant Sharma, which a diving Mahendra Singh Dhoni failed to catch on the left side. Sharma was the most impressive bowler Saturday but failed to provide the same action Sunday and Australia stole the initiative.
Ponting’s nemesis Harbhajan Singh also had a poor game and the batsmen drove and swept the off-spinner with ease.
It was Sehwag who gave India the much-needed breakthrough. Sehwag pitched his delivery outside the off-stump but it spun back and Ponting played onto his stumps.
Clarke was the next to depart after stitching a 39-run partnership with Adam Gilchrist (14). Clarke poked at Sharma’s away going delivery and V.V.S. Laxman took a stunning catch at second slip.
Gilchrist, playing his last Test match, failed to get a big score and was caught at cover by Sehwag off Pathan. The batsman, who announced his retirement from Test cricket Saturday, got a standing ovation from the Adelaide Oval crowd and the Indian team on his way back to the pavilion.
After the tea break, Indian bowlers came out blazing all guns and Sharma started spitting fire with his swinging deliveries. He tormented Symonds (30) with his late swingers and the Australia was lucky as couple of edges flew down to third man. But Sharma had the last laugh as Symonds chopping one onto his stumps Australia had taken the lead.
Pathan then scalped his 100th Test wicket by having Lee caught behind, before Harbhajan and Sehwag wrapped up the innings.