By IANS
New Delhi : Rahul Dravid’s catch of Ricky Ponting during the third India-Australia Test at the Western Australian Cricket Association ground Saturday put him in second place among Test catchers alongside New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming at 166 catches. Only Australian Mark Waugh (181) has held more catches.
Dravid took Ponting’s catch as Ishant Sharma accounted for the Australian captain for the second time in the match.
In the past too, the same Indian bowler has dismissed Ponting twice in the same match – thrice by Harbhajan Singh and once each by Anil Kumble and Venkatapathy Raju.
Other highlights of the fourth day of the Perth Test were as follows:
** Irfan Pathan (3/54) produced his best bowling performance against Australia.
** Irfan Pathan’s fourth Man of the Match award for his all-round performance (28 + 46 and 2/63 + 3/54) is his first against Australia. His previous awards have come twice against Zimbabwe and once against Bangladesh.
** Pathan became the second Indian all-rounder to have recorded 70 runs and claimed five wickets in a Test match in Australia. Rusi Surti was the first to accomplish the feat – twice in 1967-68 at Brisbane and Adelaide.
** Virender Sehwag produced his best bowling performance against Australia – his second best overall, next only to his three for 33 in 16.1 overs against West Indies at Gros Islet in June 2006.
** Mike Hussey with his aggregate of 270 runs at an average of 54.00 with one century in the series now has 2,166 runs in 21 Test at a batting average of 80.22. Only Don Bradman had a better average (106.37) after 21 Tests than Hussey. His 2,166 includes eight centuries and eight fifties.
** Andrew Symonds reached 1,001 runs at an average of 41.70 in 18 Tests, including two centuries and six half centuries. He is the 87th Australian batsman to aggregate 1,000 runs in Tests.
** Mitchell Johnson posted his career-best score in Tests, his maiden fifty.
** The 73-run partnership between Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson is a ninth wicket record for Australia against India in Australia, obliterating the 59 between Damien Fleming and Brett Lee at Melbourne in 1999-00.