By IANS
Adelaide : Virender Sehwag gave India a good start with a brisk half-century but two quick wickets from Mitchell Johnson helped Australia peg-back the visitors at 89 for two wickets at lunch on the first day of the fourth and the final Test here Thursday.
Sehwag was batting on 54 and Sachin Tendulkar was yet to open his account when the umpires called lunch, after India captain Anil Kumble won the toss and elected to bat at the Adelaide Oval. Rahul Dravid (18) and Irfan Pathan (9) failed to make the best out of the ideal batting conditions.
India went in for an unusual opener, Irfan Pathan. He replaced an out of form Wasim Jaffer but failed to handle the new ball. He clipped the first ball he faced from Johnson for four but then kept on missing, as the left-handed Australian fast bowler’s pace was too hot for him to handle. Pathan’s brief stay at the crease came to an end after he edged an away going delivery to wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist.
But by then India had raced to 34 in 7.3 overs, with Sehwag making a typically brisk start. A couple of edges flew off the bat through the slip cordon but that didn’t deter Sehwag from going for his shots.
Conditions were ideal for batting and India scored 51 in the opening hour, but some disciplined bowling reined them after that. Dravid fell just before lunch, on the ground where he had inspired India to a win on the last tour in 2003-04.
Dravid escaped a brilliant leg-before shout from Johnson when he was on three, but edged an incoming Johnson’s delivery to Ricky Ponting at second slip. Sehwag reached his half-century from just 68 balls, leaving the game finely poised for a hot afternoon.