India crash to humiliating defeat as Aussies go one-up

MELBOURNE: India's famed batsmen surrendered meekly to suffer one of their heaviest Test defeats as a ruthless Australia crushed them by 337 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match cricket series here on Saturday.
   
Chasing a seemingly insurmountable target of 499, the Indians were skittled out for a paltry 161 in just 74 overs to give Australia their 15th consecutive Test win with one full day to spare.
   
Only VVS Laxman (42) and Sourav Ganguly (40) provided a semblance of resistance on a deteriorating MCG track as India's strong batting line-up collapsed like a house of cards to be dismissed under 200 for the second time in what turned out to be a lop-sided Boxing Day Test.
   
The Indian disintegration came quicker than expected as they lost the bottom half for just 36 runs with the last four wickets falling dramatically in a span of four runs.
   
This was India's third heaviest defeat in terms of runs, behind the 342 run defeat against Australia in Nagpur in 2004 and the 341 defeat against Pakistan in Karachi in 2006.
   
Australia will now seek to equal their world record of 16 consecutive Test victories when the two teams brace up for the second Test in Sydney from January 2.
   
The series could not have begun on a more embarrassing note for Anil Kumble and his men as they were thoroughly outplayed in all departments of the game in conditions which were more sub-continental in nature unlike the usual bouncy pitches Down Under.

For the hosts, Mitchell Johnson (3-21) turned out to be the most successful bowler, while Brad Hogg (2-51) and Brett Lee (2-43) also had their share of the spoils. 
   
If India's first knock was a flop, the second was a disaster as the entire team fell in a heap for 161 with 25 overs of the day still to be bowled.
   
Australia are now just one short of equalling their own record of 16 consecutive Test wins.
   
India lost its last four wickets for only four runs to finish for the second time below 200 runs, a rare occurrence for a team which boasts of great batting riches.
   
India last were dismissed for less than 200 runs in both innings in New Zealand in an away series in 2002-2003 but those were green tracks and not slow and low turf which was dished out at the MCG.
   
To come anywhere near the target, India needed a good start but by the time the score reached 54, they had both the openers cooling their heels in the hut.
   
Wasim Jaffer (15) was first to go as he poked at a Brett Lee delivery to perish caught behind with the score reading 26.
   
Laxman then joined Rahul Dravid (16) in the middle and looked in a positive frame of mind as he played his shots, not letting the bowlers to dominate him.
   
A bugbear for the hosts Laxman looked fluent against pace and spins and left-arm spinner Brad Hogg was subjected to two delectable straight drives that raced for boundary in the same over.
   
However, at the other end, it was altogether a different story with Dravid who, like in the first innings, cut a sorry figure as a makeshift opener.
   
He poked and missed and did not find the gaps and it was a crawl for the right-hander till Symonds ended his agony with the third delivery of the last over before lunch.
   
Dravid wanted to play it on the back foot but was foxed by the flight and was trapped plumb in front.
   
His 114-ball struggle yielded just 16 runs.
   
The post-lunch session had more setbacks for the visitors with Sachin Tendulkar (15), Laxman and Yuvraj Singh (5) back in the pavilion as India were down in dumps by tea.
   
India lost Tendulkar, their top scorer in the first innings, in the first hour when he lashed at a wide delivery from Brett Lee and offered a catch to Adam Gilchrist.
    
Laxman looked good while he lasted but he drove Stuart Clark only to find Michael Clarke at short extra cover. He batted nearly three hours for his 42 runs and hit six fours from 112 balls.
   
Yuvraj suffered his second failure of the match when he went back to a Hogg delivery and had no clue as the ball straightened up and found him dead in front of stumps.
   
Ganguly looked fluent even though the extreme heat in Melbourne - it crossed 38 degree Celsius -- made him dizzy once in the middle. He sunk on his knees before help from the dressing room put him back on his feet.
   
He was eventually trapped by Hogg after a patient 78-ball 40 that had five boundaries in it.
   
Yuvraj and Dhoni proved India's weakling in the lower half and it wouldn't surprise many if Virender Sehwag is drafted in in the second Test and Dravid comes back into the middle, leaving no room for Yuvraj in the team.