Laxman cracks century as India fight back

SYDNEY: Stylish VVS Laxman gave ample display of his class with a fluent century as India fought back in the second cricket Test against Australia with a spirited batting display here on Thursday.

After the Australian first innings folded up for 463 built around Andrew Symonds career-best unbeaten 162, the wristy Laxman led the Indian resurgence with a sparkling 109 to steer the visitors to a comfortable 216 for three at close on the second day.

Sachin Tendulkar (9) and Sourav Ganguly (21) were at the crease at stumps on a day which saw another umpiring blunder by Steve Bucknor proving quite costly for the Indians.

The Indians lost opener Wasim Jaffer (3) cheaply but Laxman and Rahul Dravid (53) put the innings back on track with a 175-run second wicket partnership on a good batting track at the SCG.

The 33-year-old Laxman, who reserves his best against the Australians, unleashed a flurry of breathtaking boundaries to not only notch up his 12th Test century but also record his third consecutive ton at the SCG.

While Laxman was firing on all cylinders, Dravid struggled to come out of the shell but hung on resolutely to take the visitors to 183 before his painstaking 160-ball vigil was brought to an end by Mitchell Johnson.

Laxman perished soon after, falling prey to Brad Hogg, but the tourists ensured that there were no further setbacks as they finished the day with 247 runs behind Australia's total.

Resuming at the overnight total of 376 for seven, the Australian tail wagged for some more time before the Indians managed to put an end to the innings shortly before the lunch break.

The umpiring blunders continued to haunt the Indians and Symonds was again the beneficiary of umpire Steve Bucknor's decision of not referring a stumping appeal to the third umpire.

Bucknor was adamant in not referring an appeal to the TV Umpire when Mahendra Singh Dhoni took the bails off, convinced that Symonds' foot was not grounded when he let past a leg side delivery off Harbhajan Singh.

Television replays suggested the decision could have gone in favour of the bowler had Bucknor sought the help of technology.

R P Singh (4/124) and skipper Anil Kumble (4/106) were the most successful bowlers for India while off-spinner Harbhajan Singh chipped in with two wickets.

India could have been in still better health had the two fight back heroes not departed within two runs of each other to provide an opening to the Australians.
    
Laxman arrived at the scene after Jaffer had suffered his third successive failure against Brett Lee, losing his off stump to a fullish delivery from the speedster that swung in late.

After India pottered around for 21 runs in their first 10 overs, Laxman broke loose with a string of fours against left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson and spurted to a score of 73 by the tea break, made off only 71 balls, with 14 fours.

At the other end, Dravid was in a runless mode and at one stage was stuck on 18 for a good 40 deliveries.
   
Australia squeezed runs dry in the final session and created opportunities but astonishingly, wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist let all of them slip by.

Gilchrist, who is seeking just one more victim to be only the second wicketkeeper in the history of the game to have 400 scalps, dropped Laxman twice and Dravid once to do the visitors a huge favour.

Laxman was on 45 and 77 when he got those lucky breaks off Stuart Clark and Brett Lee respectively as Gilchrist let go a straightforward chance down the legside.

Dravid was let off on 18 off hard-working Clark and then frustration grew by the minute for the world champions as edges and snicks fell short of fielders.

Twice Dravid had breaks in the slips and gully region when the ball fell just short of fielders.

Dravid was then apparently caught in the slips by Ricky Ponting but the latter was quick to convey that he had not caught it neatly.

Earlier, Dravid was caught in the slips on 15, at the total 33 for one, off Mitchell Johnson only to be relieved to realise that it was a no-ball.

Laxman and Dravid flourished and revived the nostalgia of several epic stands they have had in their careers against the world champions.

The two batsmen who have shared two 300-plus stands against Australia in the past, once in Kolkata and another one in Adelaide, both incidentally resulting in wins, played an equally meaningful role at the SCG before leaving the stage in quick succession.
   
Dravid steered a Johnson delivery high to Matthew Hayden at slip and then Laxman pushed at a widish delivery to be caught by Mike Hussey at short cover.
   
Laxman made his runs from a mere 142 balls and hit 18 fours in a 218-minute stay. Dravid, in his stonewalling innings, batted for four hours and struck nine boundaries from 160 balls.