The chances of the Super series Test match going beyond tea on Monday now rests on Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid. World XI have been set a target of 355
SYDNEY: Imagine a bunch of scared kids on a roller coaster ride, eyes squeezed shut and fate left to God and mommy – Muttiah Muralitharan’s spell had the Australian batsmen similarly groping for equilibrium on Sunday afternoon.
Every now and then, though, there was this other person who looked even more befuddled than the Aussies – World XI wicketkeeper Mark Boucher. This little interlude accorded Day 3 of the Super Test.
The cricket, till lunch, had been as dull as the Sydney weather. Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting carried on unruffled, both reaching their half-centuries even as stomachs started grumbling for lunch. There didn’t seem to be any twists to this plot. The odds on the length of the match seemed hinged on how long the Aussies wanted to bat.
Then Steve Harmison had Hayden (77) and Clarke (5), the score at lunch 1643. The meat curry had barely settled when Ponting edged Flintoff to Boucher even as Murali was getting ready to bowl his first over post lunch (the 49th of the Australian innings). Katich was the batsman facing – the wizard’s spell wasn’t just going to begin, it was ready to be cast too.
48.1: Katich comes down the pitch to a tossed up delivery, misses it completely, so does Boucher — a stumping chance laid to rest.
48.2: Another ball misses Katich, Boucher misses the ball.
48.3: A Murali special, Katich doesn’t have a clue.
48.4: Murali catches a leading edge from Katich – his delight is a Kodak moment.
48.5: A Murali doosra, played tentatively by Shane Watson.
48.6: A single down to fine-leg.
Murali played his part out in the Super Series during that spell. His deliveries were tougher to read than the fine print in a legal document. Ask Gilchrist, who nudged one to Kallis in first slip. So how much of a chance did Glenn McGrath have?
Meanwhile, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison kept the pressure up from the other end. Flintoff had Watson and Warne, while Brett Lee was well-pouched by Murali (off Harmison) at mid-off.
“Murali’s character is very different – he’s a livewire. It’s great to have him in the dressing room. It shows you how one wicket can change the game. Like when I got Hayden, there was so much pressure being built with Murali bowling from the other end,” said Harmison after play.
So the Aussies had been wrapped up for 199, the last nine wickets falling for just 47 runs. Local lad Stuart MacGill had summed up the Sydney wicket well on Saturday: “When wickets fall here, they fall in clusters.”
World XI have been set a target of 355 runs. The highest fourth innings total that has been achieved at the SCG is 275.
The Super Series is over for the openers, Virender Sehwag (74, 7) and captain Graeme Smith (12, 0). The chances of the match going beyond tea on Monday now rests on Brian Lara and Rahul Dravid, the men at the crease on stumps.
With only a five and nought respectively in the first innings, they have more than just a match to save.
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