Symonds rides his luck in Australian fightback

Sydney: Wednesday had a bit of everything: the spectacle of swing and seam, the appearance of turn and bounce and the thrill of counter-attack.

As a first day to set a Test match up, it couldn’t have been any better. It advanced the second Test along, impartially addressing the pleas of bat and ball.

Credit to Tom Parker, the curator, for crafting a superb playing strip here at the Sydney Cricket Ground — a strip that encouraged attacking, entertaining cricket, spawning 376 runs, also seven wickets.

Incompetence

A pity the umpires weren’t as deserving of praise. Mistakes are inevitable; incompetence, however, is another matter. It is hoped Messrs Benson, Bucknor, and Oxenford prove Wednesday was an aberration, but already they’ve tinged the contest.

Poor officialdom leaves everyone feeling cheated, particularly in a battle as close and compelling as much of Wednesday’s was.

Andrew Symonds’s unbeaten 137 was as fine a rearguard effort as one would hope to see, characterised by how astutely he judged the situation, allowing Brad Hogg to outscore him before shifting gears. But, it was blighted by the fact that the umpires let him off lightly on 30 and 48.

Definite edge

On the first occasion, Ishant Sharma got a delivery to climb on Symonds, the ball almost slipping off the angled bat’s face to M.S. Dhoni. Bucknor obviously didn’t hear what most around the ground did.

Symonds’s guilty look behind was circumstantial evidence; not enough for conviction, but the umpire had failed to recognise conclusive proof.

Dhoni also featured in the second. Anil Kumble’s brisk leg-break had Symonds overreaching himself in defence on the front foot. Dhoni chose his moment adeptly, breaking the stumps as the batsman’s back toe was raised. Oxenford, the third umpire, chose to hide behind the when-in-doubt line; only, there was little doubt. At least two replays confirmed Symonds had been tardy.

The Indians would have felt aggrieved — and justly too. Having reduced Australia to 134 for six — R.P. Singh taking four, Harbhajan two — the wicket of Symonds, the last recognised batsman, will have given them a shot at two non-specialists, and the opportunity to end Australia’s first innings swiftly.

Instead, they saw first-hand just why this Australian side is so difficult to pin down.

The morning and afternoon sessions had been parted down the middle and shared equally: the first and third hours to India, the second and fourth to Australia.

It wasn’t quite as neat, for even when one side held the high ground, the other was a constant, troubling presence.

India, having dealt in the stronger currency of wickets, still had the advantage at tea, with Australia on 214 for six.

But, the partnership of Symonds and Hogg — 80 in 17.1 overs at that stage — grew rapidly to swing the momentum Australia’s way.

Hogg, inclined to attack, raced to 70 in 72 balls, stroking the ball either side of cover off either foot with an assurance his departed top-order would have envied.

There, he stalled, eking out nine in the next 29 balls before presenting Rahul Dravid a sharp catch at slip off a fast, bouncing Kumble top-spinner. The partnership of 173 had taken just 36.2 overs —a rate of 4.76 runs an over.

Measured assault

Hogg’s enterprise and fearlessness allowed Symonds time to settle. A stroke-maker of renowned power, he chose to watch out the first part of his innings, dread-locks bobbing slightly, as he tackled both pace and spin with an aborted back-lift.

He played with the full face of the bat early on, permitting himself only the luxury of the back-cut.

The first 50 took 77 balls: included in it was a cover-drive off Ishant that conveyed a certain muscular fluidity.

Symonds then opened out, using leverage as much as strength. The short-arm shovel to deep mid-wicket, barest of follow-throughs, brought him several boundaries against both Harbhajan and Kumble.

He reached his second Test hundred in 128 balls (11 fours, two sixes), hitting a further six fours before close.

R.P. Singh, who had bowled so well in the morning and after lunch, couldn’t shift either Symonds or Brett Lee (31) with the second new ball. A disappointing end, for he had snared both Australian openers within the first hour.

A lifter had done for Phil Jaques, a vacuous cut shot with both feet off the ground only managing a nick.

Matthew Hayden left shaking his head at the strip, for he had been squared up. Sachin Tendulkar took the first of three exquisitely balanced slip catches, diving to his right.

Singhs on song

The hour after lunch was just as profitable. R.P. and Harbhajan combined for four wickets in 31 balls, each utilising the north-easterly that blew across the ground.

Harbhajan trapped Ricky Ponting (55) and Michael Clarke leg-before, the former edging a doosra on to his pads, the latter offering no stroke to an off-break.

Ponting had earlier nicked Sourav Ganguly down the leg-side, so perhaps Benson has a problem with spotting inside edges.

R.P. shaped one away from Michael Hussey — who had staged Australia’s first counter-attack with Ponting, putting on 92 — and angled one into Adam Gilchrist, getting the ball to hold its line. Both were held at first slip.

There was much joy, but it was to turn into frustration. Kumble’s tactics in the last hour were defensive, often reactive, signalling that the shift in power was complete.

SCOREBOARD

Australia — 1st innings: P. Jaques c Dhoni b R.P. Singh 0, M. Hayden c Tendulkar b R.P. Singh 13, R. Ponting lbw b Harbhajan 55, M. Hussey c Tendulkar b R.P. Singh 41, M. Clarke lbw b Harbhajan 1, A. Symonds (batting) 137, A. Gilchrist c Tendulkar b R.P. Singh 7, B. Hogg c Dravid b Kumble 79, B. Lee (batting) 31; Extras (b-2, lb-4, w-3, nb-3) 12; Total (for seven wkts. in 89 overs) 376.

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Jaques), 2-27 (Hayden), 3-119 (Ponting), 4-119 (Hussey), 5-121 (Clarke), 6-134 (Gilchrist), 7-307 (Hogg).

India bowling: R.P. Singh 21-3-108-4, Ishant 17-2-65-0, Ganguly 6-1-13-0, Harbhajan 20-2-88-2, Kumble 20-0-82-1, Tendulkar 5-0-14-0.