With this all important win under his belt, Steve Waugh has given a fitting reply to his Indian counterpart, Sourav Ganguly, who did not endear himself, both as a batsman and as well as captain, for all his boast before the Aussies landed in India.
Despite the overnight not out batsmen Tendulkar and Dravid playing intelligent cricket and allowing the visitors no further breakthroughs in the pre-lunch session, the writing was always on the wall for the hosts. For it is a common sight to see the rest of the batsmen cave in minutes after Tendulkar departs.
This was precisely what happened today, too. Tendulkar, who had faced all the Aussie bowlers with a judiciuos mix of aggression and caution, became first of the three victims of the unlikely Mark Waugh, who played the role of a part-time off-spinner to the letter on a pitch which was doing crazy things on the third day.
Once Tendulkar (65) was consumed after he and Dravid had put on 97 valuable runs, it did not take much for the Aussies to bounce back with a vengeance.
The new batsman, Ganguly, ran himself out after trying to run a single rather too lazily after he hit the ball towards midwicket. Slater did the rest and Ganguly left India tottering at 156 for four, having made only one.
Laxman began on a promising note, hitting Warne for three successive boundaries (a straight-drive, a cover-drive and a square-drive) in his 21st over. But Mark Waugh nipped in the bud his innings that was blossoming into a promising one.
The total then was 174 which meant India were only 1 run ahead, considering the first innings deficit of 173 runs. At the same score Dravid was bowled around his legs by Warne with a beautiful delivery. It spun sharply and as the batsman attempted a sweep, it crashed on to his stumps.
Dravid had dropped anchor and his unconvincing knock of 39 came off 196 balls in 261 minutes.
Nayan Mongia (28) batted bravely and played some adventurous shots, including a off Mark Waugh. It was as if he were trying to settle scores with the opponents since he had to take a severe blow on his left-hand thumb.
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