da esport bet： Australia bounced back with a bang after their morale shatteringdefeat in Kolkata, to take the honours on the first day of the thirdand final Test match against hosts India at MA ChidambaramStadium, Chennai on Sunday
Santhosh S18-Mar-2001Australia bounced back with a bang after their morale shatteringdefeat in Kolkata, to take the honours on the first day of the thirdand final Test match against hosts India at MA ChidambaramStadium, Chennai on Sunday. The toast of the day was MatthewHayden who bludgeoned the Indian bowling to make an unbeaten 147,batting all through the day to put Australia in a commanding positionat 326/3.Australian captain Steve Waugh remained unbeaten on 43 at close ofplay. He surpassed the aggregate of Graham Gooch (8,900) when on 30and now has an aggregate of 8,914 runs, the third highest in Testmatch cricket behind the legends Allan Border (11,174) and SunilGavaskar (10,122). Steve Waugh’s twin brother Mark Waugh too passed apersonal milestone; he got to his 7000th Test run when on 46.India made three changes to their side, wicket keeper Sameer Dighe andleg spinner Sairaj Bahutule making their debut and Nilesh Kulkarni theslow left arm spinner making a comeback into the side. Nayan Mongiathe regular wicket keeper had to sit out because of an injury.Australia gave Colin Miller a chance to play, replacing MichaelKasprowicz.Earlier in the day Steve Waugh won a crucial toss and did nothesitate to bat first. Michael Slater struck a four but it was all hecould score before being caught by VVS Laxman off the third ball ofthe first over bowled by Zaheer Khan.Harbhajan Singh who spun the Aussies to a devastating defeat inKolkata was brought on to bowl in the sixth over of the day. TheAussies clearly had a game plan, to upset the rhythm of the bowler.Hayden took the honourable task, stepping down the track and smashingHarbhajan for sixes and fours. Justin Langer too was not to be leftbehind as he lofted a ball from Harbhajan Singh over mid-wicket for aglorious six.In the meanwhile Hayden got a reprieve when he was on 21; Sameer Dighemaking his debut missed an easy opportunity to run Hayden out. It isjust another story that Hayden has made the Indians pay dearly forthat early miss. Langer made 35 off 35 balls before edging one fromHarbhajan Singh to Rahul Dravid at first slip.Mark Waugh who has not had the best of series coming into the ChennaiTest, must have thanked his good fortune as Dighe missed an easystumping when he had made just nine. Dighe has had a nightmare of adebut match, extending charity to the best professionals in the gametoday.Mark Waugh too was in attacking mood as he stepped out to loftKulkarni for a massive straight six. He looked to be in excellenttouch and heading for a big score He laced his elegant knock withseven boundaries and a six to make 70 before mistiming a lofted ondrive off Bahatule; only to watch in agony as substitutefielder Hemang Badani ran back and took a good catch at extra cover.Mark Waugh and Hayden added 150 runs in their third wicketpartnership.That was the last success of the day for the Indians. Steve Waugh toomade it clear that he intended to dominate the bowling, playing histrademark heave-ho over mid-wicket for a huge six. Only theintroduction of Sachin Tendulkar in the final session of the day sawthe run rate slow down a little. Hayden and Steve Waugh have puttogether an unbroken partnership of 109 for the fourth wicket.Matthew Lawrence Hayden who plays for the Queensland Bulls, has had amemorable tour so far, scoring a hundred in Mumbai and missing out ona hundred in Kolkata by just three runs. Today he took the opportunityto demolish the Indian attack as he smashed his way to an unbeaten 147off 249 balls with the help of five mighty sixes and a dozenboundaries.What has been most heartening from an Australian point of view is thetemperament and technique of this big man, Hayden. All day along hekept a cool head to negotiate the turn and bounce the Indian spinnerswere getting off the pitch. He used his feet remarkably well tosmother the spin and on occasions to play the lofted shot. But it wasthe sweep shot he played to such perfection that destroyed the Indianspinners, who otherwise would have created a panic amongst the Aussiebatsmen.