Australia four wickets away from victory

 

James Pattinson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus have all taken two wickets each as Australia is just four wickets away from claiming the Boxing Day Test against India being played in Melbourne.

At tea on day four of the First Test in their four-test series India has slumped to 6 for 117, needing a further 175 runs with four wickets in hand to reach their required total of 292 for victory.

Captain MS Dhoni (14 not out) and all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin (30 not out) have somewhat steaded the tourists innings as they have put on an unbeaten 36-run seventh wicket partnership.

Despite the pair surviving the host’s onslaught their efforts look in vain as the home side is on the verge of claiming what would be their third test victory from their last four outings.

Australia which was bowled out for 240 in their second innings made an important breakthrough just before lunch as they removed dangerous opener Virender Sehwag (7) to leave India at 1 for 24 after the first session of play at the MCG.

Just after the resumption of play the hosts captured the second wicket of the out of form Gautam Gambhir (13) who was caught in the slips off the bowling of hometown hero Peter Siddle.

Fellow Victorian James Pattinson joined the party as he removed the technically gifted Rahul Dravid (10) with a ball that knocked over his off stump as the tourists slumped to 3 for 58 midway through the second session.

Pattinson was bowling superbly and it was only a matter of time before he was rewarded with the wicket of VVS Laxman (1) as he was caught in the outfield with the visitors in sorts of trouble at 4 for 68.

Only one run was added before Virat Kohli (0) was dismissed for a golden duck as he became the host’s fifth victim as he trapped in front by a brilliant Ben Hilfenhaus ball.

Remarkably India had slumped to 5 for 69 and worse was yet to come as 12 runs later another wicket fell as the great Sachin Tendulkar (32) in maybe his final ever appearance at the MCG was caught in the gully by Michael Hussey as the tourists were in massive trouble at 6 for 81 and starring the down the barrel.

But an unbeaten 36-run partnership between Dhoni and Ashwin has guided the tourists through to tea and the pair will look to build their partnership as the world’s second ranked test nation looks to make inroads in their required target.

Australia all out 333

Ed Cowan 68 (177)

Ricky Ponting 62 (94)

Peter Siddle 41 (99)

Zaheer Khan 4 for 77 (31 overs)

Ravichandran Ashwin 3 for 81 (29 overs)

Umesh Yadav 3 for 106 (26 overs)

India all out 282

Sachin Tendulkar 73 (98)

Rahul Dravid 68 (187)

Virender Sehwag 67 (83)

Ben Hilfenhaus 5 for 75 (26 overs)

Peter Siddle 3 for 63 (21.1 overs)

James Pattinson 2 for 55 (23 overs)

Australia all out 240

Michael Hussey 89 (151)

Ricky Ponting 60 (97)

Umesh Yadav 4 for 70 (20 overs)

Zaheer Khan 3 for 53 (20 overs)

India 6 for 117

Sachin Tendulkar 32 (46)

Ravichandran Ashwin 30 not out

MS Dhoni 14 not out

James Pattinson 2 for 28 (10 overs)

Ben Hilfenhaus 2 for 32 (13 overs)

Peter Siddle 2 for 40 (seven overs)