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Today, India resumed their innings on 100/0. There were no half measures for Gambhir and Shewag. From the word go, they were attacking the Aussie bowlers. They brought up 182 runs stand in the first session before Sehwag got out. Unlike him, Gambhir got to his century and then Gambhir also fell cheaply.

Dhoni came in and blasted some fireworks around the park. He also got to his fifty with a very good strike rate. Ganguly gave him a good support before getting out to Lee in the process of heaving him out of the park. Just after the drinks break after lunch, India declared the innings with a total lead of 515 runs.

Australia came out with a positive mind set. Hayden and Katich both played attacking cricket. At a point in the innings, they scored at a run rate of over 7. But Harbhajan had another idea. He strikes a double blow in the first over removing Hayden and Katich. Australia went to tea with forty runs in the board for the loss of two wickets. After tea wicket fall continued as Australia lost Mr. Dependable Hussey. Though Hussey can consider him unlucky as the ball did not bounce as expected. Ponting again became the hunt of Ishant.

The in swinger cut through the defenses of Ponting as a real fast pace. Ishant again struck with an in swinger to remove Watson. The backbone of Australian batting card was dismissed under 60 runs by the Indian bowlers. Later in the day, some resilience came from Clarke and Haddin though they looked extremely shaky against the spin.

Australia under serious pressure under good all-round performance by the Indians!
Resuming the last day’s score, Ganguly made a new start of his game once again. He was cautious initially. Ishant Sharma could not give him support for too long as he departed early in the morning. Then came Dhoni with a positive mind set. He kept hitting odd boundaries in almost every over. He and Ganguly made a good valuable partnership of less than 150 runs. But it was real valuable one for the team. Ganguly brought up his hundred just after the lunch on a full delivery from White.

On the other side, Dhoni kept his game going. After a long innings, Ganguly got out to a loose delivery from White. Then the tail could not hang around too long like the Bangalore test and Indian innings came to an end with 469 runs in the board. Johnson and Sidle finished up with 3 wickets each.
Australia came out to bat just before the tea. But in the short session, Zaheer sent the message to the opposition what to follow in the next session. Zaheer castled Hayden in the very first over with a beautiful in swinger. On tea, Australia made 13 runs for the loss of 1 wicket.

After tea, it was Ishant Sharma who gave the first break through by removing Ponting. This was another disappointment for the Aussie captain. Katich and Hussey seemed to hold the innings together. But the debutant Amit Mishra went through Katich to knock his leg stump. Along with bowling, the field placing was good by Dhoni. Clarke and Hussey put on nice 40 runs. But just at the tip of closing, Amit Mishra came up with a nice googly to fool Clarke from around the stumps.

Overall, this was a good show from the Indian team. If they can continue the momentum the next day also, it can be a nightmare for the Aussies.

For the last decade, Sachin Tendulkar has given a new shape to Indian cricket. And now, he is being complemented for his great works with these records. Cricket is such a game where the thirst of runs never ends for the players as well as for the spectators. So we also hope that Sachin goes a long distance in the game and make such a record that can not be broken until another great like him comes to the arena of this game.

The Second test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy is scheduled in between Australia and India today at 9.30 Am at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali on 17th October 2008.