Indian bowlers rise from the ashes in Perth
If Indian pacers looked lifeless in the opening session of the 3rd Test here, they came back with a vengeance in the post-lunch session to wreck Australia's otherwise solid batting card, powered by David Warner's 180. Australia eventually folded on 369, losing seven for 79.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: January 14, 2012 03:21 PM IST
If Indian pacers looked lifeless in the opening session of the 3rd Test here, they came back with a vengeance in the post-lunch session to wreck Australia's otherwise solid batting card, powered by David Warner's 180. Australia eventually folded on 369, losing seven for 79.
Ishant Sharma triggered the fall when he finally got Indians to see the back of Warner. A slightly slower delivery found the lower end of the bat and Warner's shot fell into the hands of a waiting Umesh Yadav at long on. Warner had played his part although he had been dropped once in the slips by Virat Kohli off Zaheer Khan's bowling.
It was Umesh Yadav from here who became the main architect of the collapse. He had already claimed Ed Cowan (74) in the opening session of play and returned to bowl Ricky Ponting (7) out.
Zaheer from the other end, bounced back from his missed chance to get the prized wicket of Warner by getting the better of skipper Michael Clarke (18). With three boundaries struck already, Clarke looked to rotate the strike but managed only to edge Zaheer to MS Dhoni.
Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin could not emulate the innings at the top and looked edgy at best. Although Hussey managed to scrape 14 runs before Vinay Kumar removed him, Haddin was intimidated and then removed by Zaheer. The two players were involved in a verbal spat before the start of the Test and Zaheer ensured he had the last laugh as Haddin left without scoring.
Peter Siddle walked in, built a 30 run innings but was cleaned up by Umesh who returned to make Ryan Harris his fifth. Sehwag claimed the final wicket.
The fierce stance of the visitors however, was not visible for most parts of the opening session. Dhoni kept packing and unpacking his slip cordon while the bowlers strayed in their line and length. Warner took most of the blame for India's inconsistency as he continued with his smashing style of play.
Such was the docile nature of the bowling that even Kohli looked completely unprepared for an edge. When it came eventually, he promptly dropped it.