Brick by carefully weighed brick, Australia erected an edifice designed to thwart Indian aspirations of a series-levelling victory in the final Test. By the end of the penultimate day of the series, with the captain himself playing the lead role in grinding the opposition to the dust, Ricky Ponting’s men had all but made sure that barring the miraculous, only one team can win from here onwards.

That said, India’s fickle final-day batting record is about the only reason why Australia can entertain hopes of conjuring an improbable victory at the Adelaide Oval on Monday. On a track that has held up quite nicely, India should come away unscathed if they keep their wits about them when they resume on 45 for one, a lead of eight. For India to pull a famous win out of the hat will necessitate the most sensational day’s cricket!

Sizeable lead

Facing at various stages on Sunday the realistic possibility of conceding a sizeable lead despite having accrued 526, India owed restricting Australia to 563 — and an advantage of 37 — to spirited efforts from their pace-bowling duo of Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma. Australia looked primed to press on significantly from their overnight 322 for three as Ponting and Michael Clarke extended their fourth-wicket association to 210 (258m, 394b). But once Virender Sehwag provided the breakthrough by ending Ponting’s 34th hundred at 140, India spectacularly wended their way back, tossing out the last seven for 112.

Until that flourish, India's attack — stretched thin by Rudra Pratap Singh’s absence — was systematically dismantled by Ponting and Clarke. Alive to making the most of scoring opportunities against a newish ball, the two right-handers began the fourth morning positively, not just waiting to put the bad balls away but also transferring pressure by constantly looking out for the tip-and-runs.

Australia began the day 204 behind, but in sharp contrast to their defensiveness of Saturday, there was a sense of purpose as Ponting and Clarke pressed ahead. Anil Kumble — who bowled only nine of India's 70 overs on the day — brought on Harbhajan Singh early, hoping his off-spinner would make capital of bowling with a harder ball, but that didn’t pay dividends as Clarke used his feet brilliantly, and Ponting picked him off at the slightest indiscretion in line.

Somewhat of a Harbhajan bunny all career long, Ponting got his own back with a single off the offie that took him alongside Sunil Gavaskar and Brian Lara in the century stakes. It was an exceptional innings. The free-flowing, almost arrogant, Ponting was nowhere in evidence; the surface, the bowling, the match and series situations, and his own ordinary form demanded that he change tack and embrace circumspection. He managed that with aplomb; while his celebrations were muted, the satisfaction at a job well done was hard to miss.

More pleasing

Clarke’s was an aesthetically more pleasing compilation. The busy heir apparent had little hesitation in dancing down the track or hitting in the air; there were periods when he was tied down by the accuracy of the Indians, but he didn’t throw his hand away. Dropped at slip by Rahul Dravid off Sehwag — a tough chance that — when 84, Clarke surged to hundred number six; that it had only six fours also testified his discipline and determination.
There was a 20-minute spell when Adam Gilchrist breezed in to a rousing welcome from 20,000-plus fans — and the eleven Indians on the park who clapped him all the way in — and provided but a glimpse of his raw power.

Otherwise, the afternoon was all about Ishant and Pathan. With Harbhajan ineffective, Kumble turned to the two quicks to exploit an ageing ball conducive to reverse swing. Both men responded to their captain’s call admirably in long spells of character and class.

Ishant was again brilliant, bowling in the mid-140s even towards the end of a long burst, while Pathan kept the batsmen honest with variations in pace and swing. Between them, they scythed through the lower order, Ishant the stand-out during a spell of 12-1-43-2 and Pathan no less impressive, snaffling Brett Lee as his 100th Test victim in the middle of a final spell of 8-1-31-2.

India had a tricky 70 minutes to negotiate, and were rocked in the second over when Mitchell Johnson trapped Pathan in front. Had Clarke at second slip not dropped a straightforward chance from Sehwag off Lee in the next over, they would have found themselves in a deep hole. Instead, Sehwag and Dravid wiped off the deficit without further damage. Monday is pregnant with possibilities!

score board

INDIA (I Innings): 526 all out
AUSTRALIA (I Innings, O/n: 322/3):
Jaques b Kumble 60
(220m, 159b, 3x4)
Hayden b Ishant 103
(273m, 200b, 10x4, 1x6)
Ponting b Sehwag 140
(392m, 266b, 10x4)
Hussey b Pathan 22
(80m, 66b, 1x4)
Clarke c Laxman b Ishant 118
(314m, 244b, 8x4)
Symonds b Ishant 30
(112m, 62b, 5x4)
Gilchrist c Sehwag b Pathan 14
(21m, 18b, 1x4)
Hogg (not out) 16
(86m, 42b, 1x4)
Lee c Dhoni b Pathan 1
(5m, 4b)
Johnson c Ishant b Harbhajan 13
(32m, 28b, 1x4)
Clark b Sehwag 3
(11m, 8b)
Extras (B-10, LB-12, W-10, NB-11) 43
Total (all out, 181 overs) 563
Fall of wickets: 1-159 (Jaques), 2-186 (Hayden), 3-241 (Hussey), 4-451 (Ponting), 5-490 (Clarke), 6-506 (Gilchrist), 7-527 (Symonds), 8-528 (Lee), 9-557 (Johnson).
Bowling: RP Singh 4-0-14-0, Pathan 36-2-112-3 (w-3), Ishant 40-6-115-3 (w-7, nb-8), Harbhajan 48-5-128-1, Kumble 30-4-109-1 (nb-2), Sehwag 19-2-51-2, Tendulkar 1-0-6-0, Ganguly 3-1-6-0 (nb-1).
INDIA (II Innings):
Sehwag (batting) 31
(71m, 54b, 2x4, 1x6)
Pathan lbw Johnson 0
(8m, 6b)
Dravid (batting) 11
(62m, 43b, 2x4)
Extras (LB-1, W-1, NB-1) 3
Total (for 1 wkt, 17 overs) 45
Fall of wicket: 1-2 (Pathan).
Bowling: Lee 6-1-8-0, Mitchell Johnson 5-0-6-1 (w-1, nb-1), Andrew Symonds 3-0-20-0, Clark 3-1-10-0.