Clarke’s triple century leaves India toiling

SYDNEY: Michael Clarke hit a majestic unbeaten 329 before declaring Australia’s first innings at 659 for four with a lead of 468 on the third day of the second test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.

India, despite a fine spell from paceman Ben Hilfenhaus, were 114-2 at the close of play with opener Gautam Gambhir (68) and Sachin Tendulkar, who had made eight from 42 balls, set to resume on day four.

The Australia captain’s triple century was just the 25th in test cricket, the fourth highest test score by an Australian, 14th highest by any batsman and highest in 100 tests over more than a century at the SCG.

More importantly for Australia, with support from Ricky Ponting (134) and Mike Hussey (150 not out), Clarke’s innings rescued the hosts from 37-3 and put them in an excellent position to take a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

Clarke brought up the 300 shortly after lunch, flicking the ball through midwicket off the bowling of Ishant Sharma for the 37th four of his innings, becoming the 21st cricketer to reach the milestone.

The 30-year-old righthander whipped off his helmet to acknowledge a standing ovation from the 31,000 crowd at his home ground and pointed his bat towards his team mates in the dressing room.

Selflessly passing up the chance to break any more records, Clarke called time on his best test innings a ball after Hussey had reached his 150 to leave his bowlers two-and-a-half days to bowl the tourists out.

Clarke had faced 478 balls, batted for 10 hours and 17 minutes and scored 40 boundaries when he left the pitch to another huge ovation from a crowd largely dressed in pink in honour of former paceman’s Glenn McGrath’s breast cancer charity.

EARLY BREAKTHROUGH
Hussey and his captain had put on 334 for the fifth wicket, eclipsing the previous highest partnership for Australia against India of 288, which Clarke set with Ricky Ponting on Wednesday.

Australia’s pace attack, which dismissed India for 191 in their first innings, made an early breakthrough when Hilfenhaus removed opener Virender Sehwag for four courtesy of an athletic catch from David Warner with just 18 runs on the board.

The big paceman returned to bowl Rahul Dravid through the gate for 29 with a beautiful delivery and he and James Pattinson ensured Gambhir and Tendulkar had anything but a comfortable passage to stumps.

Clarke started the day on 251 and, understandably tired after batting through Wednesday, took time to find his rhythm even if he never looked troubled as Hussey kept the scoreboard ticking over at the other end.

A cover drive for four off Ishant Sharma 10 minutes before lunch allowed him to pass Englishman RE Foster’s high score of 287 at the SCG but he was forced to wait until after the break to reach the 300.

Hussey had started the day on 55 and played superbly to reach his 16th test century, vindication for a player in his mid-thirties with his place in the side under pressure after a poor run of form.

India’s batsmen face a Herculean task to rescue the test and keep alive their hopes of winning a first series in Australia.

They lost the opener in Melbourne by 122 runs last week.

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England announces squad for Pakistan tests

LONDON: England on Tuesday announced its squad for the three-Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

Apart from the inclusion of standby wicket-keeper Steven Davies, the contingent wore a familiar look.

Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wkt), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan, Chris Tremlett, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Steven Davies (wkt), Monty Panesar, Ravi Bopara

Itinerary

Jan 03: England arrive

Jan 07-09: ICC Combined XI v England XI, Dubai

Jan 11-13: PCB XI v England XI, Dubai

Jan 17-21: 1ST TEST, PAKISTAN v ENGLAND, Dubai

Jan 25-29: 2ND TEST, PAKISTAN v ENGLAND, Abu Dhabi

Feb 03-07: 3RD TEST, PAKISTAN v ENGLAND, Dubai

Feb 10: England XI v England Lions, Abu Dhabi

Feb 13: 1ST ODI, PAKISTAN v ENGLAND, Abu Dhabi

Feb 15: 2ND ODI, PAKISTAN v ENGLAND, Abu Dhabi

Feb 18: 3RD ODI, PAKISTAN v ENGLAND, Dubai

Feb 21: 4TH ODI, PAKISTAN v ENGLAND, Dubai

Feb 23: 1ST T20, PAKISTAN v ENGLAND, Dubai

Feb 25: 2ND T20, PAKISTAN v ENGLAND, Dubai

Feb 27: 3RD T20, PAKISTAN v ENGLAND, Abu Dhabi

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India aren’t finished, Dhoni warns Australia

SYDNEY: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has warned Australia not to get too carried away with their victory in the first test and backed his team to battle back in the second in Sydney this week.

If the nature of last week’s 122-run defeat in Melbourne had rattled the tourists, the ice cool Dhoni certainly showed no signs of it when he addressed the media at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Monday.

Asked whether India’s 4-0 series drubbing in England earlier this year, and the match in Melbourne, had proved his team was “not much good when there was something there for the bowlers”, Dhoni calmly rebuffed the question.

“That’s what you think,” he replied during a news conference. “If you see the kind of players that we have got, that would be very a premature statement to make.

“Because what we have seen is that we have always bounced back. Australia will have to keep the pressure on the batting line-up and the bowlers as well.

“It’s just that we haven’t performed in the first test and we look to improve in the second.”

Wicketkeeper Dhoni’s own form with the bat overseas has been of much a concern to Indian cricket fans and scores of six and 23 in Melbourne left him averaging just 17 in Australia.

The 30-year-old was not about to push the panic button, though, and said his ability to adapt to different conditions was one of his strengths.

“I won’t look to make too many adjustments because what I’ve learned over the last 15 years since my school days is it’s very difficult to changes in just one series,” he said.

“What’s important is to adapt well, look for where you are weak and try avoid the deliveries that can get you out.”

One player who has never had any trouble scoring runs, particularly at the SCG, where he has an average of 221 in six tests, is Sachin Tendulkar.

The batting master’s 10-month quest to notch up his 100th international hundred may have been frustrating for cricket-mad India but Dhoni said it has little impact on the player or his team mates.

“It’s not the first time Sachin’s approached a milestone,” he said.

“We all know it will happen. It may happen in this test match, it may happen in the next test match or in this series. You can’t really stop it from happening.

“I don’t think he thinks about it a lot … it never really feels like he’s under any sort of pressure when it comes to scoring the 100th hundred.

“As a team, we would like him to score it as quickly as possible for no other reason than that it’s a big milestone and we would love to enjoy and celebrate it with him.

“It’s also a big distraction for the media, which is good for us.”

Dhoni will not name his side until just before the start of the match on Tuesday and would therefore not comment on whether Rohit Sharma would make his debut in place of the out-of-form number six batsman Virat Kohli.

Having lost the number one test ranking after the injury-ravaged side lost in England and now on a run of five successive defeats outside India, Dhoni admitted their confidence had been dented slightly.

“It does effect it a bit,” said Dhoni. “But we all know the reasons for what exactly has happened and you learn from your mistakes.

“In the last five tests we have lost, there were also plenty of positives. We are looking at the positives.”

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