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Kaneria hands Pakistan advantage at SCG
by Jinu Sabastian


Ground:Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Scorecard:Australia v Pakistan
Player:SR Watson, Danish Kaneria, MEK Hussey
Event:Pakistan in Australia 2009/10

DateLine: 5th January 2010

 

It was another interesting day of play as both the sides fought hard and refused to concede an inch. If Australia claimed the first and the second session Pakistan stormed back into the match by removing the top and the middle order of the hosts. Australia in their second innings got off to a good start, as always a good partnership for the opening wicket for 105 runs. Watson was in an attacking mode and he was unlucky again not to get to a century, out in the nineties.

 

Pakistan added just two runs to their overnight first-innings total as Doug Bollinger (4 for 72) removed Kaneria with his fifth ball of the morning.

 

The hosts then began their reply in a nervous fashion as both Watson and Hughes survived some nervy moments. The Pakistani bowlers stuck to a disciplined line and length forcing the openers to be cautious. Watson inside-edged an Asif delivery perilously close to his leg-stump while Hughes could not hold himself back as he went for an extravagant drive outside his off stump but was lucky to be just beaten. Watson decided that cautious play was not his forte as he counter-attacked and that strategy brought his success. He was granted two reprieves - Kaneria's dropped catch and, on the stroke of lunch, a bizarre run-out opportunity that saw Kamran Akmal fail to remove the bails with the batsman well short of his ground. Watson went on to complete yet another half-century and he was well supported by a cautious Hughes.

 

The pair added 105 for the first wicket in 32 overs before Kaneria intervened. Phil Hughes (37, 83 balls, 5x4) who till then displayed an admirable trait of patience was eying a huge score when he lobbed back a catch to the left of Kaneria who had the sense to stick his hand out and grab the ball from air. Ponting (11, 21 balls) did not survive long as he was lured into playing a loose cover-drive by a much improved Gul and he succeeded in edging to Iqbal at second slip. Watson (97, 158 balls, 11x4, 3x6) meanwhile continued unperturbed as he helped Australia eat into the Pakistan's lead. He was on the cusp of a second Test century in front of his family when Gul surprised him with a short one which took his glove and ballooned up to second slip where Iqbal took his second catch.

 

After tea the Test boomeranged in Pakistan's favour as the visitors were able to pluck out wickets at regular intervals. Hussey survived three chances as Kamran Akmal was the culprit who put down the southpaw three times, twice in a space of two overs. The unlucky bowler was Kaneria who though was the protagonist in the final session. Hussey and Clarke struggled for fluency as Asif and Clarke probed relentlessly and finally Clarke fell. Clarke (21, 40 balls) was trapped leg before by a fuller length from Asif and the the on-field umpire upheld the appeal. Clarke immediately for the review but it proved futile as the third umpire could not find any reason to disagree with the on-field decision. Kaneria, who suffered due to the butter fingers of Kamran behind the stumps not once but thrice, put his disappointments behind and snuffed out North (2, 9 balls,), Haddin (15, 25 balls) and Johnson (3, 6 balls) in an excellent exhibition of leg spin bowling. Suddenly Kaneria's pace was right and his variations were working well. Umar Gul then compounded more misery on the hosts as he removed Hauritz (4, 15 balls). The Australian score read 257 for the loss of eight wickets but crucially for Pakistan the lead was just 51 runs.

 

Hussey battled on as he began to look increasingly comfortable against the spinners and the pacers alike and his fluency of the old returned. Boundaries began to flow of Hussey's bat as the southpaw realised that not much was left of the batting. Kaneria who bowled tirelessly on a stretch 32 overs was into his 33rd over when the bowler went down clutching his calf. Initially it was believed that the bowler suffered cramps but even after the treatment from physio the bowler looked in quite discomfort and had to be carried off the field. Yousuf who had delayed in taking the new ball immediately claimed it and handed it over to the fiery Sami. Hussey (73 batting, 149 balls, 10x4) and Siddle (10 batting, 20 balls) ensured that no more misfortune fell on the hosts as the Australian side finished the day at 286 for the loss of eight wickets with 80 runs ahead.

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