Australians make most of mis-match

By Vijay Lokapally

NEW DELHI, MARCH 7. Could not bowl on the first day; and could not bat on the second; and are likely to spend another long day chasing the ball on the third. The plight of the Board President's XI players spilled into Thursday as the Australians continued to dominate the three-day contest at the Ferozeshah Kotla here.

There was not one bright moment for the host team the whole day. The Australians carried on with their batting this morning and then left the stage for their bowlers to exploit what has been acclaimed as a flat track. The BP XI ended up conceding a first innings lead of 230 runs.

The Australians ignored the option of a follow-on and sent in their openers. Quite understandable since the time was most appropriate to catch up with some batting practice against a set of bowlers who lack the aura of forming a decent first-class attack.

The sole smiling face in the BP XI dressing room was Dinesh Mongia. A well-built cricketer from Chandigarh, this 23- year-old left-hander gave a good account of his batting potential by carving a half century full of attractive strokes.

The pull was a most notable shot even as Mongia, in splendid form this season, drove the ball with emphasis on timing than power. He ought to have scored much more but for an indiscreet slash which brought a premature end to his stay. His 107-ball included nine fours and three sixes. Mongia apart, there was none who offered resistance.

If Sourav Ganguly undertook this trip to have some useful batting practice he would return disappointed to Kolkata. He struggled all the way and looked a shadow of the graceful left-hander he has been. His timing was awry and concentration poor. Twice the edges did not carry and it was not a surprise at all when he tried belting the ball, only to be bowled. Ganguly would like to forget this appearance at the earliest.

The BP XI innings had a shaky start when Vijay Dahiya perished in the first over. S. Sriram and Mohammad Kaif tried tackling the pace and spin but proved unequal to the task, both playing casual shots.

Jacob Martin and Hrishikesh Kanitkar compounded the problems by playing ill-advised strokes and the tail just caved in meekly. When the batsmen had failed to stand up to the Australians, it would have been unfair to expect the bowlers to perform the task of getting runs.

It would have been a very satisfying day for the Aussies but for a jarring note towards the fag end when opener Mathew Hayden was ruled out caught behind. The Aussie demonstrated his displeasure quite strongly. A pity there was no Match Referee to take any action.

The scores:

Australia - 1st innings: M. Slater c J. Martin b Patel 19, M. Hayden c Martin b Sarandeep 31, J. Langer lbw b Patel 4, M. Waugh lbw b Hirwani 62, S. Waugh c Bagal b Sarandeep 109, R. Ponting c and b Sarandeep 102, D. Martyn c Ganguly b Hirwani 2, B. Haddin st Dahiya b Sarandeep 24, M. Kasprowicz c Sarandeep b Hirwani 24, D. Fleming (not out) 29, Colin Miller c Ganguly b Sarandeep 5, Extras (b-3, lb-9, nb-17) 29, Total 451.

Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-35, 3-97, 4- 164, 5-335, 6-355, 7-357, 8-403, 9-433.

BP XI bowling: S. S. Bagal 16-7-48-0, R. Patel 14-0-84-2, N. Hirwani 23-5-120-3, Sarandeep Singh 26-3-114- 5, S. Sriram 17-4- 63-0, S. Ganguly 4-0-10-0.

Board President's XI - 1st innings: V. Dahiya lbw b Fleming 0, S. Sriram c Haddin b Kasprowicz 27, Mohammad Kaif c Martyn b Miller 33, S. Ganguly b M. Waugh 40, D. Mongia c Ponting b Kasprowicz 66, J. Martin c Ponting b M. Waugh 10, H. Kanitkar c Ponting b Kasprowicz 2, R. Patel b Miller 13, Sarandeep Singh (run out) 0, S. S. Bagal (run out) 7, N. Hirwani (not out) 0, Extras (b-8, lb- 2, nb-13) 23, Total 221.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-55, 3-71, 4-163, 5-187, 6-189, 7-204, 8- 205, 9-221.

Australia bowling: Fleming 10-3-27-1, Kasprowicz 18-3-68-3, Miller 27.4-8-91-2, Martyn 4-1-11-0, M. Waugh 7-2-14-2.

Australia - 2nd innings: M. Hayden c Dahiya b Hirwani 26, M. Slater (batting) 24, J. Langer (batting) 0, Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-1) 3, Total (for one wkt) 53.

Fall of wicket: 1-50.

BP XI bowling: Patel 4-1-18-0, Bagal 3-0-13-0, Hirwani 3-0-10-1, Sarandeep 3-0-10-0.

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