Ponting back to form

Australian captain Ricky Ponting equalled Sunil Gavaskar by scoring his 34th Test century on the fourth day of the fourth Test against India here Sunday.

But retiring wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist fell cheaply in what is likely to be his last Test innings as the home side claimed a 37-run first innings lead.

At stumps India were 45 for one in their second innings, with Virender Sehwag on 31 and Rahul Dravid on 11. India led by eight runs and a draw appears certain.

Michael Clarke, who dropped Sehwag on two, said Australia would need all their quality to grab an unlikely victory.

“It’s going to be hard, I think we’re going to have to bowl really well,” he said.

“Once the ball gets a bit softed it’ll be hard for India to score and we’ll get a bit of reverse swing with the quick bowlers and Brad Hogg, Andrew Symonds and hopefully myself can play a big part tomorrow as well because there’s just enough there for the spinners.”

Indian seamer Irfan Pathan said they still believed they could level the series, which Australia lead 2-1.

“We have to bat well tomorrow and if we put some runs on the board, Australia has to bat last and so many matches have changed on the last day,” he said.

Having announced his retirement on Saturday, all eyes were on the new record holder for Test dismissals by a wicketkeeper when Gilchrist came out to bat, replacing Clarke (118) with Australia at 490 for five.

He received an enormous ovation as he strode out to the Adelaide Oval, the crowd chanting “Gilly” and the Indians lining up to applaud him.

“He has been a wonderful cricketer and we all respect him,” Pathan said. “When he came out to bat we clapped for him to show that respect. He has actually changed Test cricket.”

Gilchrist got off the mark from the fifth ball, with a crisp straight drive off Ishant Sharma.

The 36-year-old almost took out umpire Billy Bowden with a typically thundering straight drive for four off Pathan (3-112), but a moment later the bowler had his revenge when Gilchrist slashed a wide delivery straight to Sehwag at cover.

The wicketkeeper had made just 14 from 18 balls in an all-too-brief glimpse of his batting genius, and again got a rousing ovation from the crowd and his opponents as he trudged off, with Sharma running up from fine leg to shake his hand before he left.

While Gilchrist left the crowd wanting more, Ponting bounced back to form with 140.

He equalled Gavaskar and West Indian Brian Lara’s mark of Test centuries, but still has a way to go to catch Sachin Tendulkar, who has 39 centuries. It ended something of a drought for the Australian skipper, who went into the match with just 122 runs at 20.33 in the series and question marks over his ability to counter Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh.

Ponting, who batted with a runner towards the end of his innings because of a sore back and did not take to the field in India’s second innings, was extremely watchful early on and struggled for touch, but he was back to his best on Sunday.

He batted for 392 minutes, faced 266 deliveries and hit 10 fours, eventually playing on from the bowling of Sehwag.

Clarke, who added 210 with Ponting for the fourth wicket, scored his sixth century before being caught in slips by V.V.S Laxman from the bowling of exciting teenager Sharma (3-115), who was again impressive.

Australia, who have already regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, resumed at 322 for three, with the bad blood between the teams resurfacing after Saturday’s play.

Sehwag suggested on Saturday evening that the cautious nature of Australia’s batting showed they were “scared” of losing the match.

ADELAIDE, Sunday, AFP

INDIA 1ST INNINGS 526 
(Tendulkar 153, Kumble 87, 
Johnson 4-126, Lee 3-101)
 
AUSTRALIA 1ST INNINGS
P. Jaques b Kumble              	 60
M. Hayden b Sharma             		103
R. Ponting b Sehwag            		140
M. Hussey b Pathan              	 22
M. Clarke c Laxman b Sharma    		118
A. Symonds b Sharma             	 30
A. Gilchrist c Sehwag b Pathan  	 14
B. Hogg not out                 	 16
B. Lee c Dhoni b Pathan          	  1
M. Johnson c Sharma b Harbhajan 	 13
S. Clark b Sehwag                	  3
EXTRAS (10b, 12lb, 10w, 11nb)   	 43
TOTAL                          		563
FALL: 159 (Jaques), 186 (Hayden), 241 (Hussey), 451 (Ponting), 
490 (Clarke), 506 (Gilchrist), 527 (Symonds), 528 (Lee), 
557 (Johnson), 563 (Clark).
Bowling: R.P. Singh 4-0-14-0, Pathan 36-2-112-3 (3w), 
Sharma 40-6-115-3 (7w, 8nb), Harbhajan 48-5-128-1, 
Kumble 30-4-109-1 (2nb), Sehwag 19-2-51-2, 
Tendulkar 1-0-6-0, Ganguly 3-1-6-0 (1nb).

INDIA 2ND INNINGS
V. Sehwag not out               	31
I. Pathan lbw Johnson            	 0
R. Dravid not out               	11
EXTRAS                           	 3
TOTAL (for one wicket)          	45
FALL: 2 (Pathan).
Bowling: Lee 6-1-8-0, Johnson 5-0-6-1 (1w, 1nb), Symonds 3-0-20-0, Clark 3-0-10-0.