The first test match between India and Australia ended in a draw today. Chasing 299 for victory, India finished at 177 for 4 with the game being interrupted twice because of bad weather. Sachin Tendulkar and VVS starred in a draw which was the most desirable outcome for the hosts. After being over-ridden by Australia for the first two days and coming up and then going down on the fourth day, India could best hope for a draw.

Australia added another 35 runs to their overnight score of 193. A target of 299 was set for India after Australia declared their innings at 228-6. They should not blame their decision to declare their innings early; the game was interrupted twice because of bad weather. A resilient Indian middle order made their job tougher. Australia had to claim 6 wickets in 25 overs to win the match, which seemed unlikely today.

Australia had a very good chance of winning the game. India lost Sehwag and Dravid at the score of 24 and the third wicket fell in form of Gambhir at 77. It then became clear that India would play to draw the match. With victory out of question, the fans looked forward to some jubilation anticipating Tendulkar to break Brian Lara’s record of highest runs in test cricket. However, the Master Blaster failed yet another time to achieve the milestone, this time falling short by 14 runs. Still, Tendulkar (49) steered and balanced the Indian innings with able support from Laxman (42*).
 
Australia should now seriously ponder at their bowling attack. They slipped off the 1-0 lead even when they had an intimidating target on board and two early wickets in hand. The bowling clearly lacked the ferocity to rip through the opponent’s batting order which is considered synonymous with the Aussies .

India entered the match with its own share of worries. Cricket360 reported earlier about Ganguly announcing his retirement just before the series began and the four other seniors coming under immediate pressure. Tendulkar and Laxman must be heaving relieved sighs after securing draw in the first match. However, Anil Kumble’s persistent shoulder injury and poor performance has tightened the noose around his neck. Former selector Dilip Vengsarkar , who recently expressed his disapproval of Sourav Ganguly’s comments regarding his retirement, came out openly criticizing Kumble’s decision to play in the match in wake of his unfitness.

Zaheer Khan was adjudged the Man of the Match for his half-century and six wickets. The second match starts in Mohali on Friday and both teams will look forward to gain first lead on the other.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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