Sport

Clarke leads the charge

Cricket: Michael Clarke hit a sparkling 151 on his debut and a revitalised Glenn McGrath then ripped the heart out of India'…

Fri Oct 08 2004 - 01:00

Cricket: Michael Clarke hit a sparkling 151 on his debut and a revitalised Glenn McGrath then ripped the heart out of India's batting as Australia took command of the first Test in Bangalore yesterday.

Fast bowler McGrath took three wickets, including that of Rahul Dravid, as he claimed two in his first two overs, before India tottered to 150 for six after the second day, still 125 runs shy of avoiding the follow-on.

Paceman Michael Kasprowicz ended Indian hopes of a fightback with two quick wickets before leg-spinner Shane Warne produced the ball of the innings to bowl Vangipurappu Laxman for 31.

The Australians, also spurred on by a rapid century from Adam Gilchrist, had amassed 474 before being dismissed one hour after lunch.

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Their domination of an exciting second day was built on the slender shoulders of the 23-year-old Clarke.

The New South Wales batsman anchored the innings from a shaky 149 for four on the first day as he shared a 167-run sixth-wicket partnership with stand-in captain Gilchrist.

AUSTRALIA FIRST INNINGS

(overnight 316-5)

J Langer b Irfan 52

M Hayden c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 26

S Katich b Kumble 81

D Martyn c Chopra b Kumble 3

D Lehmann c Dravid b Kumble 17

M Clarke c Patel b Zaheer 151

A Gilchrist c and b Harbhajan 104

S Warne c Dravid b Harbhajan 1

J Gillespie not out 7

M Kasprowicz c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 3

G McGrath lbw b Harbhajan 0

Extras (b-5 lb-15 nb-8 w-1) 29

Total (all out, 120 overs) ... 474

Fall of wickets: 1-50 2-124 3-129 4-149 5-256 6-423 7-427 8-471 9-474

Bowling: Irfan 21-6-62-1 (w-1), Zaheer 22-2-60-1 (nb-1), Harbhajan 41-7-146-5, Kumble 39-4-157-3 (nb-5), Sehwag 5-0-26-0

(nb-1), Yuvraj 2-0-3-0 (nb-1)

INDIA FIRST INNINGS

A Chopra lbw b McGrath 0

V Sehwag c Langer b Kasprowicz 39

R Dravid b McGrath 0

S Ganguly c Gilchrist b Kasprowicz 45

V Laxman b Warne 31

Y Singh c Gilchrist b McGrath 5

P Patel not out 18

I Pathan not out 1

Extras (b-1 lb-2 nb-3 w-5) 11

Total (six wickets, 44 overs) ... 150

To bat: H Singh, A Kumble, Z Khan

Fall of wickets: 0-1 2-4 3-87 4-98 5-124 6-136

Bowling: McGrath 15-4-37-3 (nb-1), Gillespie 8-2-41-0 (w-5), Warne 14-1-46-1, Kasprowicz 7-1-23-2 (nb-2).