A gritty maiden Test half century by wicket-keeper Tim Paine and a nice little cameo from Mitchell Johnson helped Australia reach 390 for eight, at tea on the second day of the first Test match against India, at the PCA Stadium in Mohali.
During the break, Paine was batting on a well made 75 off 179 deliveries studded with 10 boundaries. Giving him company was Ben Hilfenhaus batting on 9, courtesy a huge six off Pragyan Ojha.
After a sedate a first session that saw only 71 runs scored of 29 overs, Johnson-Paine duo added 82 runs in 22 overs. The Australians scored 95 runs in the session losing only two wickets.
Johnson, who completed his 1000 runs in Test cricket, scored a quick-fire 47 off only 66 balls with the help of five boundaries and three huge sixes -- two off Ojha and one off Harbhajan's bowling.
A dogged 53-run partnership between Shane Watson and wicket-keeper batsman Tim Paine in the morning session set it up for Johnson to have a go at the Indian bowlers.
Earlier, at lunch, Australia were 295 for six, after centurion Shane Watson became the only batsman to be dismissed during the session.
The star for Australia on the first day, Watson was finally dismissed by Harbhajan Singh after scoring 126. His 458-minute vigil ended when Harbhajan got an odd ball to bounce and the batsman didn't commit fully on the frontfoot.
The resultant bat-pad catch was taken by Gautam Gambhir standing at forward short leg. Watson hit 10 boundaries in his 338-ball innings. Having hit eight yesterday, the opener added two more to his tally of boundaries. The 10th boundary that he hit -- an on-drive off Ojha helped him reach his personal best Test score of 124, surpassing the previous best of 120 against Pakistan, earlier this season.
Only 71 runs were scored off 29 overs in the first session today. Paceman Ishant Sharma was back on the field after limping off yesterday with a pulled hamstring but since he was out of action for a considerable amount of time he was allowed to bowl in the 139th over -- after 48 overs were
bowled on the day.
That is precisely the reason why skipper Dhoni didn't have an option of taking the second new ball which was already due.
The nature of the pitch remained same as it was yesterday with the ball keeping low and the odd-ball skidding through. With lack of bounce and not much turn on offer, it was a tough first session for the Indian bowlers as Watson and Paine were intent in blocking everything that came their way.
With ball being 100 overs old and turning very soft, it wasn't really difficult to defend. However, at the same time, they found scoring difficult in the first session.
Normally, a free flowing batsman, Watson's innings consisted of 51 singles and 13 twos. Paine, who is playing only his third Test match was cautious to begin with but with the passage of time, played some free-flowing strokes. He has hit five boundaries so far in his 109-ball innings. Two of those that stood out during the session were a square cut off Zaheer and another cut shot off Harbhajan, both were executed with perfection.
The 53-run sixth wicket partnership came off 161 deliveries.
Harbhajan, who got the only wicket of the session, had figures of three for 114 from 49 overs. Ojha, who also bowled 50 overs didn't get any wickets but has given away 111 runs. Zaheer, India's most potent bowler in the match so far has figures of four for 83
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