Aussies on Rickety Wicket

The fury with which Hayden went after the bowling was laced with generous doses of desperation, and 24 balls and 29 runs later, he failed to connect with an ungainly swipe off Harbhajan Singh’s second delivery and was given out leg-before. Four balls after that, it was Simon Katich’s turn to go for an uncharacteristic slash. The ball skewed off the splice towards point, hung in the air for a while before it started dipping; Sachin Tendulkar, a little slow off the mark, made up for it with a fine lunge to grab it inches off the ground. For the second time in three days, he looked 16 again.

The off-spinner, fired up, was on 299 wickets and started looking too hard for his 300th, but it was Ishant Sharma instead who charged into the party.

He flew in from the pavilion end after tea, face contorted in a gawky grimace. The eighth ball of his second spell landed on a length well outside off-stump, Ponting saw it cut in, plonked his foot forward and brought his bat close behind. For five seconds, he held the pose, staring at the spot where the ball had pitched, then turning back to look at the shattered stumps.

Shane Watson got a similar delivery a few overs later and went back instead of forward. He got rapped on the pads, plumb in front. From a breezy 49 for no loss, Australia were down to a shocking 58 for five, before Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin stitched together an unbroken 83-run partnership that ensured, if nothing else, that the match went into the final day.

... contd.