In the blink of an over

On a day that saw 104 overs being bowled,that particular six-ball set bowled by Jadeja was by far the most consequential. Had it gone any differently,one thing is for certain: Australia would have been in far better health than 273 for seven at stumps on Day Two. We resume with the last two balls of the 48th over. Balls that literally turned things India’s way.

The second most significant act of this over was the next to occur,that of the wicket of David Warner. Until then,Warner had gone about his business with sublime ease. He was batting on 71,increasingly looking good for many more. He took his guard,Jadeja rolled in to release the fifth ball. It pitched on middle and spat up towards the left-hander late,catching the thin edge of a willow held by shaky gloves.

The ball then kissed the top of Warner’s pad flaps and ballooned skywards. MS Dhoni,hurtling in from the wrong side of the stumps,did the rest. It was a soft way to end a tough stand,one that perhaps no one but fate saw coming. The Indians,however,wouldn’t leave the next one to chance. The final ball of Jadeja’s over witnessed an entrapment of monumental importance,planned and executed as well as any in Test cricket.

In walked Michael Clarke. At number three,a position he had attended to just once in his 152 previous Test innings. Back then,in 2009,a mid-game injury to Ricky Ponting had left him with no choice. On Friday,it was by will. Call it a statement of intent or of foolish pride,but there he was,taking in both the jeers and the applause from the spectators. At this point,Dhoni summoned Jadeja for a chat,perhaps empowering his ward with the knowledge of a certain trend.

MS Does his homework

In the Chennai Test,Clarke had sprung out to the very first ball of his innings to greet Ravichandran Ashwin. Then in Hyderabad,he had left the crease well behind to block the same bowler as he faced a spinner for the first time. On those two occasions,he ended up scoring 130 and 91. Now came Clarke’s first ball of the Mohali Test.

Empowered,Jadeja bowled it wide of a leaping Clarke’s line,who watched the ball spin big across the face of his bat. It left him in no position to meet the ball or get back,as Dhoni gleefully knocked off his bails to send him back for a golden duck.

The Indians had done the only homework that mattered.

With that,Jadeja had scalped the best batsman in the Australian dressing room four times this series,twice in two balls over two Tests. With Australia going from 139/0 to 139/2,the situation in their dressing room went from comfortable to itchy in the bat of an eyelid. Enter Phillip Hughes and that itch became a rash. To be fair to the turn-phobic Aussie number four,Hughes scored two runs more than anyone expected. Off the 20th ball he faced,he scored his first run against spin in 59 balls in the series,a period in which he had lost his wicket four times. The fifth was but a matter of time,when he looked guilty after gloving Pragyan Ojha down the leg side and into the mittens.

Hughes and Steven Smith were two players who would not have played this Test had Australia fielded their full strength squad. But unlike Hughes,Smith made the occasion count. With Australia having lost their last three wickets for 11 runs over 12 overs,the leggie-turned-batsman joined the cricket-writer-turned-Test-cricketer in the middle. While Smith was brisk and confident with his strokes (he would go on to revive his career with an unbeaten 59,and will be Australia’s hope to amplify their total on Day Three),Cowan handled the situation much like a man who had witnessed a train wreck from close proximity.

Cowan,a man who has had starts in nearly every game on this tour (29,32,4 and 44),went one better by bringing up a Test fifty. He cut the spinners late with authority,littering his favoured fence behind square with boundaries. And the balance he struck between grinding it out and taking initiative was heartening to watch. But just when India was beginning to feel like home,he took that wretched run to bring up his highest Test score on foreign soil.