Australian captain Ricky Ponting broke the jinx of a dismal track record on Indian soil by cracking a masterly 123 but India just about managed to restore the balance in the first cricket Test by two late scalps in Bangalore on Thursday.Ponting, under enormous pressure to overcome the jinx of a poor average in India, notched up his maiden ton in India and his 36th overall to steer the visitors to 254 for four in their first innings at close on the opening day.Electing to bat, the Australians suffered a huge jolt when they lost the dangerous Matthew Hayden (0) in the third all of the day off paceman Zaheer Khan but Ponting and Simon Katich (66) steadied the ship with a resolute 166-run second wicket stand.The Australian captain dispelled all doubts about his ability to score runs on the slow tracks here with a solid batting exhibition which frustrated the home team on what seemed to be a good batting track at the Chinaswamy stadium.Michael Hussey (46) was at the crease at stumps on the opening day which saw the Australians losing Michael Clarke (11) in the last over of the day to allow the Indians come back onto the game to some extent.The visitors proved that the below-par peformance in the warm up game against Board President's XI in Hyderabad had no bearing on them as the batsmen negotiated the Indian attack with ease.With just four specialist bowlers in their ranks, the hosts found the going tough in hot and humid conditions but the wickets of Ponting and Clarke late in the day came as a relief.Ponting entered the match determined to make up for a poor record in India after starting the series with just 172 runs from eight Tests in the country.He came into bat after just three balls but did not allow the early dismissal of Hayden to rattle him. He began on a rather sedate note and started playing his shots only after the post lunch session.Ponting, whose previous best score in India of 60 came in Kolkata in 1998, looked the more aggressive in the partnership of 166 with Katich although Ishant Sharma struck his pads on a couple of occasions and forced a nasty inside edge while the Australian was on 78.Ponting hit 13 boundaries during his 243-ball knock which formed the cornerstone of the Australian innings. Harbhajan Singh, who had claimed the wicket of the Australian captain on eight occasions, brought an end to Ponting's innings by trapping him leg before much to the delight of the Indians.Paceman Zaheer then brought some cheer for the hosts by getting rid of Clarke in the last over of the day, trapping him in front of the wicket with an incoming delivery.The Aussies owed their recovery to Ponting and Katich who came into the team in place of Phil Jaques and justified his selection with a solid knock.Katich was cautious before lunch but started to unleash a few strokes after the lunch break and never really seemed troubled by the two Indian spinners Harbhajan and Kumble. The Indians could not have asked for a better start to the four-match Test series with pace spearhead Zaheer Khan removing Hayden (0) in the very third ball of his opening spell.Hayden, playing his first Test since a nagging Achilles tendon injury ruled him out of the West Indies tour in June, edged a fuller length delivery bowled close to off stump and Dhoni accepted a low catch in front of him.But that turned out to be the only moment of success for the hosts as both Ponting and Katich ensured that there were no further setbacks with some sensible batting.Ponting, who became the fourth batsman to play in 200 Test innings after Allan Border and Waugh twins, Steve and Mark, negotiated the Indian attack with Katich at the other end with a sense of purpose.The two slowly but steadily put on a fifty partnership in 87 minutes and 104 balls as they negotiated the spinners with ease while Zaheer and Ishant restricted them at the outset.Ponting was willing to play a wait-and-watch game and that proved fruitful on a wicket that appeared hard with hardly any grass.India went into the Test with two spinners and two fast bowlers, a rather defensive ploy employed by skipper Anil Kumble. Australia preferred right hand batsman and leg break googly bowler Cameron White for off spinner Jason Krejza in their eleven making the latter their 12th man.It turned out to be a dream debut for the 25-year-old White, the 402nd Test cricketer for Australia, five days after playing grade cricket in Australia and months after playing in the IPL for Bangalore-based Royal Challengers.
