The slow and the unsteady

By the end of Day Three, the Australians improved their tour average against the spinners to 19.95. The slow men bowled 48 of the Australians' 55 second-innings overs — even if part-timers Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary bowled 14 of those overs — and only picked up two wickets, one apiece to Dhurv (who took the new ball) and Saxena.

Watson and Cowan had put on 116 in the first innings, and proceeded to share another century stand for the Australians. Watson was the more aggressive of the two, and struck nine fours and a six in his 63-ball 60 before he was run out in the 22nd over. With two half centuries in the match, at strike rates approaching a run-a-ball — he scored 144 runs in 150 deliveries across his two innings — Watson would have been pleased with his form going into the first Test. So too Cowan — who fell four overs later — whose three innings on the tour so far have fetched him scores of 58, 40 and 53. The duo might walk in together at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, with the injured David Warner a doubtful starter.

Phil Hughes put on 44 with Usman Khawaja before he was out for 19, bowled by Dhurv. Khawaja (30*, 85b, 3x4) and Wade (19*, 42b, 1x4) saw out the remainder of the overs.

Brief scores: Australia 235 in 62.3 overs (S Watson 84, M Wade 44, E Cowan 40; R Dhurv 5/51, J Saxena 4/61) & 195/3 in 55 overs (S Watson 60, E Cowan 53) vs Ind 'A' 451

Dhoni skips practice on final day of camp

Bangalore: The Indian team wound up their three-day training camp ahead of the upcoming Test series with a two-and-a-half-hour long net session. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, however, decided to oversee it rather than actually taking part in it.

... contd.

ALSO READ

View: Do we need players like S Sreesanth?

IPL spot-fixing: Shaun Tait bewildered at his name being dragged into scandal

Watch: Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, The Motion Picture

IPL spot-fixing: Bookies also supplied women to players, say cops