Aussie Face Tall Task, India Eye Series, 4th Day

Nagpur: The pitch at the Jamtha stadium once again showed its fickle nature on Sunday. It allowed batsmen a flourish in one session but turned into an unfaithful muse in the next. The mood swings of the pitch resulted in fluctuations in fortunes of the teams.

Indian captain MS Dhoni enacted his newly-acquired role to perfection. Stroking a half-century that helped in swelling of the final Test, Dhoni furthered his reputation by delivering in crunch situations.

Staging an aggressive counterattack in the company of Harbhajan Singh, Dhoni drove the Aussies into a tight corner as India recovered from a precarious 166 for six - a position after a characteristic Viru knock gave the hosts a solid start. The visitors, chasing 382 on a pitch that has managed retain its shroud and captivate all after four days of absorbing cricket, finished the day on 13 without loss.

Session By Session
1st Session - Runs 98, Wkts 0, Overs 26
2nd Session - Runs 68, Wkts 6, Overs 22.5
3rd Session - Runs 132, Wkts 4, Overs 34.2

Highlights of the Day

• Viru and Vijay started well and put on 116, but then the wobbles hit india as they slumped to 166/6. Dhoni and Bhajji then put on 108 runs for the seventh wicket to help India get out of jail and set Australia 382 to win. Krejza and Watson picked four wickets each.
• Six fifty scored by Harbhajan Singh in 72 Test. Four of them have come against Australia - all in the calender year. The score have been 63 at Sydney and Adelaide, 54 Banglaore and 52 at here.
• 61.62 bowling average of Brett Lee in the current series is his worst rate against India, eclipsing 59.50 during the 2003-04. His analysis during the on-going rubber is: 184-24-493-8. Its his second worst display against all opponents after an average of 93 vs Bangladesh in April 2006.
• 75.75 batting average of MS Dhoni in three Tests as captain. It's the best among Indian and the fourth highest in the world. Other are West Indies' Ridley Jacobs (150.00), Donald Bradman (101.51) and John Edrich (83.00).
• Twelve wickets claimed by Jason Krejza. It makes him only the fourth bowler in Test to take 12 or more victims on debut. Hirwani (16-136), Bob Massie (16-137) & Fred Martin (12-102) were the others.

Brief Score: Australia 355 and 13 for 0 need another 369 runs to beat India 441 and 295 (Sehwag 92, Dhoni 55, Harbhajan 52, Watson 4-42, Krejza 4-143)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball-details