Chasing a challenging but
by no means impossible 188 for victory, Australia lost 6/11 either side of tea
to surrender their series lead. Smith top-scored for Australia with 28 while Ashwin
reigned supreme with a match-winning 6/41.
With this Ash was taken 25 Five-fors in just 47 Tests - the quickest
among all bowlers. The previous fastest to 25 five-fors was Richard Hadlee in
62 matches. With 269 Test wickets, Ash went past Bishan Bedi's tally of 266
wickets.
All that was
clearly overshadowed by Kohli's
post-match bombshell where he accused Australia's of consulting their dressing
room over DRS while batting and in the field. Relations between the two sides
are now at its lowest point since the Monkeygate scandal of 2007-08. Smith admitted he had been guilty of a
"brain fade" but his explanation did not satisfy an angry Kohli –
writes Sydney Morning Herald – but was that so simple !!
The day started at India 213/4 just 126 runs ahead – but it appeared fragile – a collapse and the Series could be there in Aussie hands. It almost happened – a six-wicket haul from Josh Hazlewood as India were bowled out for 274. That gave Australia renewed hope: on a cracking surface with variable bounce, a target of 188 would be tough but, they hoped, not impossible. Indian are not good in using DRS as Aussies looked gaining lot of ground. Australia knew that to succeed in their chase, they would have to score quickly. The loss of Matt Renshaw early, caught behind to a fine seamer from Ishant, did not stop them doing just that. David Warner launched one six on his way to 17 from 25 balls before he was out lbw trying to sweep Ashwin. Warner asked for a review but by the barest of margins, HawkEye showed the impact in line with off stump and umpire's call for clipping off, and Warner was gone. Shaun Marsh was out lbw shouldering arms to a delivery from Umesh Yadav around the wicket. An uncertain Marsh consulted with his partner, Steven Smith, unwilling to risk Australia's final review, Marsh walked off- and when Smith too got out, there were palpable tension on field. It took India less than eight overs after tea to wrap up the win. Starc was bowled by a straight ball from Ashwin, and Jadeja was then rewarded for his outstanding second-innings bowling by rattling the stumps of Steve O'Keefe. India has never been an admirer of DRS and yesterday Josh Hazlewood rapped Kohli, Umpire Llong ruled him out. Kohli reviewed immediately, seemingly confident he had nicked the ball. But even with replay after replay, angle after angle, and the assistance of Ultra Edge, the TV umpire Richard Kettleborough said he could not determine conclusively whether the first impact with the ball had been pad or the toe of the bat. It was back to Umpire, who did not reverse his own decision .. .. ..
Today, things were totally
different – Virat Kohli was rightly annoyed stating that Australia crossed the
line "that you don't cross on a cricket field" when it comes to DRS
protocols. Kohli accused Australia of taking help from the dressing room on at
least three occasions before making their mind up on reviews in the Bengaluru
Test. Kohli said he had made the umpires
aware of it on the earlier two occasions before the third one played out in
full view. When Smith was ruled out lbw in a tense
chase of 188, he looked towards the dressing room after having chatted with
non-striker Peter Handscomb, apparently for clues on whether to review the call
or not. Umpire Nigel Llong intervened immediately, and sent him on his
way. Llong also prevented a seemingly livid Kohli from getting into that
conversation.
Aussies
fancy themselves being close to controversies – today Smith said it was a communication
breakdown with Shaun Marsh saying he
told Marsh to go upstairs, but Marsh misheard him and trudged off — but wait
far too long waiting for some signal from dressing room for reviewing. If only Match Referee is stern, there could
be fines aplenty - Mitchell Starc, Steve
O’Keefe and Cheteshwar Pujara all captured on camera delivered withering
on-field sprays.
One gets to read on web that Donald Bradman, the great
batsman was also one of the most divisive and the strict Protestant often
clashed with Catholic members of the team. He had issues with Bill O’Reilly and
also Keith Miller, but they were overshadowed by his dealings with Catholic
Jack Fingleton. In a Fingleton biography it was claimed that during a match in
Sydney, Bradman learned Fingleton’s bat had been sprinkled with holy water by a
Catholic bishop. When he was out cheaply Bradman passed Fingleton on his way to
the middle and sledged him: “We’ll see what a dry bat will do out there.” Don
scored a ton, as he did.
In NZ
Series, Hazlewood was caught on the stump microphone saying, “who the f--- is
the third umpire” after an lbw referral that correctly upheld Kane Williamson
as not out. Nothing can ever beat that infamous incident (Greg your underarm
stinks wrote one !) – in Feb 1981 at Melbourne in best of 3 finals of B&H – Kiwis needed eleven runs to win with Bruce Edgar
batting at one end - Australian captain Greg Chappell asked his younger brother
Trevor Chappell to bowl that last over.. NZ scored four runs and lost two
wickets in the first five balls. Seven runs were needed for a win and six runs
for a tie.. rabbit Brian McKechnie was to face that last ball - not willing to take any chances, after a consultation,
brother of the famous Chappels delivered underarm.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
7th Mar 2017.
