Watson digs deep but India strike back

MOHALI: The India-Australia contest lived up to its billing on the first day of the first Test, with a fascinating battle of attrition playing out at the PCA Stadium on Friday.
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The morning, for once, did not show the day as the visitors, calling correctly and choosing to bat, were cruising along nicely at 101/1 by lunch with Shane Watson and skipper Ricky Ponting holding fort.There was hardly any assistance for the Indian bowlers from the track, and they seemed to lack penetration.
The script changed, however, with Zaheer Khan's devastating fourth spell in the afternoon, in which he got the old ball to reverse and helped India claw their way back. Australia ended the day at 224/5 with Shane Watson (batting on 101; 279b, 8x4) and Tim Paine (1) at the crease.
With Ishant Sharma leaving the field soon after lunch with a sprained ankle, India's hopes rested on Zaheer and the bowler rose to the occasion in great style. In the 83rd over, Zaheer shaped one back into Mike Hussey (17) from outside off, catching the southpaw plumb in front. In his next over, he stunned Marcus North (0) with a beauty, the batsman making the mistake of leaving a ball which came in from outside off-stump and clipped the bails.
The visitors would have been in deeper trouble had MS Dhoni not dropped a sitter after Zaheer forced an edge off Tim Pain two balls later. Zaheer's fourth spell read 4-2-3-2.
Earlier, the hosts showed great generosity by dropping two easy catches, besides missing a couple of run-out chances, not to forget the eight no-balls by Ishant. In the second ball of the morning, Watson failed to keep down a square drive but Virender Sehwag dropped a regulation catch at gully when the batsman had yet to get off the mark.
Watson got another life when he nicked Pragyan Ojha to Dhoni when on 37, but the Indian skipper failed to latch on. Ponting (71; 124b, 10x4) looked well set for a century but a flash of brilliance from Suresh Raina, who charged in from cover and knocked down the stumps at the bowler's end, caught the Aussie skipper just short of his crease, sparking a war of words with Zaheer and the Indians.