Kumble scalps 5 wickets as Aussies squander solid start

MELBOURNE: Captain Anil Kumble led from the front by scalping five wickets as Australia squandered a flying start to allow India come back strongly in the opening cricket Test here on Wednesday.

Electing to bat, the hosts got off to a solid start with Matthew Hayden (124) and Phil Jacques (66) putting on 135 runs for the first wicket but the visitors bounced back splendidly to restrict Australia to 337 for nine at close on the opening day.

The formidable Aussies threatened to seize early control of the Boxing Day Test and were cruising along briskly before the complexion of the game changed after the lunch break with the Indians ripping through the strong Australian batting line-up.

Mitchell Johnson (10) and Stuart Clarke (21) were at the crease at stumps on an eventful day watched by a seizable crowd.

The seasoned Kumble turned out to be the hero as he produced a devastating spell to pick up 5 for 84 runs, his 34th five-wicket haul to bring to help his team bounce back on a good batting track at the MCG.

Paceman Zaheer also played a stellar role by taking three wickets while fellow paceman Rudra Pratap Singh chipped in with one wicket to thwart Australia's hopes of putting up an imposing first innings total on the board.

The lanky Hayden, who has always scored heavily against the Indians, continued to torment the visitors by notching up his 28th Test century but none of the other Australian batsmen, barring Jacques, could get going against a disciplined bowling attack.

The match turned when Australia lost three wickets in the hour after lunch and then six more in the final session of play.

Australia crumbled under pressure as batsmen after batsmen tried to hit their way out of trouble instead of playing to the situation.

Kumble picked two wickets in the afternoon in a space of four overs and then three late in the day inside eight overs to let the world champions know they have a battle on hands.

The skipper started the slide when he fooled Jacques with a googly that beat his defensive bat and undid him with a stumping.

Three overs later, Kumble got rid of Mike Hussey (2) who played the wrong line and was declared leg before wicket.

In between, Zaheer Khan bowled the Australian captain Ricky Ponting (4) with a peach of a delivery which moved that bit slightly to clip his off-stump.

Australia were 213 for three wickets from 56 overs at tea as Hayden and Michael Clarke appeared to be digging in their heels for a home revival.

Rudra Pratap Singh nipped those ambitions in the bud when he had Clarke (20) flaying at an overpitched delivery, wide off stumps, into the hands of VVS Laxman in slips.

Clarke had struggled in his 80-minute stay during which he made 20 from 40 balls and put on 60 runs for the fourth wicket with Hayden.

Zaheer then earned Indians the wicket they wanted. Hayden tried to force a delivery off the backfoot which rose higher than he expected and a simple catch went to Rahul Dravid at mid-on.

Kumble then took over and gutted the host with three quick wickets inside 28 balls.

Andrew Symonds (35) and Adam Gilchrist (23) were both guilty of trying to force the issue against Kumble and departed to ill-judged strokes.

Symonds aimed a pull at a shortish delivery and was smartly caught by substitute Dinesh Kaarthick at midwicket.

Gilchrist attempted a hoick at a widish delivery and the leading edge was safely caught by Sachin Tendulkar at point.

Lee became the eighth victim of the day when he played forward the wrong line and umpire Mark Benson had no hesitation in ruling him leg before wicket.

Left-hander Mitchell Johnson had a reprieve when he inside-edged Kumble to Yuvraj Singh at forward short-leg but umpire Benson ruled not out.

With four overs to go, the new ball was taken and it paid immediate dividends with Brad Hogg's (17) attempted drive off Zaheer nestling in the safe hands of Rahul Dravid in the slips.

Some good hitting towards the end by Johnson and last man Stuart Clark got some valuable runs for Australia, but India should be happy with their day's work.

Scoreboard

Australia (Ist Innings):
Phil Jacques     st Dhoni     b Kumble       66
Matthew Hayden    c Dravid    b Zaheer      124
Ricky Ponting                 b Khan          4
Mike Hussey               lbw b Kumble        2
Michael Clarke    c Laxman    b RP Singh     20
Andrew Symonds    c sub (Kaarthick) b Kumble 35
Adam Gilchrist    c Tendulkar b Kumble       23
Brad Hogg         c Dravid    b Zaheer       17
Brett Lee                 lbw b Kumble        0
Mitchell Johnson  batting                    10
Stuart Clarke     batting                    21

Extras (LB-5, W-1, NB-9)                     15
Total (for nine wkts, 90 overs)             337
Fall of wickets: 1-135, 2-162, 3-165, 4-225, 5-241, 6-281, 7-288, 8-294, 9-312

Bowling:
Zaheer Khan      22-1-93-3
RP Singh         19-3-77-1
Harbhajan Singh  20-3-61-0
Sourav Ganguly    3-1-15-0
Anil Kumble      25-4-84-5
Sachin Tendulkar  1-0-2-0