India tottering at 55 for four against Australia

Ben Hilfenhaus relies on shaping the ball away at speed and deceptively bringing some in  to take wickets. Ask the travelling Australians, and they describe him as a crafty customer who can be quicker than he looks. But a menacing tearaway? No way!

On Monday evening, the Indian batsmen faced up to the Tasmanian pace bowler as if he was letting fly thunderbolts. Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina, both got out to deliveries which they should have easily left alone.     

Aided by poor play of the two and a horrible decision against opener Gautam Gambhir by umpire Billy Bowden, Hilfenhaus had India on the mat at the end of Day Four. Needing 216 runs to win, the hosts were 55 for four at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium on Monday. Had it not been for a dropped catch of nightwatchman Zaheer Khan by Simon Katich at short-leg, India would have been in further trouble.

India’s hopes rest on Sachin Tendulkar who is batting on 10. But, with MS Dhoni and the injured VVS Laxman, the only recognised batsmen left in the hut, the advantage is clearly with Australia as India need 161 more to win. “When you have lost four top order batsman cheaply, the mood in the dressing room is naturally tense, but we have the confidence that whoever is at the crease will help us win,” said India pacer Ishant Sharma.

The Australians are all the more chuffed that things have gone according to their plans. Mitchell Johnson had declared before the series that he will be targeting Sehwag with the bouncing ball and in both the innings here, they have got their man on the short ball. To the frustration of the Indian fans, both have been soft dismissals. In the first innings, Sehwag lobbed a simple catch to mid-off while in the second he glided the ball in the hands of the fielder at gully.

Despite his fine debut on Sri Lanka’s dead wickets, everyone has been waiting to check out how Raina copes with the short ball, which is perceived as the only chink in his otherwise solid game.

He should have seen it coming after Johnson had openly thrown the challenge to him after he had got 86 on the third day. “At that stage we were mainly focusing on getting reverse swing. We will test him out with the short stuff in the second innings,” Johnson had said. Raina did not do his reputation any good and proved to be a sitting duck when Hilfenhaus dug it short. He glided it to gully too and departed for a three-ball duck.

Earlier, as predicted by curator Daljit Singh, with the Mohali wicket playing quicker as the game progressed, the fourth day clearly belonged to the bowlers. A total of 247 runs were scored with 14 wickets going down.

The Australian innings was also about the short ball. Ishant Sharma picked up three quick wickets in the first session after Shane Watson had started strongly. Watson, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke all perished to the rising ball. Watson and Ponting’s wickets were due to their own impetuosity, but Clarke’s technique was caught short.