SYDNEY: Aided by umpiring blunders, Australia recovered from staggering early blows inflicted by India to reach a dominant 376 for 7 at close on the opening day of the second Test here on Wednesday.
The hosts rode on the luck and brilliance of Andrew Symonds who remained unbeaten at 137, 107 runs after he clearly nicked Ishant Sharma to wicketkeeper MS Dhoni. There were more new year gifts for Symonds when he was declared not out by the Australian third umpire Bruce Oxenford after being stumped by Dhoni off Anil Kumble's bowling.
Electing to bat, the Australians were gasping at 134 for six at one stage before Symonds and Brad Hogg (79) not only pulled the team out of the pits with a 173-run seventh wicket partnership.
Brett Lee (31) was giving Symonds company at stumps on a day which saw the script going horribly wrong for the Indians after the post-lunch drinks break.
The Indian bowlers exploited the morning conditions on a lively SCG track with paceman Rudra Pratap Singh (4/108) ripping through the top order but the going became tough as the pitch eased out during the day.
It turned out to be a frustrating second half of the post-lunch session for the Indians as Symonds not only notched up his second Test hundred but also took Australia to a commanding position by finding an able ally in Hogg after their top order batsmen had perished cheaply.
Apart from Symonds, Captain Ricky Ponting (55) was also a beneficiary of a poor umpiring decision when he was on 17. He clearly nicked Sourav Ganguly to Dhoni but umpire Mark Benson did not rule him out.
