Friday, December 30, 2011

Pattinson inspires Australian win

(PM88) -- Young paceman James Pattinson led the way as Australia hustled out India for just 169 to win the opening Test in Melbourne by 122 runs Thursday.

India were left to chase 292 for victory in their second innings at the MCG, but fell well short as their highly-rated batting order collapsed on the fourth day.

Pattinson finished with figures of four wickets for 53 and also played a crucial role with the bat as he shared a battling 43-run last wicket stand with Ben Hilfenhaus earlier in the day.

That helped Australia to reach 240 all out, having been 27 for four wickets on the third day, and leaving the tourists with a testing target.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men promptly collapsed to 81 for six wickets with Peter Siddle's dismissal of top scorer Sachin Tendulkar a body blow for the Indians.

Still searching for his 100th international century, Tendulkar had made a battling 32 when he sliced the paceman to Mike Hussey in the gully.

With his departure, India's hopes were effectively over and they were all out in just 47.5 overs to suffer their fifth straight Test defeat overseas after suffering a 4-0 thrashing to top-ranked England earlier this year.

It's fantastic to get a win against India, who we love beating, and put the disappointment of the New Zealand loss in Hobart behind us
James Pattinson

"It's fantastic to get a win against India, who we love beating, and put the disappointment of the New Zealand loss in Hobart behind us," Pattinson said as he collected his second man-of-the-match award in his three Tests.

"We should have been able to chase 300 with the kind of batting we've got, so another bad start to a Test series," said Dhoni.

Australia had resumed overnight on 179 for eight wickets and quickly lost Hussey for a battling 89.

But Pattinson, who made an undefeated 37, and Hilfenhaus (14) frustrated the Indian attack and paved the way for Australia's eventual victory.

Hilfenhaus claimed the early wicket of the dangerous Virender Sehwag for seven, and five wickets fell for 93 in the middle session, capped by Siddle's removal of Tendulkar.

Indian skipper Dhoni was bowled by Pattinson for 23 and Umesh Yadav was the last wicket to fall, caught superbly on the boundary by David Warner off spinner Nathan Lyon for 21.

The second Test starts in Sydney next week.

In other Test action Thursday, Sri Lanka wrapped up a 208-run victory over South Africa on the fourth day at Kingsmead in Durban.

Man-of-the-match Rangana Herath took three wickets in four balls, bowling Marchant de Lange to complete his team's first Test win in 2011.

They had lost the first match of the series by an innings and 81 runs, but set 450 to win, South Africa were always struggling.

Herath took five wickets for 79 and nine wickets in the match, but AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn threatened to extend the Test into a fifth day with a battling seventh wicket partnership of 99.

But when Herath trapped de Villiers for 69 it sparked a dramatic late collapse.

Sri Lanka were all out for 279 in their second innings earlier in the day, losing their last three wickets for 23 runs. Steyn took five for 73 for his 17th five-wicket haul in Tests.

0 comments:

Post a Comment