Tasmania v Indians at Hobart: CricInfo Report

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Tasmania v Indians at Hobart
17-20 Dec 1999 (John Polack)

Day1 | Day2 | Day3 | Day4

Day1: Dravid brightens an otherwise a dull day

Just when the tourists were sorely in need of some batting inspiration, the elegant Rahul Dravid (108) proved the man capable of providing it on the first day of India's tour match against Tasmania here in Hobart today. By stumps on the first day of this match being played in Australia's southernmost capital city, the tourists had advanced to a score of 6/241 almost exclusively on the back of Dravid's brilliance.

In truth, though, this was not the most attractive day's cricket. In bleak and windy conditions, and in between the odd sprinkling shower, it was a generally grafting and grinding affair. As it has done for much of this season, Tasmania's attack lacked penetration. But, at the same time, India's noble efforts to play some attractive shots were thwarted to a large degree by the general difficulties a sluggish pitch contrived for both timing and placement. Similarly, a late mini-collapse (which saw them lose three wickets for eight runs fifteen minutes before stumps) from the visitors would have done very little to improve the already fragile states of mind of some of their players.

Accordingly, the world's best number three batsman shone out like a beacon. After an arrival at the crease which was necessitated by the dismissal of VVS Laxman (0) in just the third over of the day, he never even seemed vaguely ill at ease. Through the early moments of the day on a pitch that seemed to have been enlivened by some rain in Hobart yesterday, batting was far from easy but the accomplished right hander made a mockery of that reality. He was beaten by left armer Andrew Downton (2/63) twice in one over in mid-afternoon but few other false shots were evident until he sparred at an outswinger from right arm fast bowler Damien Wright (2/48) in the shadow of stumps.

Dravid's was a rich hand which consistently gave hint to his considerable powers. It was littered with elegant strokeplay throughout the five hours and twenty-four minutes during which he was at the crease. At no point in fact was this more classically illustrated than when he played a glorious cut stroke to register his fifty (after two and a half hours at the crease) and he followed that with a magnificently contemptuous hook off Downton on the stroke of drinks in the post-lunch session. It was also fitting that his century should have been raised with a ferocious pull to the mid wicket boundary off the bowling of Colin Miller.

Through the middle session in particular, Dravid received excellent support from Hrishikesh Kanitkar. The left handed Kanitkar (58) set the tone for an attacking century partnership with several outstanding blows through point off the back foot in the early moments of the session and he continued to look for runs by striking the ball imperiously off both the front and back foot.

The excruciating accuracy of Tasmania's two-in-one bowler, Miller (0/36 off twenty-five overs), pinned the Indians down at one end for much of the afternoon, but the home team was still largely unable keep Dravid in check. The fringe Test bowler was clearly the shining light for the locals and it was a testament to his control that it was not until his twenty-second over that he conceded his twentieth run. There was also cause for a moment of celebration early in the last session when the dismissal of Kanitkar (to a skidding ball which beat his defensive shot and trapped him straight in front) brought medium pacer Scott Kremerskothen (1/47) a rare first class wicket. And, although they actually struggled for most of the day, India's late capitulation also must have ultimately left the few home fans here to witness it smiling by the end of proceedings.

Day2: Lacklustre Indians struggle for inspiration

If India's cricketers were looking to connote a more positive air to their play during the tour match against Tasmania in Hobart, then it is again extremely doubtful that they achieved the desired result today. By the halfway mark of what has to date proved a dawdling affair, the home team is placed at 0/166 in its first innings in response to the tourists' 9/316 declared.

Whilst the strokeplay did become progressively more attacking, this was generally another laboured day of cricket for the most part. Hopes of a more spectacular six hours of action were ignited when the Indians lost three wickets for twenty-eight runs insie the opening twenty-six minutes but they were abjectly dashed thereafter. For the next ninety-four minutes, last wicket pair Debashish Mohanty (22*) and Venkatesh Prasad (17*) added an unbroken forty-seven runs, combining to utterly frustrate both the Tasmanian attack and the prospect that a much-needed boost to the tempo of the game could be facilitated.

When the Tasmanians eventually received their own chance to bat (courtesy of a lunchtime declaration from Sourav Ganguly), the battle for timing and placement was no less pronounced through the early stages. Against an Indian attack which - aside from a somewhat wayward Mohanty (0/49) - bowled tightly, the home team's openers indeed struggled for a lengthy period. In many ways, something of a stalemate developed for a time - the Indians endeavouring fruitlessly to claim wickets and the Tasmanians toiling arduously to accumulate quick runs.

In chilly and breezy conditions, Ganguly consistently shuffled his bowlers and rotated them from one end to the other but nothing worked in the way of wicket taking. Venkatesh Prasad (0/30) was manifestly the best of the attack, and did have one lbw appeal against each of the openers turned down early in the innings. Harbhajan Singh (0/34) also delivered fourteen steady overs of spin.

But once the shackles were finally broken when thirteen runs were taken off a Mohanty over fifteen minutes into the final session, the Tasmanians gradually assumed the upper hand. Australia's most prolific contemporary first class pair, Jamie Cox (88*) and Dene Hills (67*), registered their nineteenth first class century partnership in fine style, rarely departing from the text book in the process. Cox was the chief aggressor, albeit within characteristically technically correct guidelines. In contrast to his partner (who drove the ball repeatedly through the off side), it was his working of the ball through the leg side which was possibly the most impressive aspect of his innings.

To the extent that there were other highlights of any real note today, then they fell exclusively the way of the home team. Looming large among them was a second successive five wicket haul for pace bowler Andrew Downton (5/90) in what is just his second first class match. The left armer was most impressive - and his pace and nagging accuracy make his future at this level look rosy. Hills and Scott Kremerskothen also found time to take two brilliant catches. Indeed, Kremerskothen's effort in leaping high and hard to his right at point to intercept an uppish square drive from Nayan Mongia (5) - and to seemingly put an end to the wicketkeeper's flickering aspirations of a Test recall in the process - was simply sublime.

Otherwise, though, there was little about which to enthuse. Unfortunately, these were another lacklustre six hours of play in the visitors' campaign to set about reviving their fortunes on this tour. It is certainly to be hoped for their sake that the last two days of this match come to represent a substantial improvement upon their predecessors.

Day3: Cox, Marsh put India further to the sword

Tasmania's Jamie Cox and Daniel Marsh enhanced their already lustrous reputations but little else shone through another dim six hours for India at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. That is the essential tale of day three of the tour match between the sides, at the end of which the locals are positioned at a first innings score of 4/472 in response to 9/316 declared.

On a day on which vague, flickering dreams of any result other than a draw or a Tasmanian win were all but extinguished by the locals' decision to bat through its entirety, it was the play of Cox (139) and Marsh (118*) which definitively stood out. The former continued on from where he had left off yesterday, assembling a lovely mixture of drives, pulls and cuts in what was his thirtieth first class century. Throughout his stay, the stylish right hander had afforded considerable expression to the notion that he is one of Australia's most consistent first class batsmen with another wonderfully accomplished innings. Moreover, it is fair to say that he had never seemed even remotely bothered at any stage of his four hundred minutes at the crease; only an overly ambitious attempt to force a Sourav Ganguly (1/42) delivery over mid on half an hour after lunch bringing an end to his vigil.

Along the way, Cox and opening partner Dene Hills (84) had combined to raise their fifth double century partnership in first class cricket before their stand was tragically broken at 205 by means of a run out. This came just under an hour into the day's play when Hills turned a ball from Thiru Kumaran into the mid wicket region. A dreadful mix up ensued as Cox took off from the non striker's end in anticipation of a quick single given that the ball had travelled to the left of Sadagoppan Ramesh (the lone fieldsman stationed in the vicinity) at a gentle pace. Hills was not as keen, however, and baulked twice before running and then becoming stranded in the middle of the pitch with his partner who, by that stage, had also sensed the gravity of the situation.

Around painstaking hands from Andrew Dykes (61) and Shaun Young (32*), Marsh then admirably attempted to undertake the Herculean and unenviable task of arousing the brave 372 souls at the ground from their slumber by launching a fine attacking innings. Indeed, he completely defied the script by racing to his third century in the space of four matches in a positively cavalier 188 minutes. Almost from the outset, he gave vent to his aggressive instincts, horizontal bat shots in consistent evidence as he mercilessly plundered what had become, by that stage, a listless attack and reached his third first class century of the season. For sheer belligerence, his was easily the best individual innings of the contest to date and will lend further credence to growing speculation that he is a genuine contender for one day international selection later in the season.

For the Indians, meanwhile, this was another arduous day and their play inspired little confidence again. Other than Rahul Dravid and Hrisikesh Kanitkar's batting on the first day, it indeed still remains difficult to identify any positive notes from this performance. A rectification of their form is desperately needed before the Second Test commences in Melbourne on Boxing Day and they will doubtless be hoping that they can go part of the way toward instigating that with some more inspired play on the last day of this match tomorrow.

Day4: Bizarre end to forgettable match

From the moment that Tasmania rested Ricky Ponting and India left out five key players of its own, it was probably inevitable that the tour match between the sides would not develop into one of the more attractive games of this Australian summer. And that is certainly the way it materialised - the contest concluding in the most ridiculous of draws at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on the fourth and final day today.

As with each of the three which preceded it, there was very little to be said in a positive sense about this day's cricket. It began with Tasmania electing to bat on almost interminably in its first innings and ended in a predictably early finish when the captains mercifully called a halt to proceedings half an hour before the scheduled drawing of stumps.

In between, its utility amounted to barely anything more than five and a half hours of batting practice. The principal beneficiaries of this exercise were Tasmania's Daniel Marsh and India's VVS Laxman. Relying on the same brand of powerhouse strokeplay that had characterised his hand yesterday, the burly Marsh (157) again stole the show through the morning. He registered his highest first class score twenty minutes into the day and continued to take liberties against a wholly uninspired attack. He hit some terrific cover drives, pulls and leg glances today and was at complete ease throughout. It said much about the Indians' inability to beat his bat that his innings ended when he was caught on the deep mid wicket boundary by Rahul Dravid off the bowling of Vijay Bharadwaj (3/105) attempting another huge blow.

In the afternoon, it was the turn of Indians to continue the pattern on the placid pitch. Well supported by fellow opener Sadagoppan Ramesh (27) and a painstakingly restrained Bharadwaj (15) in an innings in which the score ultimately reached 3/130, it was Laxman's play which was the highlight. Illustrating the same coolness of temperament and elegance that marked several of his early innings on tour, the right hander from Hyderabad punished anything loose. Typical of the grace of his predominantly back foot strokeplay was the glorious straight batted shot that he played to the mid wicket boundary (off left arm spinner Daniel Marsh) to raise his half century. Indeed, his sense of assurance and the quality of his play would have represented one of the few genuinely encouraging signs to have emerged from this match from the tourists' perspective.

Unfortunately, the match approached and then duly deteriorated to the point of farce not long after his dismissal, Tasmanian captain Jamie Cox instigating as many as eleven consecutive bowling changes at one point and a total of nineteen in the space of twenty-four overs. During a ludicrous final ninety minutes, he also utilised all eleven of his men as bowlers. Perhaps it was to be expected that, amid all of this mayhem, the wrong batsman also took strike after drinks - Rahul Dravid (18*) taking guard when Bharadwaj should have done.

It should also be noted that there were at least two other oddities of rare portent which featured today - the first coming eighty four minutes into proceedings with the sight of one of the most bizarre acts of declaration imaginable. After the Tasmanians had hitherto appeared unwilling to pull the pin on their batting exhibition, most observers were taken by surprise when the closure did actually materialise at 5/548. This surprise turned into near amazement when unbeaten batsman Shaun Young (62*) seemed to make a unilateral decision to end the Tasmanians' effort, tucking his bat under his arm and striding off to the pavilion after teammate Scott Kremerskothen had eased the last delivery of a Bharadwaj over into the leg side for a single. Even Kremerskothen appeared oblivious to the declaration, only sheepishly following his partner off and the umpires and Indians did not depart for at least another minute after that.

The second of these incidents also involved Young. In the late afternoon, the medium pacer captured the wicket of Laxman courtesy of a brilliant leg side stumping from wicketkeeper Mark Atkinson. In recognition of the fact that the scalp represented the Tasmanian's two hundredth first class wicket for his State, his teammates gathered in a huddle around him and threw their caps into the air in unison as a means of celebrating the milestone. Following that, they may as well have gathered in the same circle to belatedly mourn the very regrettable passing of this eccentric match.

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Date-stamped : 20 Dec1999 - 09:03