Cricket: Another sickener for Ponting on even day

At a time when the Australian team needs his runs more than ever, Ricky Ponting keeps finding new and infuriating ways of getting out.

He was the victim of another offbeat dismissal as the tourists battled to post a substantial first innings on day one of the second test at Bangalore.

The Australians were 5-285 by the time bad light brought the close, with Marcus North (43no) accompanied by the wicketkeeper Tim Paine (8no).

North's innings is a pivotal one ahead of the Ashes series, and skipper Ponting had seemed intent on shepherding his nervous No.6.

But having been run out more than any other test batsman, often caught in close on the legside or pouched from the pull shot that was once his most profitable stroke, Ponting was this time given lbw to the unassuming off breaks of Indian batsman Suresh Raina (1-12).

The fact Raina created Ponting's first innings run out and took the second innings catch to dismiss him at Mohali would only have made it more maddening, for he had played with both power and poise to reach the outskirts of a century.

Following an opening stand of 99 between Shane Watson (57) and Simon Katich (43), the Australians were slowed then picked off by Indian spin bowlers Harbhajan Singh (2-100) and Pragyan Ojha (1-63) after lunch, and were never in total control.

Watson and Katich would have been angered to squander starts.

However their successors were helped by a lush outfield and damp atmosphere, which excluded the possibility of much reverse swing.

The grey, humid weather and a pitch less than firm after recent rains, had offered some early encouragement to Indian pacemen Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth, and there was enough swing about to beat the bat.

However Watson was seeing the ball clearly from the moment he faced up, and in the day's second over struck a pair of crisp straight boundaries when Sreesanth overpitched.

After each shot Watson made sure to say a few words, getting into Sreesanth's ear during his first test appearance against Australia.

Even as the openers returned after the interval, there was the feeling that one wicket would alter the day, for there was turn to be found and nervous batsmen underneath them.

That one wicket was taken in the first over of the afternoon, as Katich sliced at an off break and was caught at slip by Rahul Dravid - his 198th catch in tests.

Watson swiftly followed, undone by an Ojha delivery that bounced, spun and touched the shoulder of his bat on the way to MS Dhoni.

Following middle order stumbles in both innings at Mohali, team leaders Michael Clarke and Ponting needed to build a substantial partnership.

After a conservative start, they were unable to do so - Clarke (14) squeezing Harbhajan off bat and pad to backward short leg to continue a barren run on tour.

Hussey looked a little better than he had in either innings at Mohali, but would ultimately add only six runs to his second innings in that test, fencing at Zaheer to be neatly taken by Virender Sehwag in the gully for 34.

A slow starter by his own admission, North appeared aided by Ponting's presence when he arrived, and quietly went about building.

His foundations were not overly shaken by Ponting's unscheduled exit, and he will be eagerly pursuing a century on day two.

Australia 1st innings:
S Watson c Dhoni b Ojha 57
S Katich c Dravid b Harbhajan 43
R Ponting lbw b Raina 77
M Clarke c Raina b Harbhajan 14
M Hussey c Sehwag b Zaheer 34
M North not out 43
T Paine not out 8
Extras: (lb5, nb4) 9
Total (for five wickets, 85.5 overs) 285

Fall of wickets: 99 (Katich), 113 (Watson), 132 (Clarke), 198 (Hussey), 256 (Ponting).

Bowling: Zaheer 13.5-1-61-1, Sreesanth 12-1-37-0 (1nb), Ojha 25-5-63-1 (2nb), Harbhajan 26-0-100-2, Sehwag 4-1-7-0 (1nb), Raina 5-1-12-1.

- AAP