What was Ponting playing at?
Australia faced a herculean task if they were to extend their winning run to a record 17 Test matches. Cricket history suggested that 413 for victory was unattainable, but if there was one side that could do it, it was the Aussies.
Ricky Ponting, averaging only 16 in the series before this innings, had a chance to play one of the great innings of his career, which would be a redoubtable two-finger salute to a week in which he has been held responsible for the less savoury aspects of his Australian side. To summon such a response after such an exhausting experience would be extraordinary.
But what was Ponting playing at on the third afternoon when he bowled Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds in tandem for 16 overs at a critical stage of the game? Clarke and Symonds might have starred on a turning pitch in Sydney but however handy they are, they are not frontline bowlers. Ponting's reliance upon them was explained away by the need to improve Australia's deplorable overrate. Cricket Australia officials hinted that Ponting might have even faced suspension had it not been improved. But this was an hour when the game was in the balance and India's lead was quietly extended from 300 to 350. It was not the time to desperately play catch-up. Worry about that later.
Ponting got it wrong. It is a captain's job to be constantly aware of the danger of an unacceptable overrate and do something about it at regular intervals before it reaches such a desperate situation. And, if suspension really was a potential outcome, then the pivotal hour of the game was hardly the time to address it. Try to win the Test, win the series, and if you have to put your feet up for a while, do so with a suitably bashful apology for your disrespect for the game and a quiet delight that your winning run continues.
Australia is the most efficient cricket machine in the world. The events at the WACA simply did not make sense.
Day 4: Lunch: Australia 142-3, 40 overs. Target: 413
The emergence of a young fast bowler. Ishant Sharma to Ricky Ponting, ninth over of the morning.
Over 23.1: Ponting is drawn into a straight drive and the ball leaves him off the pitch and beats the bat.
Over 23.2: Ponting tries to drive, but the ball jags back and Australia's captain edges onto his pad.
Over 23.3: Ponting defends uneasily. Sharma is a handful.
Over 24.4: Sharma hustles one back off the seam and is struck on the knee roll. Asad Rauf might have given it but lbw verdicts arguably come a little harder from Billy Bowden and he says 'not out.'
Over 24.5: Again the ball jags back insistently, Ponting, by now befuddled, fails to offer a shot. The Indians chorus for a wicket again, but another lbw appeal is refused.
Over 24.6: A leave-alone for Ponting. He would have been grateful for that. He must be quite exhausted.
Sharma finally dismissed Ponting in his eighth over. He might not have bowled it, but after a long conference with Anil Kumble and Virender Sehwag he had an extra over specifically because Ponting was on strike. He had him caught at slip first ball. A 19-year-old rookie had claimed a great scalp. It could be the making of him.
Langer's lesson
It was good to be invited to a convivial gathering of the Australia Cricket Media Association last night, and to see Justin Langer accept an award to mark a great career. Langer and Dennis Lillee have been the two finest players that Western Australia has ever produced and, just as importantly, his respect and affection for the game seems limitless.
Considering the media furore of the past week or so, Langer's advice about how to handle the pressure was a lesson for any young international. ''To succeed at international level you have to learn how to conquer the distractions,'' he said. Wise words.
Langer told a nice story about batting in his debut season for Western Australia, against Queensland at The Gabba, when his scratchy resistance was sledged mercilessly by Greg Ritchie from short leg. ''I thought it was imposible to sledge me any more fiercely than that,'' he said, ''until I read what Robert Craddock said about me in the Courier Mail.''
The only disappointment of the night was that Mike Coward, who has striven valiantly for many years to maintain a fraternal relationship between media and players against ever-mounting odds, declined the invitation to provide his party piece with a Gene Pitney number. Perhaps his rich baritone is not what it was, or perhaps he has recognised what the ICC finds so difficult to understand -- that you can have too much of a good thing.
Day 4: Tea: Australia 243-7, 67 overs. Target: 413
Before today Virender Sehwag only had 14 Test wickets - and he crammed eight of those into a heady fortnight in the West Indies two years ago. Now his total has risen to 16 and surely he has ended Australia's winning run as a result.
At 227-5, and with Michael Clarke playing beautifully after shaky beginnings, Australia were just beginning to cause a mild tremor of concern in Indian ranks. Then Anil Kumble turned to Sehwag's off-spin. Sehwag was a surprise selection as a batsman for the Australia tour; as a bowler, he had not delivered a single ball. He tossed up an exploratory loosener into Adam Gilchrist's pads and Gilchrist, all of a tangle, shovelled without connecting and was bowled around his legs. Sehwag followed up with Brett Lee and chuckled his way into tea with figures of two for nine.
Australia's proud winning record was as good as over.
Day 4: Close: Australia 340 all out, 86.5 overs. India win by 72 runs and trail 2-1 in the series with one to play
One of the strangest things about winning a Test match is that when a side has done 99 per cent of the job, the last one per cent can be such a bind.
When Australia's eighth wicket fell at 253, still 160 from victory. India could not suppress the feeling that they had worked enough and that a youthful pace attack that had performed with such distinction had done enough. ''Please guys, just hand us your wickets,'' was the plea that infiltrated every limb. Anil Kumble tossed up tempting deliveries to a deep legside field and Mitchell Johnson heartily middled them all. RP Singh bounced Stuart Clark and Clark middled most of them, too. Not before time, India got back to basics, but not before the ninth wicket had added 73, and Johnson had deservedly reached a thoroughly uplifting maiden Test fifty.
Australia's run of 16 successive Test wins ended to the sight of an Australian crowd beaming with pleasure. That can't have happened often. Always leave 'em laughing, as Tommy Cooper used to say. They had shared in an excellent Test, played in refreshingly good spirit. It was exactly what cricket needed, but that will be scant consolation to Australia.
Australia had not lost since Edgbaston and Trent Bridge when England won the Ashes in 2005. Ponting refused to use the Spirit Of The Game controversy as an excuse. ''It made for interesting preparation for the game, but India were probably affected as much of us,'' he said. ''I'm not making excuses.''
And now it's over.
And so am I.
