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Lee and Clark slay India

27/12/2007

Four wickets each by Brett Lee and Stuart Clark ensured Australia ended the second day of the Boxing Day test against India in the ascendancy.

The two pacemen helped reduce the tourists to 196 all out in Melbourne, after Australia had posted a testing score of 343 in their first innings.

And with Mathew Hayden and Phil Jaques staying clear of the trouble at the end of the day to add another 32 runs to the Aussies' tally, the task looks a tough one for India going into day three.

But had it not been for a middle-order stand of 65 by Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly then the tourists' prospects could have been even dimmer.

The pair came together at the crease with just 55 runs on the board for the loss of three wickets but set about restoring some semblance of order.

Tendulkar eased his way to his 48th test 50, but was caught out just before tea when Clark forced him to play on to his stumps for 62.

That signalled a further collapse among the Indian batsmen and India saw themselves slump from 120-3 to 196 all out.

Ganguly was bowled by Brad Hogg seven short of his half-century, but Anil Kumble (27) and VVS Laxman (26) were the only other tourists to trouble the Australian bowlers.

Speaking afterwards, Tendulkar admitted his wicket was a crucial one for his side.

"The partnership we had, if we had converted that into a big partnership, could have made a huge difference to the later batting order and that was probably an important wicket," the legendary batsmen said.

"I was disappointed. I knew there was ten minutes before tea."

This match is the first of four Tests between the two countries over the next month.