Hogg, Symonds hold the fort
Electing to bat, Australia was 240 for six on the first day
of the second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
RP Singh and Harbhajan Singh (2-55) took four wickets between
them in 29 minutes after Ricky Ponting was adjudged lbw in a contentious decision
in the 30th over.
Andrew Symonds and Brad Hogg batted with composure in a rearguard
partnership that added 80 runs and demonstrated that the pitch should flatten
out for the batsmen over the next few sessions.
Hogg outscored Symonds and was unbeaten on 48 at the tea interval
with Australia at 214 for six. Symonds was not out 39.
Ponting, who survived a strong appeal for caught behind to
a legside catch before lunch, edged a Harbhajan ball into his pads but was given
out by umpire Mark Benson for 55.
That ended a 92-run stand for the third wicket at 119 and sparked
the middle-order collapse as the Australians lost three wickets for three runs
and four for 15.
Earlier, Captain Ricky Ponting along with Michael Hussey then
steadied the ship and Australia went into lunch at 95 for 2.
Jaques poked at a short ball from Singh in the third over,
edging to wicketkeeper MS Dhoni who stretched above his head for the catch.
His early dismissal ends a streak of six consecutive Test fifties.
Australia named the same team as the one, which defeated India
by 337 runs in the first Test at Melbourne, including spin bowler Brad Hogg
at the expense of paceman Shaun Tait.
India, which has never won a Test series in Australia, made
one change with tall 19-year-old rookie Ishant Sharma replacing pace spearhead
Zaheer Khan.
India scored 705-7 declared in the first innings the last time
the teams met in a Test at the SCG four years ago, when the match and the series
were drawn.
If Australia wins the match, it will be a record-equalling
16th consecutive Test victory, matching former skipper Steve Waugh's record
from October 1999 to February 2001.
Teams :
Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Matthew Hayden,
Phil Jacques, Mike Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Brett
Lee, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson and Brad Hogg.
India: Anil Kumble (capt), Wasim Jaffer, Rahul
Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Mahinder
Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ishant Sharma.
Umpires: Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson
Match Referee: Mike Procter
