Australia recover after early hiccups, hosts still in command

Hyderabad, Oct 3 (UNI) Australia recovered well to finish at 191 for four after the early hiccups in their first innings but the Board President's XI were in a strong position and were still leading by 264 runs on the second day of the four-day match at Rajiv Gandhi stadium here today.

At stumps, Michael Hussey was holding one end on 54, while Brad Haddin was giving him able support on 34 after the Indian spinners exposed the visiting team's skills on turning tracks.

It was a tough task for the Australians who were in deep trouble at 128 for four but Hussey and Haddin did not let the Indians to run away with the match and showed some great resistance.

Both the batsmen did not try anything extravagant and their intentions were clear - to play out the day without any further loss.

Hussey showed good skills and played the spinners with some great technique to stay at the wicket for 136 balls during which he hit seven fours and a six, while Haddin had five fours and a six to his name.

It wasn't a great start for the visitors and opener Matthew Hayden was the firast casualty after he was caught behind by Parthiv Patel off Irfan Pathan on 20.

Simon Katich, who is in race for a place in the Test side, could not take advantage of the opportunity that he got today.

The left-hander fought hard for his 15 but failed to impress the selectors and his dismissal suddenly reduced the visitors at 54 for two.

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha accounted for Katich who was more keen to spend time on the wicket than scoring runs.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting looked good to erase his past records in India and runs were flowing from his bat.

Ponting was in a good touch and had five fours and two sixes to his name but just when he looked set to go on for a huge score, leg-spinner Piyush Chawla cleaned him up as the Indians went into the tea with an upperhand in the match.

For the hosts, Chawla was the most successful bowler of the day with two wickets in his kitty while Irfan Pathan and Ojha claimed a wicket each.

Earlier in the morning, Board President's XI added 84 runs to their overnight score of 371 for six.

Parthiv Patel, who was batting on 49 last evening, completed his half century and made a well compiled 62.

The left-hander was finally clean bowled by Peter Siddle and with his dismissal, a 75-run stand between him and Irfan Pathan came to an end. Pathan (56) also made a half century and played a pivotal role in taking the score to 455.

For Australia, Mitchell Johnson was the most successful bowler with four wickets to his name, while Stuart Clark and Peter Siddle claimed three and two wickets respectively.

Scoreboard Board President's XI (1st innings) Akash Chopra lbw b Johnson 25 Wasim Jaffer c Johnson b Clark 19 S Badrinath lbw b Siddle 2 Yuvraj Singh c Hussy b Johnson 29 Rohit Sharma c Krejza b Johnson 105 Virat Kohli lbw b Lee 105 Parthiv Patel b Siddle 62 Irfan Pathan c Siddle b Clark 56 Piyush Chawla c Lee b Johnson 23 Pragyan Ojha c Hussy b Clark 0 Gony not out 0 Extras (b5, lb15,nb 9) 29 Total (in 108.4overs) 455 all out Fall of wickets: 1/41, 2/49, 3/59, 4/120, 5/266, 6/328, 7/403, 8/447, 9/451.

Bowling Brett Lee 18-3-61-1, Stuart Clark 18-5-67-3 Mitchell Johnson 23.4-4-75-4, Peter Siddle 18-3-64-2 Jason Krejza 20-1-123-0, Michael Clarke 11-0-45-0.

Australia (1st innings) SimonKatich c Kohli b Ojha 15 Matthew Hayden c Patel b Pathan 20 Ricky Ponting b Chawla 41 Michael Hussey batting 54 Michael Clarke lbw b Chawla 18 Brad Haddin batting 34 Extras (b4, lb5) 9 Total (in 68 overs) 191 for 4 Fall of wickets: 1/26, 2/54, 3/94, 4/128 Bowling: Irfan Pathan 17-4-50-1, Manpreet Gony 11-2-37-0 Pragyan Ojha 17-3-44-1, Piyush Chawla 21-6-46-2 Yuvraj Singh 2-1-05-0 UNI XR/DB RAR CS1917