Hussey And Katich Build On Krejza's Eight-Wicket Haul

India 441 (Tendulkar 109, Ganguly 85, Sehwag 66, Laxman 64, Krejza 8-215) v
Australia 189-2 (Katich 92no, Hussey 45no, Harbhajan 1-57)
Scorecard
Airtel Border-Gavaskar Trophy, fourth Test, day two, Nagpur

An unbroken century partnership between left-handers Simon Katich and Mike Hussey enabled Australia to fight back strongly and close day two of the fourth and final Test on 189 for two in reply to India's 441 in Nagpur.

Jason Krejza picked up five wickets to finish with eight for 215 as India were bowled out for 441 before Katich reached 92 and Hussey 45 by stumps.

Off-spinner Krejza bowled 43.5 overs, taking the final five wickets in the innings, including that of Saurav Ganguly, who fell 15 runs short of a century in his final Test.

Ganguly (85) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (56) took the overnight score from 311 for five to 422 for six before Dhoni was bowled.

Ganguly followed two balls later when he was caught by Michael Clarke and Krejza made short work of the tail, dismissing Zaheer Khan (one), Amit Mishra (nought) and Ishant Sharma (nought) leaving Harbhajan Singh unbeaten on 18.

Harbhajan soon grabbed his 300th Test wicket when he bowled Ricky Ponting for 24 as Australia made an uncertain start to their innings.

Matthew Hayden had earlier been run out by Murail Vijay Krishna for 16 leaving Simon Katich and Mike Hussey with a huge task on their hands.

The two proved themselves up for the fight, with hardly a chance offered between them as Katich stroked eight boundaries to make his best score of the tour so far, Hussey more circumspect, facing 108 balls and hitting four fours.

Krejza haul saw him become the fourth man to take eight wickets in his debut Test, joining an illustrious group that includeded Bob Massie, Narendra Hirwani and Alf Valentine prior to today.

Sachin Tendulkar's 109 on day one set up India's score on a pitch that is offering little to fast bowlers but plenty to batsmen and spinners.

India lead the series 1-0 after a 320-run win in Mohali and two draws in Bangalore and New Delhi.

© Cricket World 2008