Australia Vs India 1st Test at Melbourne Day2 Cricinfo,Live Score,Highlights

India 3 for 214 (Tendulkar 73, Dravid 68*, Sehwag 67) trail Australia 333 (Cowan 68, Ponting 62, Zaheer 4-77) by 119 runs

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Sachin Tendulkar was foiled yet again in his pursuit of a 100th international century, as Peter Siddle atoned in the final over for an earlier no-ball that reprieved Rahul Dravid, on another absorbing day of the first Test between Australia and India at the MCG.

Driven largely by Tendulkar's stand of 117 with Dravid, India reached a threatening 3 for 214 in reply to Australia's 333, but cursed the loss of Tendulkar for 73 on the stroke of stumps. Only a handful of overs had passed since Dravid had been bowled by Siddle and handed another start after Marais Erasmus' check revealed a front-foot transgression.

Australia's fielders gnashed their teeth over the incident and had struggled in the field, as catches went down and the captain Michael Clarke's resources were stretched by the absence of a fifth bowler. But Tendulkar's exit gave them cause for some hope for the third morning.

Tendulkar's serene innings in Dravid's company had wrestled the day India's way, following a second session speckled with incident. That period of play was capped when James Pattinson splayed the stumps of Virender Sehwag, whose streaky but entertaining 67 took him past 8000 Test runs. Sehwag gave two clear chances and another near enough to it, making merry until Pattinson was rewarded for a sustained and hostile spell in the lead-up to the tea interval. The bowler had earlier crossed swords with Sehwag in an ill-tempered confrontation over the matter of right of way while running between the wickets.

Pattinson stood clearly above the rest as the most demanding member of Australia's attack, showing a fiery countenance as well as speed and movement, but the limitations of the rest were exposed on a pitch now friendly to batsmen. Siddle was punished early before his late rally, and Ben Hilfenhaus used the new ball with intelligence, disposing of Gautam Gambhir, but later faded.

He, Hilfenhaus and Pattinson had all hung around in the morning to build the hosts' total. Zaheer Khan claimed Brad Haddin and Siddle to return deserved figures of 4 for 77, while R Ashwin accounted for Hilfenhaus and the last man Nathan Lyon. Umesh Yadav did not add to his three wickets on the first day, while Ishant Sharma will bowl far worse for better returns than his 0 for 48 in 24 exacting overs.

Siddle and Haddin resumed against a refreshed India on a brilliantly warm and sunny day, and were not long in facing difficulty. Zaheer gained swing one way and seam the other in the day's second over with the still-new ball, and Haddin was bereft. He edged one delivery to the third man fence, either side of failing to cover, then snicked another low to gully where Virender Sehwag held it.

Haddin asked Sehwag if the catch had carried, and there was a further delay as the umpires checked for a possible no-ball, but eventually Australia's wicketkeeper was marching off, before many at the MCG had even settled into their seats. Siddle and Pattinson resisted momentarily, before Zaheer found another precise delivery to catch Siddle's edge as he pushed from the crease.

Hilfenhaus announced himself with a slap to the cover fence. He added a hairy edge over the slip cordon and an improbably commanding lofted drive down the ground, both off Zaheer, to push the total past 300. The impressively upright and correct Pattinson followed up by punching Ishant Sharma splendidly down the ground, helping his confidence but also indicating that the surface was becoming rather more pleasant for batting than at any stage of day one.

Smart stats Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar have put together 20 century stands in Tests, which is the most, four more than the next best. Dravid has been involved in 88 century stands in Tests, and Tendulkar in 84. Those are the two highest in Tests; Ricky Ponting is next with 82. Virender Sehwag became the 23rd batsman, and the fifth Indian, to go past 8000 Test runs. This was Sehwag's 53rd fifty-plus score, of which only eight have come at a strike rate of less than 70. Tendulkar has gone 18 innings without a century in international cricket, but he has seven fifties during this period. Australia's total of 333 is only the eighth time a team has posted a triple Nelson score in the first innings of a Test. The last time a team won a Test with this total was way back in 1906.

The duo reached drinks together, adding a pesky 27 in all before the introduction of Ashwin brought a Hilfenhaus heave to long on. Pattinson connected with a handful of further decent blows before Lyon was bowled around his pads. Sehwag and Gambhir negotiated a brief spell before lunch. Ed Cowan, Australia's debutant and top scorer on day one, was unable to field for a time due to back soreness, his place taken by Daniel Christian.

When the players returned, Sehwag and Gambhir struggled initially against the seam and swing of Hilfenhaus and Pattinson. A Sehwag edge off Pattinson burst through the hands of Michael Hussey in the gully - a chance that should have been held. Tempers were raised when Pattinson and Sehwag passed closely beside one another as the batsman took a run, resulting in a heated exchange that also drew in Siddle and had Sehwag pointing the senior bowler back to his fielding post.

The confrontation deflected momentary attention from Gambhir, whose best touch has been missing for most of 2011. Here he scratched around for three runs in 23 balls, the last of which was a shortish, seaming delivery from Hilfenhaus that Gambhir edged forlornly behind with an open face. Dravid arrived with the ball still new and Sehwag not yet into stride.

Quietly, the pair established themselves, offering due deference to some wholehearted bowling and accumulating runs in ones and twos before any great flurry of boundaries could be sought. The 15th over was reached before Sehwag opened up, twice stroking Siddle to the offside boundary, then repeating the trick by crashing Lyon to the sightscreen off successive balls to pass 50 from a sedate - by his standards - 59 balls. The next delivery brought a miscue and a quarter-chance to long on, where David Warner may or may not have reached the ball before it touched the turf.

Pattinson drew another chance from Sehwag's flailing bat when an edge behind was turfed unattractively by Brad Haddin, and it appeared India would reach the interval without further loss. But Pattinson's fire and persistence were justly rewarded in the moments before tea, with another freewheeling driving resulting in an inside edge that tilted middle stump.

Tendulkar made it to the middle accompanied by his requisite ovation, and caused Australian hearts to leap when an inside edge to his second ball slipped centimetres from the grasp of short leg. Tea came and went with Pattinson's electricity still in the air, but on their return Tendulkar and Dravid set out with intent to control the innings.

The first ball of the evening was flashed high over the slips and the rope for six by Tendulkar, not permitting Siddle a moment to gather himself. The next flowed through midwicket for three, and Tendulkar's course was set. He maintained a rollicking pace for most of the next two hours, taking particular toll on Siddle, and defusing Lyon.

At the other end Dravid fought himself as much as the bowlers, not locating the fluency of his England efforts, but nonetheless providing the foil Tendulkar required to blunt Australia's bowlers. Michael Clarke shuffled his quartet as best he could, but the pacemen's spells became briefer and briefer, forcing the use of Hussey and even David Warner's under-ripe legspin.

The century partnership was the 20th between Tendulkar and Dravid in Tests, a milestone befitting Test cricket's most prolific batting partnership. It appeared to have ended shortly after when Siddle brought one back between the latter's bat and pad. The roar of a crowd of 52,858 was redoubled, however, when replays showed that Siddle had overstepped.

Siddle's next delivery went close to perforating Dravid's defence again, and the bowler's pace did not flag as he pushed himself to make amends. For perhaps the first time in his innings Tendulkar became a little tentative, mindful of the close, and he was not decisive enough in his push down the track to prevent an in-ducker from bursting through to disturb the stumps. The nightwatchman Ishant Sharma survived the final three balls, but his presence has provided Australia a path into India's batting when the Test resumes.

Australia Vs India 1st Test at Melbourne Cricinfo,Live Score,Highlights

Stars Of The Day Umesh and Cowan

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Australia's batsmen scrambled to 6 for 277 against a shrewd and opportunistic India on day one of the Boxing Day Test, and would not have progressed that far without a meritorious debut from Ed Cowan in front of 70,068 spectators at the MCG. 

Losing Michael Hussey to a decision that would have been reversed with the aid of technology - Cowan also had reason to query his exit - the hosts were still some way short of a substantial total by the close. Brad Haddin and Peter Siddle were established however, and their contributions will be critical when play resumes.

Cowan's 68, in 294 minutes and 177 balls, was no more or less than he had promised to deliver as a circumspect, organised opening bat. But its influence on proceedings was lessened by the others' failure to bat around him, save for an innings of 62 from Ricky Ponting that alternated between edgy and elegant. 

India's captain MS Dhoni rotated his bowlers expertly, recovering from the hour after lunch when Ponting and Cowan had threatened to carry the day. India's refusal to accept the DRS also allowed the visitors to place pressure on the umpires Marais Erasmus and Ian Gould in the time-honoured style, achieving the desired result in the final session. 

Zaheer Khan turned the day India's way with the removal of Michael Clarke and Hussey to successive, reverse-swinging balls, after Umesh Yadav demonstrated his knack for speed and wickets with a trio either side of a profligate post-lunch spell. R Ashwin accounted for Cowan in the following over and gained appreciable turn at times to suggest he will be a threat across this series. 

Opening after Clarke won a quite ambiguous toss, Cowan and David Warner walked to the middle under overcast skies to a surface the offered the promise of early seam to augment the swing offered by the atmosphere. First strike was taken by the debutant, and Cowan responded by playing out Zaheer's well-directed opening over with plenty of nerves but just as much good sense. His first run arrived in the second over with a tap wide of mid on, before Warner commenced with a streaky inside edge to the fine-leg boundary. 

From this inauspicious beginning Warner was quickly into stride, cuffing a handful of boundaries in between sensible pushes and nudges around the ground's vast expanses. Zaheer moved the ball and Ishant Sharma bounced it, but Australia's openers negotiated their opening spells with as much confidence as could be expected. The introduction of Yadav prompted Cowan to unfurl one glorious straight drive amid his otherwise abstemious defence, and Warner followed up in the same over by biffing the bowler through cover, then hooking uproariously into the crowd. 

A brief rain delay broke the rhythm of the stand, and when the players returned Warner perished immediately, attempting to repeat his hook at Yadav and gloving gently behind to Dhoni. Yadav had his tail up, firing down his deliveries with plenty of speed, and had Marsh struck on the pad first up. Having played only one Twenty20 innings since his return to fitness after a painful back complaint that afflicted him in South Africa, Marsh did not look at ease, and to his seventh ball he walked too late into a drive and sliced it to gully. 

Smart stats Ed Cowan's 68 is the highest score by an Australian opener in his debut Test innings since Wayne Phillips' 159 against Pakistan in 1983. During this period, Michael Slater is the only other opener to score a half-century in his first innings. Ricky Ponting's 62 is his third half-century in his last five Test innings. It's also his fifth half-century at No.4, but he has never scored more than 78 batting at that slot. Ponting is third in the all-time list of run-getters in Tests at the MCG, behind Don Bradman (1671) and Steve Waugh (1284). Ponting currently has 1278. Michael Hussey's duck is his 12th in Tests since the beginning of 2008, which is as many as Chris Martin's tally during this period. Only Mitchell Johnson (14) has more. Australia's average second-wicket partnership in Tests in 2011 is 22.06, which is the lowest among all teams this year. The 113-run stand between Cowan and Ponting is Australia's second-highest for the third wicket against India at the MCG, next to only the 169-run stand between Bradman and Lindsay Hassett in 1948.

Suddenly 0 for 46 had become two for the same score, and Ponting's arrival brought a crowd response that suggested both appreciation and trepidation for Australia's former captain. Off his second ball Ponting swivelled to hook a short ball, but was struck a stunning blow to the jaw. Ponting was still alert enough to side-foot the rebound away from his stumps, but it was another reminder of how his command over the bouncer has slipped ever since West Indies' Kemar Roach pinned him on the arm at Perth in 2009.

Through it all Cowan maintained his composure, cracking Ishant through the covers with some flourish to add a second boundary after taking a blow to the body from Yadav, and Ponting gradually began to find a little more equilibrium. He slipped over while pulling at Zaheer, but the ungainly follow-through was less important than the sight of the ball skimming to the backward square-leg boundary.

Resumption was delayed by further showers, and when it arrived India's bowlers lapsed in line, length and attitude. Cowan was granted the chance to gather momentum with a handful of boundaries, one a chancy cut over gully but the rest pleasingly fluent, and Ponting also took advantage of some wayward stuff from Yadav in particular. Swiftly the 50-run stand and the Australian 100 were raised, in a union between a Tasmanian living in Sydney (Ponting) and a New South Welshman renewed in Hobart (Cowan).

Some of Ponting's strokes were reprised from the pages of his regal best, one back foot punch off the toes from Ishant more than enough to get the crowd cooing. They were on their feet soon after as his half-century was raised, via a rather more ungainly slog sweep for three. The rain delayed the tea break and Cowan took his time to reach his own 50, but a nudge into the offside brought it in 120 new-ball-blunting balls. 

Yadav returned to the attack for a spell near the interval, and found something approaching the vim of his morning burst. Ponting was unnerved by his first ball, rearing off a length, and dismissed by the third, which swerved away on a line just close enough to off stump for an uncertain batsman. VVS Laxman held the nick, the union was broken at 113, and Ponting's interminable wait for another Test century continued. 

Clarke offered useful company to Cowan for a time, the pair adding 46 either side of the interval. India responded by tightening up, and only four runs had been accrued from three overs when Zaheer beat Clarke's outside edge with a delivery that zipped away, then forced a cuff onto the stumps from the next when the batsman shaped to cut far too close to his body. 

The sin of Clarke's dismissal for 31 was compounded next ball, Hussey fending at a short-pitcher from Zaheer that passed close to, but did not appear to touch, bat or glove on the way through to Dhoni. The umpire Erasmus intuited an edge and raised his finger, and with no DRS recourse, Hussey had to go. 

While Haddin averted the hat-trick, Cowan now let his guard down, cutting impatiently at Ashwin and was adjudged by Gould to have offered the thinnest of edges to Dhoni. Hot-spot showed no evidence of contact, adding another unhappy chapter to the saga of technology and its inconsistent use. Batting as though they were aware of the total's inadequacy, Haddin and Siddle dug in, and eluded a tight lbw appeal each. They will face a refreshed India in the morning. 

Ishant and Zaheer had both been ruled fit and were joined in the attack by Yadav and Ashwin, who won the spinner's spot ahead of Pragyan Ojha. Australia's line-up was confirmed two days ago and there were no late changes, with Ben Hilfenhaus in for Mitchell Starc and Cowan named at the top of the order. Australia's 427th Test cricketer, Cowan was presented with his baggy green by Dean Jones, before the toss.