FazKrejza and Katich capable of saving Baggy Green
November 7th 2008 23:24
Jason Krejza has dominated the headlines on both of his first two days in Test cricket. His performance so far against India has left Australia in a more than reasonable position to defend a Bordor-Gavaskar trophy that looked long gone after the Mohali massacre.
Indeed Ricky Ponting wanted him in the side for a reason, and his faith in the off spinner has proved to be the antidote his captaincy needed after an earlier fallout with Brett Lee hindered his reputation.
But the way he has stuck with Krejza through the leaner times of India's innings shows that Ponting still has what it takes to make the match defining decision. It was an excellent piece of captaincy by the Australian skipper.
Of course, one would not be saying this if Krejza did not take three early wickets after he was being smashed to all corners of India courtesy of Sehwag and Tendulkar. Even though he conceded runs, he finished up with eight wickets and fell two short of claiming the entire Indian test team on their home soil.
Indeed Krejza bowled very well. The ball which found Sourav Ganguly's outside edge was the highlight wicket of a remarkable debut.
Krejza thought he couldn't have asked for much more from his first day but after finishing with eight wickets, Australia only need ten more to regain their aura as cricket's superpower.
Before that happens though, the baggy green need runs and Simon Katich faces a nervy afternoon today. He needs just eight runs for his fifth test century and after making so many starts in this series, it would be a positive sign if Katich could indeed go on and reach triple figures.
His stubborn but classy knock last night put Australia right back in the fourth test from a seemingly irrecoverable position, and thus it could hardly have come at a better time.
Katich has shown good technique throughout this series, shuffling across to obscure his stumps in a way that must be horribly frustrating for the bowlers.
His current partnership with Mike Hussey will be even more crucial, because India's spinners have struggled to find a useful piece of rough against the left-handed duo.
Amit Mishra seemed no threat at all to them but he will be surely eyeing Michael Clarke's scalp as he'll have more of a wicket to aim at when the right-handers come in.
But Hussey has been his usual grafting self and rarely looks like getting out, but its up to Katich to keep his nerve, post his century and go on for the sake of Australian cricket.
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