Hussey Ton Salvages Pride As Aussies Spin Out

Sun Herald

Sunday October 5, 2008

By CHLOE SALTAU HYDERABAD

AUSTRALIA'S struggles against spin loom as a major concern five days before the Bangalore Test, after a vigilant century from Michael Hussey (126 not out) narrowly saved his team the embarrassment of following on in the tour match yesterday.

It was only Hussey's staunch last-wicket partnership with the unflappable Stuart Clark (44) that carried the Australians past the follow-on target of 306.

But they were eventually dismissed for 314, in reply to the Indian Board President's XI's first innings of 455.

By stumps on day three the home side had pushed to 2-110, an overall lead of 251, after Brett Lee (1-30) and Clark (1-10) claimed early wickets.

The most concerning aspect of the Australian capitulation was that nine of the 10 wickets fell to the turning ball, and five of those to teen leg-spinning prodigy Piyush Chawla.

Chawla, a 19-year-old with a lovely, hard-to-pick googly and a cocky demeanour, earlier fired a verbal shot into the Australian camp on behalf of his elders, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, the much more experienced and dangerous spin combination that will be waiting for the tourists in he first Test.

"The way we have done well here - and the Test team is much better than us batting-wise as well as bowling-wise - will give us a very good mental advantage," said Chawla after deceiving Australian captain Ricky Ponting with a googly slipped between bat and pad on Friday and capturing the wicket of Michael Clarke.

"There will be psychological pressure on the Australians. I feel it will be a very good Test series. We have world-class bowlers in the Test side doing a great job. The way Anil bhai [Kumble] and Bhajji bhai [Singh] are bowling, they are in great rhythm. It is not going to be easy for these guys."

That much is obvious already. The Australians lost 5-19 in 64 balls, all of them to spinners, before Hussey and Clark struck up a stubborn partnership.

Admittedly, they were a batsman short on account of the enforced absence of all-rounder Shane Watson with a virus.