The Coin Toss
Australian captain Michael Clarke won the toss and elected to bat first on an overcast morning in Melbourne.
The Morning Session
The pairing of David Warner and Ed Cowan got off to a rocketing start in this innings. Anything short or wide was being punished by Warner, who coming off hot form in the KFC Big Bash was looking to attack every ball that came to him. On debut, Cowan played a very conservative role as Warner continued to fire ahead, scoring at a run rate of around 8 an over in the early stages. There was a little bit of rain lingering around and around halfway into the session it began to drizzle. The umpires ordered the players off the field and after just getting into the dressing rooms, the rain eased and the players were called back onto the field to resume play almost immediately.
The break worked well into India’s favour, as David Warner chased a short ball and edged it to the keeper as India brought up their first wicket. Without a doubt the man under the most pressure coming into this game was Shaun Marsh, after coming off an injury and being immediately placed back into the Australian test side. His much talked about return did not last long, he was dismissed for a duck after chipping a wide ball straight to an Indian fielder. The game was now at very even odds, but the debutant Ed Cowan continued to plug away and keep his wicket very safe at the MCG.
The Australians went to lunch on 2/68 in Melbourne.
The Afternoon Session
Over the course of the lunch break, the rain began to fall again and play was delayed early in the afternoon. It was not raining hard, but there was just enough of it around to cause the umpire’s a little concern. The delay would last for about half an hour, and when the play did get back underway Australia began to play their shots, much like at the beginning of the first session today. Ricky Ponting continues to look in good touch, and he played a brilliant half century before edging out to the slips and Australia were now 3 wickets down. Ed Cowan on debut would have been the most nervous cricketer in the world today, but he just took his time and the longer he stayed at the crease the more frequent the shots became. Late in the afternoon session he brought up his 50, and the Melbourne crowd gave him a tremendous reception for this brilliant feat in his very first game for Australia.
So far the only real standout for the Indians had been Umesh Yadav who had taken all three Australian wickets to fall. Not to flashy showings from the two big guns Zaheer Kahn and Ishant Sharma to this point.
The Aussies went to the tea break on 3/170.
The Evening Session
The problem for India all day had been the runs scored between wickets. They had gotten 3 very good wickets to this point, but the runs had not dried up, in fact Australia were scoring at a very good rate for test match cricket. However early in the evening session, Zaheer Kahn came to life, after what could best be described as a mediocre performance thus far. After bowling out the Aussie captain Michael Clarke, Kahn dismissed Michael Hussey in controversial circumstances.
The DRS or Decision Review System has been a much talked about topic in the build up to this series. The Indian Cricket Board has refused to acknowledge the DRS and will not use the system in any games, meaning other teams they play in international cricket will just have to go without the DRS whenever they play India. It was only a matter of time until this topic spilled over into controversy. When Michael Hussey tried to shoulder arms with a short pitched ball, the Indians went up and the wicket was given. The umpire decided that Hussey had knicked the ball, but Hussey had other ideas and was absolutely out raged when he was sent from the field. Replays on TV clearly showed that Hussey had not edged the ball but because the DRS is not involved in this series, the decision was not able to be reviewed and the wicket stood. In the very next over the controversy would continue when Ed Cowan on debut, was dismissed and again the replays clearly showed he did not edge the ball.
Following the quick 3 wickets, the Aussies once again continued to not be denied and Brad Haddin and Peter Siddle put together a very good partnership. Haddin and Siddle would put on over 50 runs before the end of play, and these runs are very crucial, the runs could well be the difference between a tie and a victory when this game is all said and done.
Australia ended day 1 of the boxing day test on 6/277 and hold a good edge on this game heading into day 2. India will need to bowl Australia out very quickly in the morning. The little partnerships between all Australian batsmen have helped Australia to build what is going to be a very decent first innings total.
