BANGALORE // Australia grabbed two quick wickets after setting India a victory target of 299 on the final day of the first Test. The seamer Stuart Clark sent dangerous opener Virender Sehwag back to the dressing room for six and his new ball partner Brett Lee dismissed Rahul Dravid for five to leave India struggling on 41 for two at lunch. Opener Gautam Gambhir (12) and Sachin Tendulkar (16) were the batsmen not out.
Australia declared their second innings at 228 for six after adding a further 35 in five overs, giving themselves 83 overs to bowl out the hosts on a difficult pitch. The overnight batsman Shane Watson fell for 41 to paceman Ishant Sharma in the second over as Australia looked for quick runs, ending an invaluable sixth-wicket stand of 75 with Brad Haddin (35 not out). Clark had Sehwag caught at slip by Matthew Hayden in the sixth over. The opener had been dropped by wicketkeeper Haddin off Lee in the previous over.
Dravid, who scored a dogged 50 in the first innings, fell three overs later, flicking uppishly at Lee for skipper Ricky Ponting to take a magnificent diving catch at mid-wicket. Gambhir, batting dourly, survived a confident lbw appeal off Clark. Tendulkar batted with assurance and hit three boundaries. He needs 48 more runs to overtake West Indian Brian Lara's record aggregate of 11,953 Test runs.
*Reuters
