Tendulkar inspires India fightback

CHENNAI - Sachin Tendulkar struck his 67th Test half century as India recovered to 182-3, 198 behind Australia, after day two of the first Test in Chennai.

Saturday, February 23, 2013
Sachin Tendulkar is close to reaching his 52nd Test match hundred. Net photo.

First Test, (day two, stumps)India 182-3 vs Australia 380CHENNAI - Sachin Tendulkar struck his 67th Test half century as India recovered to 182-3, 198 behind Australia, after day two of the first Test in Chennai.Test cricket’s highest run-scorer, who will be 40 on 24 April, has gone 31 innings without a Test hundred but revived his team after they were 12-2. He shared an unbroken 77 with Virat Kohli, who reached 50 in the last over.Earlier Australia resumed on 316-7 and were all out for 380, skipper Michael Clarke adding 27 to his overnight 103.Clarke was reprieved on 128 when Cheteshwar Pujara spilled a difficult chance at mid-off but his 54-run rearguard with Peter Siddle ended four overs later when the captain advanced down the pitch to slow left-armer Ravi Jadeja, did not quite get to the pitch of the ball, and found long-off.In the next over Harbhajan Singh celebrated his 100th Test by having Siddle caught at slip for 19 and Ravichandran Ashwin recorded his best Test figures of 7-88 when last man Nathan Lyon was smartly taken by Kohli to his right at backward short-leg.The India spinner is playing his 13th Test but already boasts 70 wickets, claiming five or more in an innings six times.It was raw pace that unsettled the Indian batsmen, in the form of James Pattinson, in only his eighth Test.There had been concerns in some quarters that Tendulkar’s considerable skills were on the wane, with no Test century since January 2011.