The match is evenly poised: Murali Vijay

India's opening batsman Murali Vijay said Saturday that the fourth Test against Australia was evenly poised after the second day's play at the Ferozeshah Kotla.

By (IANS)

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Published: Sun 24 Mar 2013, 1:14 AM

Last updated: Sat 4 Apr 2015, 10:05 AM

"The match is evenly poised at the moment. It will be interesting to see what happens," said Vijay as India finished the day with a slim lead of four runs.

India reached 266 for eight in the first innings at stumps after bowling out Australia for 262 runs within the first hour.

Vijay, who top scored with 57, said the Kotla wicket was difficult to bat on and it will only get tougher as the match continues.

"The wicket will get slower and lower and the cracks are also opening up. It is a difficult pitch to bat on. Actually it is difficult to score runs on this pitch. You can stay in there but difficult to keep the scoreboard ticking," he said.

Asked how he placed his innings on a crumbling track, Vijay said: "We did well in patches. I batted well and could have stayed on for a longer period but unfortunately got out at the wrong time."

Vijay said India have to chase down any target set by Australia for a historic 4-0 whitewash of the visitors.

"See whatever target they set us we have to chase it down. There are no two ways about it," he said.

SCOREBOARD


Australia 1st innings: (Overnight 231/8)
Ed Cowan b Ashwin 38
David Warner c Kohli b Sharma 0
Phil Hughes b Sharma 45
Shane Watson st Dhoni b Jadeja 17
Steven Smith c Rahane b Ashwin 46
Mathew Wade c Vijay b Ashwin 2
Glenn Maxwell c Sharma b Jadeja 10
Mitchell Johnson b Ashwin 3
Peter Siddle b Ashwin 51
James Pattinson c Kohli b Ojha 30
Nathan Lyon not out 8
Extras: (b 5, lb 7) 12
Total: (all out in 112.1 overs) 262

Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Warner, 1.4 overs), 2-71 (Hughes, 20.6), 3-106 (Cowan, 32.6), 4-115 (Watson, 38.5), 5-117 (Wade, 40.4), 6-129 (Maxwell, 46.2), 7-136 (Johnson, 53.6), 8-189 (Smith, 81.2), 9-243 (Siddle, 102.1), 10-262 (Pattinson, 112.1)

Bowling:
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 9-1-43-0
Ishant Sharma 14-3-35-2
Ravichandran Ashwin 34-18-57-5
Pragyan Ojha 26.1-6-75-1
Ravindra Jadeja 29-8-40-2

India 1st innings:
Murali Vijay c Wade b Siddle 54
Cheteshwar Pujara b Lyon 52
Virat Kohli lbw Lyon 1
Sachin Tendulkar lbw Lyon 32
Ajinkya Rahane c Smith b Lyon 7
MS Dhoni c Watson b Pattinson 24
Ravindra Jadeja lbw Maxwell 43
Ravichandran Ashwin lbw Lyon 12
Bhuvneshwar Kumar batting 10
Extras: (b 12, lb 16) 28
Total: (for eight in 68.1 overs) 266

Fall of wickets: 1-108 (Pujara, 25.1 overs), 2-114 (Kohli, 27.5), 3-148 (Vijay, 40.4 ), 4-165 (Rahane, 45.4), 5-180 (Tendulkar, 47.5), 6-210 (Dhoni, 52.5), 7-254 (Jadeja, 63.2), 8-266 (Ashwin, 68.1)

Bowling:
Mitchell Johnson 17-3-44-0
James Pattinson 14-1-54-1
Peter Siddle 12-3-38-1
Nathan Lyon 22.1-3-94-5
Glenn Maxwell 3-0-8-1

Match details:
Toss: Australia chose to bat
Test debut: Ajinkya Rahane (India)
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and R.A. Kettleborough (England)
TV umpire: S. Ravi
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka)
Reserve umpire: A.K. Chowdhary


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