Australia 430 & 228/6dIndia 360 & 177/4 (73.0 ov)
Match drawn
Finally, sense strikes, and the players shake hands. It's called off, with 10 overs to go still. A great Test, until the last few moments when it just drifted along without much intent from either side
Ganguly, walking off the Chinnaswamy Stadium for one last time, gets a rich applause. And he goes undefeated in this Test.
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Man of the Match is Zaheer Khan He says, "Can't get better than this. Happy with the way things have gone in this match... Looking at the game, we were in trouble the moment we lost the toss... I have never seen an Australian team play such defensive cricket, which is a good thing for us... Bowling in tandem with Ishant is very important and a pleasure... Bhajji was advising me all the time, making sure I was on the front foot. On odd occasion he would crack a joke that would calm the nerves."
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Ricky Ponting: Full credit to India, they stuck out, and fought well... The pitch was cracked up, but it held up decently... Personally, it's a good start. I am very pleased with the way we have done in the first match. There's still room for improvement...
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Anil Kumble: We could have had ha chance yesterday, so disappointed. Overall we did well in coming back in the first innings... Fantastic effort overall... This wicket has changed over the years, there isn't much spin, but the fast bowlers bowled superbly. The spinners will definitely come into play in the next three Tests... Bhajji certainly deserves a promotion [in batting order]... The shoulder is shaping up well, and hopefully I should be 100% by Mohali.
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The final day's highlight would be the batting of Tendulkar and Laxman who put their heads down, and fought off their reputation of not being good batsmen in saving Tests. Put together, they played close to 45 overs, out of the 73 India played to force the draw. But how valuable was the late-innings rearguard from Harbhajan and Zaheer in the first innings? For me, India earned the draw on the fourth morning, when Zaheer and friends frustrated Australia for one-and-a-half hours.
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This has been a gripping Test throughout the duration, but for the last 10 overs. It was a slow pitch, so we didn't see batsmen dominating the bowling, but we still saw two very good innings by Hussey and Ponting. Despite the slow pace, this was an intense Test, and enjoyable through and through. In the end, India fought well for a draw, which was a fair result because while both teams had their moments - Australia more than India - none dominated enough to win outright.
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This has been a gripping Test throughout the duration, but for the last 10 overs. It was a slow pitch, so we didn't see batsmen dominating the bowling, but we still saw two very good innings by Hussey and Ponting. Despite the slow pace, this was an intense Test, and enjoyable through and through. In the end, India fought well for a draw, which was a fair result because while both teams had their moments - Australia more than India - none dominated enough to win outright.
Day 1
Australia 1st innings
Drinks: Australia - 34/1 in 13.0 overs (SM Katich 12, RT Ponting 20)
Australia: 50 runs in 17.5 overs (108 balls), Extras 2
2nd Wicket: 50 runs in 105 balls (SM Katich 18, RT Ponting 30, Ex 2)
Lunch: Australia - 75/1 in 27.0 overs (SM Katich 28, RT Ponting 41)
RT Ponting: 50 off 104 balls (7 x 4)
Australia: 100 runs in 39.2 overs (237 balls), Extras 6
2nd Wicket: 100 runs in 234 balls (SM Katich 38, RT Ponting 56, Ex 6)
Drinks: Australia - 114/1 in 43.0 overs (SM Katich 45, RT Ponting 63)
SM Katich: 50 off 122 balls (6 x 4)
Australia: 150 runs in 49.5 overs (300 balls), Extras 6
2nd Wicket: 150 runs in 297 balls (SM Katich 58, RT Ponting 86, Ex 6)
Tea: Australia - 166/2 in 57.0 overs (RT Ponting 94, MEK Hussey 0)
RT Ponting: 100 off 185 balls (13 x 4)
Australia: 200 runs in 67.3 overs (407 balls), Extras 7
Drinks: Australia - 211/2 in 71.0 overs (RT Ponting 114, MEK Hussey 24)
3rd Wicket: 50 runs in 116 balls (RT Ponting 23, MEK Hussey 26, Ex 1)
New Ball Taken: Australia 247/3 after 87.2 overs (MEK Hussey 40, MJ Clarke 10)
Australia: 250 runs in 88.2 overs (533 balls), Extras 8
End Of Day: Australia - 254/4 in 89.2 overs (MEK Hussey 46)
Day 2
MEK Hussey: 50 off 122 balls (5 x 4)
Drinks: Australia - 298/5 in 102.0 overs (MEK Hussey 74, BJ Haddin 10)
Australia: 300 runs in 103.3 overs (624 balls), Extras 12
6th Wicket: 50 runs in 88 balls (MEK Hussey 33, BJ Haddin 16, Ex 4)
Lunch: Australia - 333/5 in 118.0 overs (MEK Hussey 92, BJ Haddin 26)
MEK Hussey: 100 off 188 balls (11 x 4)
Australia: 350 runs in 122.5 overs (741 balls), Extras 14
Drinks: Australia - 368/7 in 131.0 overs (MEK Hussey 112, B Lee 1)
Australia: 400 runs in 138.4 overs (836 balls), Extras 14
8th Wicket: 50 runs in 107 balls (MEK Hussey 24, B Lee 26, Ex 0)
Tea: Australia - 416/7 in 146.0 overs (MEK Hussey 135, B Lee 26)
Innings Break: Australia - 430/10 in 149.5 overs (SR Clark 0)
India 1st innings
India: 50 runs in 12.6 overs (79 balls), Extras 5
1st Wicket: 50 runs in 79 balls (G Gambhir 19, V Sehwag 27, Ex 5)
Drinks: India - 56/0 in 14.0 overs (G Gambhir 19, V Sehwag 32)
Rain: India - 68/0 in 18.1 overs (G Gambhir 20, V Sehwag 43)
End Of Day: India - 68/0 in 18.1 overs (G Gambhir 20, V Sehwag 43)
Day 3
Drinks: India - 99/3 in 30.0 overs (R Dravid 11, VVS Laxman 0)
India: 100 runs in 30.4 overs (185 balls), Extras 9
Lunch: India - 133/4 in 42.0 overs (R Dravid 35, SC Ganguly 7)
India: 150 runs in 47.4 overs (290 balls), Extras 14
R Dravid: 50 off 102 balls (7 x 4)
Drinks: India - 160/5 in 55.0 overs (SC Ganguly 13, MS Dhoni 2)
India: 200 runs in 67.5 overs (411 balls), Extras 21
Tea: India - 210/6 in 71.0 overs (SC Ganguly 38, Harbhajan Singh 12)
Rain: India - 234/7 in 80.0 overs (Harbhajan Singh 24, Z Khan 0)
India: 250 runs in 85.6 overs (520 balls), Extras 28
New Ball Taken: India 251/7 after 86.1 overs (Harbhajan Singh 33, Z Khan 4)
8th Wicket: 50 runs in 86 balls (Harbhajan Singh 22, Z Khan 13, Ex 15)
Harbhajan Singh: 50 off 85 balls (5 x 4)
Drinks: India - 297/7 in 94.0 overs (Harbhajan Singh 51, Z Khan 23)
India: 300 runs in 95.5 overs (580 balls), Extras 38
End Of Day: India - 313/8 in 101.0 overs (Z Khan 35, A Kumble 0)
Day 4
Z Khan: 50 off 106 balls (7 x 4)
Drinks: India - 349/9 in 114.0 overs (Z Khan 52, I Sharma 5)
India: 350 runs in 114.1 overs (691 balls), Extras 47
Innings Break: India - 360/10 in 119.0 overs (Z Khan 57)
Australia 2nd innings
Lunch: Australia - 9/0 in 6.0 overs (ML Hayden 3, SM Katich 5)
Drinks: Australia - 41/1 in 19.0 overs (SM Katich 8, RT Ponting 14)
Australia: 50 runs in 22.4 overs (137 balls), Extras 10
Tea: Australia - 74/2 in 33.0 overs (SM Katich 21, MEK Hussey 12)
3rd Wicket: 50 runs in 133 balls (SM Katich 25, MEK Hussey 23, Ex 2)
Australia: 100 runs in 44.4 overs (270 balls), Extras 12
Australia: 150 runs in 55.6 overs (340 balls), Extras 20
6th Wicket: 50 runs in 71 balls (SR Watson 22, BJ Haddin 20, Ex 8)
End Of Day: Australia - 193/5 in 68.0 overs (SR Watson 32, BJ Haddin 28)
Day 5
Australia: 200 runs in 69.1 overs (420 balls), Extras 32
Innings Break: Australia - 228/6 in 73.0 overs (BJ Haddin 35, CL White 18)
India 2nd innings
Lunch: India - 41/2 in 17.0 overs (G Gambhir 12, SR Tendulkar 16)
India: 50 runs in 17.6 overs (109 balls), Extras 6
3rd Wicket: 50 runs in 105 balls (G Gambhir 18, SR Tendulkar 26, Ex 8)
Drinks: India - 84/3 in 31.0 overs (SR Tendulkar 30, VVS Laxman 4)
India: 100 runs in 39.5 overs (240 balls), Extras 11
Tea: India - 130/3 in 48.0 overs (SR Tendulkar 47, VVS Laxman 28)
4th Wicket: 50 runs in 128 balls (SR Tendulkar 20, VVS Laxman 28, Ex 5)
Bad Light: India - 148/4 in 58.0 overs (VVS Laxman 36, SC Ganguly 7)
India: 150 runs in 58.5 overs (354 balls), Extras 16
Bad Light: India - 165/4 in 67.0 overs (VVS Laxman 41, SC Ganguly 15)
