Jason Krejza will never forget his test debut regardless of whether Australia record a victory in the final test match of the series against India. This is because the spinner helped ignite Australian hopes of forcing a positive result by taking an incredible 8-215 in India’s first innings.
These are the sixth best figures ever by a test debutant and go some way to ending the concerns about Australia’s spinning options. Krejza will have a long and successful future in the game if he continues like this, after all.
The wickets taken by the 25-year-old couldn’t have been more crucial either. Despite him taking three of the first five Indian wickets to fall, the hosts were cruising at 422-5. Mahendra Dhoni had just reached his 50 and was sharing a brisk partnership with Sourav Ganguly until Krejza really turned it on.
The wicket of Dhoni for 56 signalled the start of India’s collapse. After the new skipper fell, so did Ganguly, to Krejza – just two balls later. The spinner then took the remaining three wickets to reduce India to a much lower than expected total of 441.
Critics will point to the fact that Krejza was smashed around the park at times by the Indian batsman. However, no-one can take this achievement away from him and no-one can underestimate how important his wickets were. At 422-5, India were cruising and all cricket odds expected them to reach 600 at least.
Had this been the case, not many cricket bets would have been placed on Australia forcing the victory that they need to square the series. What Krejza’s wickets have done is give Ricky Ponting’s side hope.
Of course, 441 is still a decent total in a first innings. Therefore it was vital that Australia responded in a positive fashion. Well, despite losing Matthew Hayden early on – they have done just that. Simon Katich is unbeaten on 92 overnight and he has been joined by Michael Hussey who is 45 not out. They will resume tomorrow on 189-2 and they really need to push on.
There is still three days remaining in this match and Australia must believe they can win it. They need to build up a first innings lead and maybe even aim to only bat once. Katich will obviously play a key role, but other than him it is important that at least one of Hussey, Michael Clarke or Shane Watson also records a century.
An intriguing third day lies ahead.
By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about cricket betting
1 Comment
November 9, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Certainly lifted hopes, but Ricky tried his best to subside them!
But what a start for Krejza!