ALL ABOUT CRICKET

Piyush Chawla, tossing his leg-breaks up and getting serious revolutions on his googlies, put doubts in Ponting's head. Unsure of which way the ball would turn, or how much, Ponting defended with hard hands and drove half-heartedly, repeatedly spearing the ball off the inside edge. But the Australian captain is one of the best batsmen in the world, his average of just over 12 in India notwithstanding. The Aussie top-order developed cold feet against Chawla and their free-scoring flair was completely non-existent as they finished the day still 264 behind the 455 runs which Board President's XI had scored in their first essay. he Australians had a marginally better morning session. They tried to work on their reverse swing by not taking the new ball till the 105th over - the 16th of the second day. Lee, in particular, got the ball to move and one delivery to Pathan stood out: bowling from over the wicket, he curved the ball sharply from middle and off towards leg and hit Pathan on the pad. Pathan, however, used a simple technique to offer stiff resistance. He tried not to get the front leg in the way of the ball even if it meant playing away from his body.