1st Test, Chennai: R Ashwin's five-for pegs Australia back as Clarke fights on

R Ashwin was the destructor-in-chief as India pegged Australia back in the second session with a flurry of wickets. The Tamil Nadu offie was India's sole wicket-taker grabbing all five to fall before tea on Day 1 as Aussies went from 126/2 at lunch to 215/5 at tea. While Ed Cowan and Phil Hughes were his victims before lunch, Shane Watson, David Warner and Matthew Wade fell prey to him after the first break. Watson (28) was dismissed lbw right after lunch as the ball stayed down a bit. Replays were inconclusive though if the ball had hit outside or in line. With no DRS around, no one could complain. Warner (59) too went lbw to Ashwin as from 126/2, Australia went to 131/4. Wade was Ashwin's fifth victim as the tweaker got his sixth 5-wicket haul in Test matches. Skipper Michael Clarke meanwhile remained steady and was joined by debutant Moises Henriques on the crease. Pup would consider himself very lucky as umpire Dharmasena missed a clear inside edge off Ashwin. The pair then added 62 runs by tea with Clarke on 45 and Henriques on 29. Earlier, Ed Cowan and David Warner started off on a bright note as Australia looked to stamp authority early. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar was steady at best, Ishant Sharma struggled a bit up front as Aussie openers raced along. By the end of eighth over Warner and Cowan had already raked up 43 runs. India then introduced spinners as expected and Harbhajan Singh was the first to roll his arm over. Warner got a reprieve when he edged one off Ashwin to Virender Sehwag at first slip. Sehwag could not hold on despite the it being mere catching practice. Ashwin was second time unlucky when skipper Dhoni missed Cowan's stumping, albeit a difficult one, in the bowler's very next over. The Tamil Nadu offie though was third time lucky as Cowan (29 off 45 balls) danced down only to get stumped. Looking increasingly impressive now, Ashwin got India the second breakthrough of the day with Phil Hughes (6 off 15 balls) playing one on. Earlier, Australian captain Michael Clarke won the toss and selected to bat first against India in the first Test being played at the Chepauk, Chennai. Clarke looked extremely happy after the toss while Dhoni too expressed desire to bat first. While Australia had announced their team 48 hours prior, India made some surprising changes. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is making his debut for India in Tests even as Pragyan Ojha would consider himself very unlucky to miss out. Murali Vijay will open with Virender Sehwag while Ravindra Jadeja still finds a place. Shrugging off disappointments from the last season, India will seek to reaffirm their supremacy on home soil when they take on a new-look Australian side in the first cricket Test from today in what promises to a thrilling four-match series. The pitch in Chennai is expected to assist spin bowlers as not a patch of grass could be seen. With no rain predicted, an uninterrupted match is on our cards and that is what all Test cricket connoisseurs would have expected. Australia, on the other hand, will be happy to emulate England and considering that they have come with a no-so experienced side will make it even more praiseworthy. India versus Australia series over the years have had some memorable matches and one would expect that it won't be any different this time around. While someone like Sachin Tendulkar would like to face the challenges thrown by Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson head on, the likes of Phil Hughes, Matthew Wade, Ed Cowan and David Warner will aim at successfully negotiating the spin threat of Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh. BCCI had confirmed on its official website that Harbhajan Singh will play in his 100th Test match when the teams walk out at the M Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. His last match for India was against England where he took 2/84 in the match as India went down by 10 wickets. Bhajji has taken 408 wickets from 99 Tests at an average of 32.27 and a strike-rate of 68.1. Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Ed Cowan, 3 Phillip Hughes, 4 Shane Watson, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6 Matthew Wade (wk), 7 Moises Henriques, 8 Peter Siddle, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 James Pattinson, 11 Nathan Lyon India: MS Dhoni*†, R Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, RA Jadeja, V Kohli, B Kumar, CA Pujara, V Sehwag, I Sharma, SR Tendulkar, M Vijay. (With PTI inputs) Source: NDTV