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Summary Ponting and Michael guided Australia to 335-3 at stumps on the first day of the fourth test.
Ricky Ponting and MichaelClarke both grabbed centuries and combined for 251 runs to driveAustralia to 335 for three as India wilted in the Adelaide sunon the opening day of the fourth test on Tuesday.A rejuvenated Ponting became just the third cricketer toscore 13,000 test runs as he reached 137 not out, while Clarke,his successor as Australia captain, notched up his fourthcentury in eight tests with an unbeaten 140.Indias hopes of salvaging a modicum of pride after losingthe series with emphatic defeats in the first three tests lookedbright when they removed Australias top order before lunch butmelted in 37 degree Celsius heat in the afternoon.Pontings 41st test century was far more fluent than the40th, which he scored to end a two-year drought in the secondtest in Sydney earlier this month.The 37-year-old, who scored his 13,000th test run with aswept single to deep square leg, brought up the hundred in 164balls with his 11th four and doffed his helmet to accept astanding ovation from the crowd.Pontings century was his fourth in four test matchesagainst India at Adelaide, including a 242 in a losing cause in2003.Clarke, who won the toss and elected to bat on a goodbatting track, shared a record partnership of 288 with Pontingin Sydney when he hit a brilliant 329 not out.After the pair had again rescued Australias innings from84-3 to stand at 214 at tea, Clarke made a statement two ballsinto the final session by marching down the pitch to smash ahuge six off part-time spinner Virender Sehwag.The 30-year-old reached the century, his 19th in tests, witha less emphatic stroke and the ball trickled to the boundary atfourth man for his 14th four.Sehwag had made a promising start as stand-in skipper forthe banned Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the morning, keeping theAustralians on the back foot and bucking convention byintroducing recalled spinner Ravi Ashwin in the fourth over.It was the pace bowling of Zaheer Khan at the other end,however, that forced the breakthrough when his inswinger trappedlefthander David Warner leg before for eight with just 26 runsshowing on the picturesque grounds famous old scoreboard.Shaun Marsh had made 14 in four innings in the series andhis poor form continued when he misjudged the flight of anAshwin delivery which went between bat and pad, took the bailsoff and sent him scurrying back to the pavilion for three.Ashwin struck again 10 minutes before lunch to remove EdCowan for 30, tempting the opener into a miscued cover drivethat VVS Laxman intercepted with a fine low catch at short coverto leave Australia struggling.India took the new ball five overs before the end of the dayand Ishant Sharma almost removed Clarke but Laxman was this timeunable to hold a difficult catch.Dhoni was banned for one match by the International CricketCouncil (ICC) after India failed to keep to an acceptable overrate in the third test.
