Yes, I'm a bit late...but that's because I've been busy checking over which to put up here, and editing...so...
Today I was lucky enough to go to the first day of the 100th Test held at the Sydney Cricket Ground. This was the first day of the Second Test between Australia and India, the first having been held in Melbourne at the MCG from Boxing Day (26th December) for four days. Normally tests should run for five days, but for a while they have been running for three to four days, running into the morning of the fifth day if you're lucky.
The first day started off looking as though it might be good - the Indians had won the toss and elected to bad. This is, until the third ball. Pattinson was bowling for Australia, and managed to get a wicket third ball of his first over. To finish off, he got three more wickets, Siddle got three wickets, and Hilfenhaus finally got what he deserved at an earlier time, three wickets in the end, as well. Hilfenhaus had many maiden overs, getting only 51 runs scored off his 22 overs.
Most of the crowd were hoping that Tendulkar would score his 100th century this innings, rather than wait until the second innings, but it was not to be, with him scoring only 41 off 89 balls. Dhoni was good to watch, scoring 57 off 77 balls, but it was unfortunate that none of the great scorers, like Laxman or Dravid could get starts, with them scoring 2 and 0 respectively.
By the end of the day it was good to have shade on us (in the Brewongle Stand) as well as see the Australians come in to bat only a little after 4pm. This gave them nearly two hours of batting, and giving the crowd something to really cheer about. During the change of innings, my friends and I made predictions as to how many wickets would fall by the end of the day. Foolishly I said 4. Well, the Australians did manage to lose 3 wickets by the end, but thankfully Ponting and Clarke managed to make not only a 50 partnership, but each got into the 40s, with Clarke on 47 and Ponting on 44. Tomorrow (day two) should be good, if these two can make a 100 partnership. That would be good to see.
Right, well, onto the photos. I hope you enjoy the ones I put up. I took probably at least 100, I reckon, and so these are only a select few.
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| A very pleasant day, though hot in the sun (until 2:40pm) |
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| Tendulkar coming out to bat |
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| Tendulkar at the crease |
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| Tendulkar defending a ball... |
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| ...and leaving the ground after getting out |
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| Dhoni letting a ball go before the end of the Indian innings |
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| The Roller - it was agreed that, with the open engine area, it looked semi antique |
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| The Aussies open with attacking shots... |
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| ...but putting some defensive ones in there at the same time (Ponting at the crease) |
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| Ritchie Benaud's favourite score |
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| Ponting letting a ball go |
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| Yes! Shade in the afternoon! |
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| Cowan (?) at the crease |
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| Clarke getting things starting to occur in a good way |
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| Clarke again |
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| Ponting |
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| The moon was out (in between the two light poles) |
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| Ponting and Clarke having a mid-wicket meeting |
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| Clarke |
We were lucky enough to have Tendulkar field near us in the late afternoon. So, a couple of close-up (kind of) shots.
My shot for today, though, is the following. It's of Clarke hitting the ball (looks like for four runs, but it only went for two).
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| Clarke hitting the ball beautifully. |
Thursday, I'll be again at the cricket for Pink Day, supporting the Jane McGrath Foundation for the fight against breast cancer. A very good cause, as many women in Australia are being diagnosed with this disease. Anyway...expect more cricket photos for Day 5 of the challenge...
