A little more than five years after his debut, Ajit Agarkar picked up his first five-wicket haul in any form of international cricket

Rahul Bhatia15-Dec-2003A little more than five years after his debut, Ajit Agarkar picked up his first five-wicket haul in any form of international cricket. And what a day to do it. Australia tumbled to 196, their lowest score at home since 1998-99.Agarkar’s first two strikes were essential: Justin Langer was on the hunt for quick runs, and Ricky Ponting was fresh off a double-century. After dismissing them, Agarkar then returned to put a full stop to the lower order’s batting hopes.A prominent feature of his bowling was the use of the short ball. Mixing it up with pitched-up swinging deliveries, he had the top order groping, and the lower order playing down the wrong line.

Length

Balls

Runs

Full

1

1

Yorker

2

0

Half-volley

3

3

Goodlength

55

17

Short-of-good-length

27

12

Short

10

8

Australia’s home advantageA batting line-up with three players who average more than 50 doesn’t fail too often. By bowling out Australia at home for less than 200, India was the first team to achieve the feat since England did it in 1998-99. Here’s a list of the few instances Australia has been restricted to under 200, since 1994-95.

Venue

v

Winner

Series

Sydney

Eng

Draw

1994-95

Adelaide

Eng

Eng

1994-95

Melbourne

WI

WI

1996-97

Perth

WI

WI

1996-97

Melbourne

Eng

Eng

1998-99

Sydney

Eng

Aus

1998-99

Adelaide

Ind

2003-04