India in shambles

SYDNEY, Jan 2: Australian pace bowlers Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee combined to destroy India's brittle batting on the rain-hit opening day of the third and final cricket Test here today, report agencies.

McGrath ripped the top order with 3-34 and Lee chipped in with 4-25 as India, electing to take first strike in difficult conditions, crashed to 121 for eight before bad light halted play.

Just 60 overs of the scheduled 90 were possible because of rain. The umpires scheduled an early start on Monday to make up for lost time.

A sell-out crowed of 42,193 at the Sydney Cricket Ground watched the Australian bowlers use the greenish wicket and overcast conditions to make the Indians hop.

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar was the lone Indian to defy the hosts, making a belligerent 45 off 53 balls, studded with eight hits to the fence.

The only Australian dampener on the day was Glenn McGrath's over-the-top reaction at claiming the prize scalp of Tendulkar in one of cricket's extraordinary overs.

Tendulkar pulled McGrath's first ball of the over in the air to fine leg and ran two before smacking a further two consecutive short balls to the square leg boundary.

McGrath delivered another bouncer which Tendulkar ducked before the Indian master batsman produced an off drive for four from the next ball.

The paceman then trapped Tendulkar lbw with an in-dipper and ran down the pitch, glaring at the Indian skipper while shouting "yes!".

McGrath was cautioned for his reaction by match referee Ranjan Madagalle and umpires Darrell Hair and Ian Robinson.

Indian bowler Venkatesh Prasad had been fined 35 per cent of his match fees by Madugalle for similar gestures after removing Michael Slater in the second Test at Melbourne last week.

The rest of the Indian batting caved in once again - just as it had done in the first two Tests which Australia won convincingly.

The tourists, who crawled to 27-1 in 21.5 overs before lunch, slid to 69 for four in 40 minutes of play during the afternoon session.

Tendulkar watched helplessly from the other end as two other frontline batsmen, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly, departed within a run of each other shortly before tea.

The out-of-touch Dravid, who survived a dropped chance by wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, made his second highest score in the series of 29 when McGrath had him caught at third slip.

Ganguly fell for the second time in successive matches to part-time Greg Blewett to leave India tottering on 69 for four.

The left-hander, who was bowled by Blewett at Melbourne, failed to survive his first delivery here, tapping an easy catch to gully.

Ajit Agarkar fell first ball for the fourth time in a row as the 23-year-old Lee worked up fiery pace to pick up three wickets in the space of one run.

Lee has taken 11 wickets so far at 10.27 in his first three Test innings.

"It was huge, probably the biggest crowed I've ever played in front of and being a home crowed too and being right behind you is fantastic," he said.

"I couldn't really get the smile off my face, I was quite happy about it. I consider myself very lucky, I'm just happy to be a part of the side."

India's gamble to open with wicketkeeper Mannava Prasad in place of the injured Sadagopan Ramesh backfired as he groped to make five in 43 minutes.

Venkat Laxman, who made seven, fell in the first over after resumption when he fended off a brute delivery from Lee to gully.

It was Laxman's third successive failure in the series, with scores of zero, five and one after making 41 in their first innings of the first Test at Adelaide.

India opted to leave out specialist opener Devang Gandhi and instead play Karnataka's middle-order batsman Vijay Bharadwaj, who also bowls occasional off-spin.

Australia celebrated the first Test of the new millennium by taking the field wearing skull caps similar to the one worn by Australian teams in the early 1900s.

The caps were presented to the host team before start of play by Prime Minister John Howard, who also tossed the coin.

Meanwhile, Waugh says he expects Shane Warne to break Dennis Lillee's record as Australia's greatest wicket taker during the Test. Warne went wicketless Sunday and still needs five to pass Lillee's total of 355.

With Australia poised for an unprecedented 6-0 sweep of the summer season, Waugh said Warne's impeccable sense of timing could come to the fore on a pitch he believes will take spin later.

"He'd love to get it here in Sydney in front of an Australian crowed. I think he deserves to get it here," said Waugh.

"He might get a chance tomorrow and in the second innings I wouldn't be surprised if he takes five wickets."