Harbhajan scores his third consecutive fifty against Australia

Bombay News.Net
Saturday 11th October, 2008 (IANS)

Harbhajan Singh, who led Indian fightback with an audacious 54 in the first Test here Saturday, has now scored three half-centuries in his last three Tests against Australia.

Harbhajan (54) scored 63 in the Adelaide and Sydney Tests earlier in the year.

Other statistical highlights of the third's day's play:

* Harbhajan (54) registerd his first fifty at home. He has hit five half-centuries in Test Cricket - one each against England and Zimbabwe and three against Australia.

* Harbhajan's previous highest on Indian soil was 42 against Australia in the 2004-05 Bangalore Test.

* Harbhajan and Zaheer Khan were associated in a eighth-wicket stand of 80, India's best partnership against Australia at Bangalore, outstripping the 31 between and Anil Kumble and Parthiv Patel in 2004-05.

* The stand is the second best overall at this venue - the highest being 84 between Ravi Shastri and Kiran More against New Zealand in 1988-89.

* Sourav Ganguly's 47 off 115 balls is his highest in eight innings.

* V.V.S. Laxman recorded his 10th duck in Test Cricket - his second against Austraila.

* Gautam Gambhir's wicket is Brett Lee's first Test wicket in India.

* Mahendra Singh Dhoni (9) is without a fifty against Australia in nine innings (5 Tests). His highest against them has been 38 at Perth in January 2008.

* Sachin Tendulkar is now the highest scorer on Indian soil - 5,069 at an average of 54.50, including 16 centuries and 21 fifties in 64 Tests, surpassing Sunil Gavaskar's run-aggregate of 5,067 at an average of 50.16 in 65 Tests, including 16 centuries and 23 fifties.

* Since posting 153 against Australia at Adelaide in January, Tendulkar is without a fifty in his last nine innings. His sequence of scores has been 13, 0, 27, 12, 5, 31, 6, 14 & 13.

* Tendulkar, during the course of his innings of 13, became the second batsman to amass 500 runs at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore - 509 at an average of 50.90, including one century and two fifties. Sunil Gavaskar, with 600 runs at an average of 54.54, including two centuries and three fifties, in 8 Tests is the leading run-getter at this venue.

* Rahul Dravid's 51 off 104 balls is his 53rd fifty in Test Cricket - his 11th against Australia.

* Mitchell Johnson (4/62) produced his best bowling performance against India, bettering his 4/86 at Perth in January 2008.

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