Australia and India Test Finely Balanced after Day One

All eyes will be on the WACA this week with the beginning of the 3rd Test between Australia and India. Australia hold a 2-0 series lead after there much talked about win in the New Years Test in Sydney. Day 1 has been played with India winning the toss for the first time in the series and electing to bat on what looks a very flat WACA wicket. India made two changes to the side that was beaten in Sydney bringing in Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan in the place of Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh. The inclusion of Sehwag gave them some much needed aggression at the top of the order and enabled Rahul Dravid to drop to his preferred number 3 position.

Day 1 saw India finish at 6/297 a score I'm sure they would be slightly disappointed with after being 2/198 with Dravid and Tendulkar in full flight. Dravid top scored with a steady 93 and Tendulkar chipped in with 71 to lead the Indians.

Brett Lee came into this match trailing Anil Kumble as the leading wicket taker in the series by 2 wickets and gave his backers hope today by claiming three of the six Indian wickets.

The market on this match at Betfair after Day 1 hasn't changed much from the beginning of the match. The Australians were around the $1.50 mark before the start of the match, they got to as high as $2.80 when Tendulkar and Dravid were in full flight but a flurry of late wickets brought there price back into $1.65 at stumps. India firmed in from there pre-match $12 mark as soon as they won the toss and batted and slowly firmed throughout the day. They reached as low as $4.70 throughout the day before finishing at $6.40. As always there has been plenty of interest in the draw, firming into as low as $2.28 throughout the day before settling at $4.00 at stumps. Considering Australia has won their past 16 test matches and the whether looks fine for the next 4 days the draw looks under the odds for mine at $4.00.

The first session will be vital tomorrow. If Australia can roll through India's tail and restrict them to around the 350 mark then they should shorten up from that current price of $1.65. On the other hand if Pathan and Dhoni can build a decent partnership then the Indians should be able to post 400+ which will be a very competitive first innings score.

As far as other betting options go in this match, Ricky Ponting to be leading run scorer in Australia's first innings could be a good option. He has struggled for runs so far in the series, however there is no Harbhajan Singh (has dismissed him three times this summer) in this match and he likes the bouncing conditions of the WACA. He is definitely due and will be keen for a big score and at the $4.00 currently on offer at Betfair is worth a nibble.

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