Day 4 review/Election comment

Day 4 & Australia strengthens their grip on the match.

After batting rather slowly for a session & a half, Australia were bundled out, but not before extending the lead to 456 runs, which was a very improbable target at the best of times, but especially impossible in Bangalore, where the highest score to win was less then half the target. More realistically, India had to bat out about 140 overs to draw.

That target wasn't helped by Sehwag's dismissal, which was an inside edged LBW, Chopra a more normal LBW, Ganguly a brain explosion, when the call was the usual "yes, no, sorry" call before Gilchrist demolished the stumps, thus running Ganguly out. Warne's first ball was a slider, which caught Laxman by surprise, trapping him plumb. By then, India were 4/19, and were definitely out of it.

Dravid & Yuvraj had a cameo partnership, but a couple of quick wickets had the Indians at 6/105 by stumps, and Australia should wrap it up by tea (at the very latest).

McGrath (so far) would be the pick of the bowlers, with figures (atm) of 12-8-9-2, after at one stage being something like 9-7-2-1.

Meanwhile, while the house election result wasn't suprising, the Senate one is worrying. The way things look now, the Colalition has 38 of the 76 seats, only needing another senator to pass leglislation. What's more worrying is that after July 1 next year, the Government can block any leglislation opposition senators might want to put up, so things like an prospective senate committee to expose any embarrassing Government activity would be blocked. Another government pet project, the sale of the rest of Telstra, is all but assured, which would be to the detriment of those who can only get Telstra, and for telecommunications competition in Australia.