MELBOURNE, 30 December 2003 — Indian captain Saurav Ganguly will finish the third Melbourne cricket Test with something in common with Australian counterpart Steve Waugh after he was clocked on the head while batting yesterday.
Ganguly was forced from the ground in the fifth over of the day while on 16 after turning his helmeted head into a Brad Williams lifter, but he returned to the fray later on. He came back to share in a 93-run fifth wicket partnership with Rahul Dravid, which for a time looked to have India setting Australia a challenging fourth-innings target for victory on the final day.
Left-arm paceman Nathan Bracken dismissed Ganguly when the skipper dragged a delivery on to his stumps to be out for 73 with India only 66 runs ahead at 258 for six before they collapsed to be all out for 286 just before stumps.
Ganguly’s misfortune created the rare coincidence of both skippers retiring hurt in the match after Australian captain Waugh was struck on the elbow on Sunday only to return later to score 19.
