Another 150 for our well-decorated skipper, a swashbuckling 86 from our vice-captain and a superbly disciplined effort in the field has us on top in this first Test against India. On a day of tough cricket we hold the upper hand on an Adelaide Oval pitch that is sure to deteriorate over the next three days. Already a few balls have started to stay a little low, a factor sure to be to our advantage as this game progresses. With 441 invaluable runs on the board, batting will become more difficult as this dry pitch starts to crack and crumble.

India will always feel a sense of confidence while their captain and batting genius Sachin Tendulkar is at the crease but we know that a game doesn't revolve around one player alone. Our very own superstars McGrath and Warne were superb in keeping the little master blaster quiet today. His tactics of batting slowly were a little surprising, although I can only guess he knows exactly what he is doing. While he is still at the wicket India are dangerous so one of our main objectives will be to remove him as quickly as possible in the morning. If Glenn and Shane can continue with today's brilliant form, I get the feeling something is going to happen on day three tomorrow.

Always an important day in any Test match, day three is like the third quarter of an Aussie Rules football match. Early wickets in the morning will have our momentum running like a steam train towards another test victory, while a Tendulkar-led partnership will have the Indians clawing their way back into this game. It is going to be a tough day tomorrow but in front of this festive Adelaide crowd, whatever happens it is going to be a lot of fun.

From Adelaide, JL