Cricket: Waugh's full set of centuries

Australia 298-5 v India

STEVE WAUGH, the Australian captain, added another chapter to an already remarkable career here yesterday when he took a century off India to complete the set of 100s against every Test-playing nation.

Waugh finished on 117 not out and, with Ricky Ponting, lifted Australia from a precarious 52 for 4 before lunch to a commanding 298 for 5 at the close. The fifth wicket pair added 239.

"It's nice, I wanted to score some runs against India," Waugh said. "To get a hundred in those circumstances makes it extra special. It's always nice to be part of history."

Ponting also made a century, scoring 125 before he was run out three overs before the end of the first day of the opening Test. Ponting's second ton inside two weeks followed his 197 in the final Test against Pakistan in Perth and was the sixth of his five-day career.

India's fast bowlers, relishing the pace and bounce of the Adelaide Oval, tore through Australia's top order in the first innings before Waugh and Ponting slowly but assuredly tightened the screws.

Javagal Srinath had Greg Blewett (4) caught behind and Justin Langer made 11 before he was given out lbw to Venkatesh Prasad despite appearing to get an inside edge. Unconcerned by the loss of his team-mates, Michael Slater, the Australian opener, continued smashing the Indian bowlers around the ground.

He belted four fours and a six before he drove a delivery from Saurav Ganguly straight to cover for 28. Mark Waugh, whose form has deteriorated since his century in the first Test against Pakistan, departed for five when he edged behind.

Steve Waugh and Ponting limped through to lunch then set about rebuilding Australia's innings. As the pitch started to slow, the pair began to score more freely and added 111 in the second session to take Australia to 187 by tea. Ponting was dropped on 90 and Waugh was almost run out on 67 before reaching his elusive 100.

Waugh's twin brother Mark almost beat Steve to the record in last month's one-off Test against Zimbabwe. However, he was out for 90. Steve then made 151 to leave himself needing only India to complete the set. "Mark missed his opportunity in Zimbabwe... he stuffed up didn't he? He had his chance," Steve said. "I thought `I can't do the same thing'."

First day; Australia won toss

AUSTRALIA - First Innings

G S Blewett c M Prasad b Srinath 4

M J Slater c Ramesh b Ganguly 28

J L Langer lbw b V Prasad 11

M E Waugh c M Prasad b V Prasad 5

*S R Waugh not out 117

R T Ponting run out 125

A C Gilchrist not out 0

Extras (1b, 1lb, 6nb) 8

Total (for 5, 90 overs) 298

Fall: 1-8, 2-29, 3-45, 4-52, 5-291.

Bowling: Srinath 22-3-83-1; Agarkar 16-3-55-0; V Prasad 17-4-50-2; Ganguly 7-1-34-1; Kumble 23-1-60-0; Tendulkar 2-0-12-0; Laxman 3-1-2-0.

India: S Ramesh, D J Gandhi, R Dravid, *S R Tendulkar, S C Ganguly, V V S Laxman, M S K Prasad, J Srinath, B K V Prasad, A Kumble, A B Agarkar.

Umpires: D J Harper and R S Dunne (NZ).

SPOILS OF WAUGH

By scoring a century against India yesterday, Australia's captain Steve Waugh became the first player to make hundreds against every Test- playing nation.

Steve Waugh's first Test hundreds against each nation: England: 177no (Headingley, 1989). Sri Lanka: 134no (Hobart, 1989). West Indies: 100 (Sydney, 1993). New Zealand: 147no (Brisbane, 1993). South Africa: 164 (Adelaide, 1993). Pakistan: 112no (Brisbane, 1995). Zimbabwe: 151no (Harare, 1999). India: 117 (incomplete) (Adelaide, 1999).

Steve Waugh also became only the ninth player to reach 8,000 Test runs: 1 A Border (Aus) 11,174; 2 S Gavaskar (India) 10,122; 3 G Gooch (Eng) 8,900; 4 Javed Miandad (Pak) 8,832; 5 V Richards (WI) 8,540; 6 D Gower (Eng) 8,231; 7 G Boycott (Eng) 8,114; 8 G Sobers (WI) 8,032; 9 S Waugh (Aus) 8,000.