Australian chokers lift English hopes ahead of Ashes

London: Chokers. That was the stark verdict of the Australian media after Ricky Ponting's team threw away an apparently unassailable position in Mohali on Tuesday.

This was a terrific match for the neutral, a finale to rival anything thrown up by the famous Ashes series of 2005. Yet the result — a one-wicket win for India — was a disaster for Ponting, and will hearten his English rivals as they prepare for their imminent flight to Perth.

The Indian cause had seemed hopeless as they slumped to 124 for eight in pursuit of 216 on the final day of the first Test. But VVS Laxman — a man who has plagued Australia as relentlessly as the cane toad — was India's inspiration yet again.

The result gave the latest indication that this Australian side has a soft spot at its core. They should never have lost the game. But then they should never have lost last year's Ashes either, according to all the statistics.

Bad luck

As ever in such close matches, Australia could point to some ill fortune. In particular, the team's captain Ricky Ponting would have been spraying the champagne but for the stomach injury that forced Doug Bollinger out of the game just before lunch.

Not only was Bollinger taking wickets — bouncing out both Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh during the four overs he could manage on Tuesday — but he is the most accurate bowler in this team, and thus the man most likely to curb Laxman's scattergun boundaries.

The role of tourniquet should really have gone to Nathan Hauritz, Australia's off-spinner, except that he was conceding five runs an over.

The lack of an heir for the great Shane Warne has become a key issue for Australia, and may well continue to undermine them as the winter unfolds.

If the two Ashes squads appear well-matched in batting and seam bowling, neither Hauritz nor his nearest rival Steven Smith can compete with England's buoyant all-rounder Graeme Swann.

The Aussies will now move on to Bangalore, where they begin the second and final Test on Sunday. Unless they win it, they will slip below England at No 5 in the world rankings — another omen, perhaps, for the winter to come.