Clarke salutes Aussie fast bowlers

Skipper Michael Clarke saluted his three pacemen for twice knocking over Indias strong batting lineup to earn Australia an emphatic winning start to the four-Test series in Melbourne on Thursday.The Australian pace trio of James Pattinson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus shared 19 wickets to restrict India to a two-innings total of 451 as the home side romped to a 122-run victory in four days.The pace attack reduced Indias regal top order to 81 for six as the tourists failed to come close to the challenging target of 292 runs needed for victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.Clarke, whose team rebounded spectacularly from their shattering seven-run defeat to lowly New Zealand in Hobart earlier this month, praised his bowlers for their stout-hearted efforts.It was a really hard-fought Test match and we have to be at our best to beat India, said Clarke, who improved his record as Test skipper to four wins from nine Tests.Theyve got a lot of class players, their batting order is as strong as any batting order in the world, so for our bowlers to have success I think they deserve a lot of credit.It helps when youve got three fast bowlers bowling with great control, good pace. That makes a big difference.Pattinson, 21, picked up his second man-of-the-match award in only his third Test match after taking match figures of six for 108 and hitting a vital unbeaten 37 in the second innings to frustrate Indias efforts to restrict Australias lead.Australias three pacemen also contributed significantly with the bat, with Siddle hitting 41 in the first innings and Hilfenhaus chipping in with knocks of 19 and 14 along with Pattinsons two unbeaten knocks.The advantage we have at the moment is Sidds and Patto are making runs so theyre making up for a few of us like me. I didnt make any runs, Clarke said.
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