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Aussies win the
Champions Trophy for the first time! |
November 05, 2006 (Link to
Scorecard)
World Champs Australia have at last ended their
Champions Trophy jinx by beating West Indies in
the Final at Mumbai to win the Tournament for
the first time! In a rain interrupted match, the
Aussies came as the winners in a totally
one-sided affair after they had skittled out
defending champs West Indies for just 138. Led
by an unbeaten half century from all rounder
Shane Watson and a solid undefeated 47 from
Damien Martyn, Australia knocked off the revised
Duckworth/Lewis target of 116 from 35 overs with
41 deliveries to spare and with 8 wickets in
hand.
The Man of the Match award had gone to Shane
Watson for his fifth ODI half century but the
real Man of the Match should have been left arm
medium pacer Nathan Bracken who saved the day
for the Aussies. Bracken had taken three crucial
wickets with the ball to help Australia not only
stop the dangerous Chanderpaul and Gayle but
also to come back into the match strongly. It
looked like West Indies’ day at the Brabourne
Stadium after they had won the toss and decided
to take first strike. Both sides had gone with
one change with the Australians getting in the
specialist spinner Brad Hogg for Mitchell
Johnson and West Indies getting in the
experienced Corey Collymore for all rounder
Dwayne Smith. The start was a brilliant one from
Chanderpaul and Gayle who took the bull by its
horns. Brett Lee was the target as he was hit
out of the attack with 36 runs coming from his
three overs which included a six off a leading
edge from Chanderpaul over thirdman. Aussies
were in a serious spot of bother as their
opposition looked good to set up a huge target
to chase. But Nathan Bracken provided the much
needed breakthrough which ended the carnage from
Chanderpaul as he dragged one of his square cuts
onto his stumps. It was a clever change of pace
from Bracken who had got the ball to cut back
into the left hander to dismiss him for 27 with
West Indies at 49 for 1. Chanderpaul’s 27 had
come in just 18 balls with 4 fours and a six.
The wicket of Chanderpaul only got Gayle to
become more aggressive and even the great Glenn
McGrath was taken to the cleaners. Once again
Nathan Bracken provided the breakthrough, this
time getting the wicket of Ramnaresh Sarwan who
had played his flick early to spoon a catch to
mid on. Bracken who was brave enough to pitch
the ball up to Gayle was rewarded with the
wicket of the left hander as he got one to angle
in and hold its line to take the offstump. Gayle
was clean bowled after he didn’t cover the line
of that delivery to be out in the 10th over
after scoring a 27-ball 37 which had two sixes
off McGrath and half a dozen boundaries. Windies
were off to a flier with 80 on the board after
10 overs but they had lost three wickets! The
situation was now brought under control by
McGrath who complemented Bracken very well.
A couple of more wickets followed for the
Kangaroos which included the big one of Brian
Lara who edged McGrath behind the stumps to be
brilliantly taken by Gilchrist diving to his
left. The other wicket that McGrath had got was
that of the inform Runako Morton. The West
Indian innings never recovered from the big
blows and had come to an end in just the 31st
over with a paltry total of 138. Only three
batsmen could score in double figures! Only
Andrew Symonds of the six used bowlers couldn’t
take a wicket but he did chip in with a run out
that of Corey Collymore that had got the West
Indies all out.
Australia had to bat out for some time before
the supper break which they did in a shaky
fashion losing Gilchrist and Ponting. Gilchrist
was caught in the slips after he had not come
back and across enough to cover for the away
movement generated by Bradshaw. Ponting fell
once again to Jerome Taylor after he shuffled
across to get beaten on the pads by an inswinger.
The break was taken at 6:00 PM local time with
the Aussies at 45 for 2 after 10 overs.
Meanwhile there was a huge cloud that was
building up and it was just matter of time
before the rain had hit the ground. The match
could resume only at 9:00 PM and the target was
a revised one with Watson and Martyn walking in
with their side requiring another 71 to get from
25 overs. Both batsmen played with caution and
there were no big shots played at all but all
the loose deliveries that were bowled were
dispatched to the boundaries. Victory for the
Australians came in the first ball of the 29th
over.
Shane Watson had scored 57 which had come in 88
balls with four boundaries while Damien Martyn
for the third time in this tournament remained
unbeaten, this time he got 47 from 71 with six
fours. The Man of the Tournament as expected
went to Chris Gayle who not only scored the big
runs with the bat but was also street smart with
his off breaks! The better side which was
Australia had deservingly won the Tournament and
it was Nathan Bracken’s triple blow that really
gave them the opportunity to win!
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