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Aussies too good
for India yet again! |
October 29, 2006 (Link to
Scorecard)
Aussies have made shortwork of a toothless
Indian Challenge at Mohali to storm into the
Semi-Finals of the Champions Trophy. On a pitch
that was full of runs, the Indian batsmen fell
about 50 runs short due to a magnificently
controlled bowling from the World Champs. The
bowling from India was in the hands of
inexperienced blokes with the exception of
Harbhajan Singh and the target of 250 was easily
achieved by Australia which won the match by six
wickets with 26 deliveries to spare.
Damien Martyn got his second consecutive Man of
the Match as he once again came up with a fluent
knock, another unbeaten half century. Martyn was
also the top scorer of the day with 73 that had
come in 104 balls with 8 fours. His stay in the
middle had nothing to do with pressure as the
platform for a comfortable victory was laid by
an opening start of 61 followed by another
50-run partnership. Shane Watson and Skipper
Ricky Ponting had also chipped in with
attractive half-centuries. Adam Gilchrist was
the only one who missed out in getting a big one
after he had cut a Sreesanth delivery uppishly
to point.
The bowling from India was very loose, giving
away plenty of boundary scoring opportunities as
the bowlers sprayed on both sides of the wicket.
The only way India could win this match was to
take wickets at regular intervals which never
happened. The team had to look up to Harbhajan
Singh as usual to produce his magic, which he
failed to do so as the Australians were smart
enough to keep him away. Harbhajan went
wicketless in his 10 overs in which he conceded
49 runs which was a big blow for Rahul Dravid.
Of all the bowlers, Shantakumaran Sreesanth
looked the better as he bowled some beautiful
deliveries by getting the ball to pitch on the
seam. Sreesanth picked up two wickets that of
Gilchrist and Ponting in his 8 overs. He was not
originally part of the tournament but was a late
replacement for the injured Ajit Agarkar.
This was a virtual Quarter-Final between these
two teams and the side that won today’s game was
going to meet New Zealand in the first
Semi-Final at Mohali on the 1st. Rahul Dravid
had won the toss and had done the right thing in
batting first. A big total of 300 plus was
required as the Aussies bat deep down the order
with each batsman being a match winner on his
own. Virender Sehwag started on the right note
taking the bull by its horns. His flashing shots
at the start of the innings saw Brett Lee taken
out of the attack. But India’s bright start was
given a halt by Glenn McGrath who once again got
the better of Sachin Tendulkar who could make
just 10.
Dinesh Mongia, the new no.3 looked solid in his
stay but was not helping the game to move
forward in the powerplay and with that India was
starting to lose the momentum created by Sehwag.
Mongia was out after making 18 and Dravid, the
next man got a decent partnership with Sehwag.
The Australian bowling was giving away nothing
as the bowlers never bowled the boundary balls
as they got settled into a good rhythm. India’s
progress was hit back badly in the 29th over
when Virender Sehwag was lbw to a surprise
inswinger from the left armer Mitchell Johnson.
Sehwag couldn’t carry on to make a hundred as he
fell for 65. Although he got off to a flier, he
was pegged down by some tight bowling to finish
at facing 90 balls to get those 65 which had 9
hits to the fence.
Dravid helped himself to a fifty before falling
in the crunch trying to step up the gas. Even in
the slog overs, India couldn’t really get going
thanks to consistent use of overpitched
deliveries from the Aussies which kept the big
shots from the lndians down. Dhoni somehow
managed a 23-ball 28 which got India to close at
249 for 8. The last ten overs had produced just
the 57 runs! Glenn McGrath was top notch with
figures of 2 for 34 in his 10 while Brett Lee
and Nathan Bracken had also picked up a couple
of wickets going at around 5.50 runs per over in
their 10 overs. Mitchell Johnson and Shane
Watson who provided the bowling depth bowled
accurately well besides taking a wicket each.
In the end, India was outplayed in all the three
departments by the far superior Australian team.
The Aussies just coasted to victory and were
never under any pressure to get the runs on this
pitch.
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