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Rain rescues
India from a demoralizing defeat against Aussies |
September 16, 2006 (Link to
Scorecard)
The third match of the DLF Cup has been
abandoned following incessant rain during the
second half. It was the much awaited
Australia-India clash that started out in a
promising fashion with the Aussies going berserk
and then India pulling things back to get
themselves in a strong position. India had to
chase a target of 245, which they could have
successfully done through a mixture of caution
and aggression. However, there was a rain break
that made the new target for the Indians
absolutely tough with 170 to get off 29 overs.
It was a cautious start from Dravid and
Tendulkar in the five overs before the break
putting up just 16 on the board. The batsmen had
to get back after the break with a totally
changed attitude and they had to go for their
shots, which they did, and found themselves out
of the game at 35 for 5 in 8 overs. Mitchell
Johnson was too accurate and too quick as he
swung the ball around in the right spots to
account for four dismissals in the space of two
overs. India were definitely in for a
demoralizing defeat, but the rain had saved them
and the Umpires had to call off the match as the
rain did not stop at all.
In the afternoon, Ricky Ponting had rightly
called 'Heads' and he opted to bat first. His
new opening combination was Shane Watson along
with Phil Jaques. There were changes in the
Australian side with Simon Katich, Dan Cullen
and Nathan Bracken giving way to Damien Martyn,
Brad Hogg and Stuart Clark. The Indian team had
just one change with Yuvraj Singh getting in for
Mohammad Kaif. After a few watchful overs from
Agarkar and Munaf, the opening pair of Watson
and Jaques decided to take the bowlers on. The
bowlers were getting clobbered and it was only
at the end of the 10th over that India could get
the breakthrough. Phil Jaques (25 in 25 balls,
2x4s 1x6) was the first one to go as he had
miscued his slog off Munaf Patel. Australia were
off to a good start by then scoring 64 on the
board. Ricky Ponting looked dangerous and he
kept the momentum going with Watson. He was
unfortunately dismissed as he played his pull
shot off Pathan straight to short fine leg,
Sachin Tendulkar. The dangerous Ponting could
get 20 to his name with four boundaries. RP
Singh got India back on the track as Damien
Martyn gave catching practice to Dravid at first
slip off his bowling. Dravid had spilled the
catch though but juggled it enough for Dhoni to
take it on the rebound.
 With
all the three powerplays got rid of, Dravid got
Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag to operate
in tandem. Australia couldn't get going as they
struggled to get in terms of the turn and the
variations from Harbhajan in particular. It was
Harbhajan who got India into a strong position
as he got the wickets of Shane Watson and Mark
Cosgrove to reduce Australia to 167 for 5 in the
32nd over. Watson who smashed his 3rd ODI fifty
was taken inches above the grass at short mid
wicket by Suresh Raina after playing an uppish
flick. Watson fell after making 79 from just 70
balls with the help of 10 boundaries and 2
sixes. Cosgrove, the other batsman dismissed by
Harbhajan, was forced to nick a sharp off break
to the slip fielder. Michael Clarke had to slow
down and make sure that Australia lasted out the
50 overs, he almost achieved that as he batted
till the 47th over to take Australia to 230 for
7. Clarke had got 64 in 94 balls with 5 sixes
and a pull for a six off Munaf Patel before
holing onto the deep. Ajit Agarkar and Munaf
Patel got the wickets of the tail to rap up the
innings for 244 with four balls remaining. For
the record, there was a short rain delay at the
fall of Stuart Clark's wicket which was the 9th
one of the innings after 48.5 overs. Munaf Patel
had ended up with three wickets, going for 53 in
his 10. The best of the pack was Harbhajan Singh
with 2 for 26 in 10 and he was well complemented
by Sehwag with none for 43 in his 10. Irfan
Pathan's lackluster form with the ball continued
and this time he went for 32 in 4 overs.
There was always the threat of rain for the
Indians when they had come down to bat. The last
stages of the Australian innings saw lightning
in the sky and there were the thunders that were
threatening the future of the match. The hope
for India was that they could get to bat out
enough overs to constitute a proper ODI as the
ground at the Kinrara Academy Oval would anyway
dry very quickly. The first ball that Sachin
Tendulkar had faced against Glenn McGrath, which
was in the 3rd over of the innings, was a short
of length delivery that crashed right on his
helmet. Tendulkar thought that it was a bouncer
that would go over his head. McGrath earned the
first points for sure but Tendulkar had later
charged down the track to lift him just over mid
on's head for a boundary. That wasn't a well
executed shot from Tendulkar but he definitely
showed glimpses of what was coming up against
McGrath from him for the rest of the match. But
rain played spoilsport and the players had to
leave back to the pavilion with India at 15/0 in
5 overs.
After a long break, the Umpires could manage to
get play underway and the new target for India
was 170 from 29 overs. It looked like a
chaseable target for India considering that the
wet outfield would have made it difficult for
the bowlers to grip. But Mitchell Johnson had
other ideas as he took the outfield out of the
equation as he thought the 22 yards strip was
more than enough to cause the damage. India
first lost Dravid (6 in 21 balls) in an attempt
to break free. The skipper had driven Mitchell
Johnson on the rise and straight into covers.
The very next delivery following Dravid's
dismissal was a cracker of a delivery from the
left armer which nipped back sharply to defeat
Pathan's weak defence and rattle the stumps.
Sehwag had joined Tendulkar and the former got
yet another upper cut over the slips for a six,
this time the bowler was Stuart Clark. But the
joy was short lived as Sehwag (8 in 5 balls) was
run out at the striker's end after being sent
back by Tendulkar in an attempt to get a third
run for his cover drive. Replays showed that
Tendulkar had turned blindly in his 2nd run and
had taken few steps forward before saying 'no'
to leave Sehwag stranded mid way. Tendulkar (12
in 17 balls) soon succumbed to the pressure as
he drove away from his body to an away going
delivery from Mitchell Johnson to be caught by
the keeper. Yuvraj Singh was also removed by
Mitchell Johnson as he had to fend helplessly to
the slips to one that angled in and bounced a
bit more. All this time, the match was played
with slight drizzle in the air and as Dhoni
walked in to join Suresh Raina, the rain got
heavier for the Umpires to halt play and call on
for the covers. The rain continued to stay much
to the delight of the Indian team and in the
end, the match was abandoned.
This match has shown that India should use spin
as the major weapon in the next two games and
they might bring in either Dinesh Mongia or
Ramesh Powar to drop one of the seamers. Irfan
Pathan might get the axe for his poor bowling
but RP Singh might be the one who could be out.
Australia have shown that they can dominate with
any combination of players in their line up. The
Aussies have found a new bowling hero in
Mitchell Johnson who ended up with devastating
figures of 4 for 11 in his 4 overs. The next
match is between Australia and West Indies on
the 18th which would be followed with great
interest by the Indians as they require Windies
to lose to stay in this tournament.
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