Cricket Tournaments

Mitchell Johnson and Doug Bollinger made excellent use of the early morning moisture on the Guwahati pitch as Australia crushed India by 6 wickets in the 6th one-day international, and in the process clinched the series 4-2. Johnson picked up three wickets while Bollinger claimed his maiden five-wicket haul to bowl India out for a paltry 170. Matters could have been worse for the home side, but for defiant half-centuries from Ravindra Jadeja and Praveen Kumar. They had crumbled to 27/5 and then 75/7 before the Jadeja and Kumar combined to add a valuable 74 for the eighth wicket. In reply, Australia lost Shaun Marsh early, but handy contributions from the remaining batsmen saw them through easily.

Earlier in the day, MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first – a decision which he was left ruing within 15 minutes of the game. Mitchell Johnson, who had a horrendous series before the game, came into his own on a pitch that offered him more than a semblance of assistance. Though Virender Sehwag smashed the second delivery of the game for six over point, he was cleaned up the left-arm seamer in the same over with a fuller delivery. The Indian opener’s defence stood thoroughly exposed as his attempted drive saw his stumps ending up in shambles. In came Gautam Gambhir and, in a matter of minutes, out went Gambhir. The left-handed batsmen tried to play one across the line on the on side, but the ball moved in the opposite direction and sent the furniture behind him cart-wheeling. Soon, Johnson sent back sometimes in-form, sometimes out-of-form Suresh Raina with a slower delivery that the youngster failed to pick and handed a simple catch to short mid-on.

At the other end, Bollinger was in his elements too. Amidst all the havoc wreaked by Johnson, he began by sending back the danger man Sachin Tendulkar, caught and bowled off a straightish delivery. Next man Yuvraj Singh was dismissed rather freakishly. Unaware of where the ball had landed up after playing a defensive stroke, Yuvraj turned around in place his bat inside his crease. Unfortunately, the ball was still in motion at that very place and the meeting the willow saw it end up dislodging the bails.

As if India weren’t embarrassed enough, Bollinger returned for two more spells and had an equally damaging impact. He broke a steadily developing partnership between Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja. The Indian skipper was a tad unlucky as he was adjudged lbw off a delivery that was going to miss the off-stump. But this was Bollinger’s day. He got his much-deserved fifth wicket when Jadeja went for an ambitious on-side wallop in the batting power play just after completing his half-century. Some meaty blows by Kumar ensured India gained a degree of respectability before Shane Watson cleaned up the tail.

Australia did not have too much trouble in their chase. There was a brief flutter when Ponting and Waston fell after a steadying partnership. But the Indian bowlers did not have enough runs to play with. In the end, it was a deserving win for the Aussies.

The heartbreak at Hyderabad will rankle the Indians just as much as the loss in the Chennai Test against Pakistan a decade ago. It was a match India should have won considering they had six wickets in hand and just over 50 to get. But they blew it away rather embarrassingly and the last few minutes of game proved why they do not deserve to be the number one team in the world. The frenetic running between the wickets was absolutely pathetic, and that is to put it mildly; Ravindra Jadeja’s run-out was symptomatic of the Indian effort, if you take out Sachin Tendulkar and the contribution Suresh Raina to an extent.

The defeat will once again raise questions regarding Sachin not being a finisher despite the fact that he scored more than 50 per cent of the runs in the chase. However, it was clearly the younger brigade which let India down. The fact that Raina doesn’t know how to pull has been demonstrated in his dismissals umpteen times, yet he keeps playing that fatal stroke at inopportune moments. And Thursday’s dismissal is one he would not like to remember, but one is sure he won’t be able to forget it soon considering it ended up costing India the match. Time and again, Raina has looked good enough to take India to the finishing line. However, he’s been a failure on most occasions.

Similarly, Jadeja had another great opportunity to become a hero, only to squander it away with some nonsensical play. His charge down the pitch when the ball hadn’t gone anywhere but straight to the fielder was a clear indication that he couldn’t handle the pressure out in the middle. And the Aussies pounced on him and every chance they got to mow down the Indians. Praveen Kumar’s six in the dying moments did give India hope. Unfortunately, the earlier batsmen had just left him with a little too much to achieve.

What hurt India most was there was only one partnership of note, which took them to the doorsteps of victory, but was broken just as the Aussies were beginning to run out of ideas. Virender Sehwag cannot be blamed on this occasion, since he had not option but to go after the bowlers right from the start. However, chasing such a mammoth target, India desperately needed at least two out of Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni to fire. That did not happen and if India still got so tantalizingly close to the target, it was only due to Sachin’s efforts. He has to ask himself though whether he needs such stressful times at this stage of his career.

India have now lost two consecutive matches chasing. Remember they came into the series with a strong batting line-up as their strength and have faced what can be termed as an efficient bowling line-up at best considering the number of injured players in the Australian side. This certainly doesn’t augur well for the home side. Their bowling too struggled at Hyderabad, however that had more to do with the pitch. The loss though has to be attributed to a total lack of mental application by the batters, especially towards the end when a cool head would have done the trick.

The BCCI selectors decided to name the squad that was selected for Vadodara and Nagpur for the next two ODIs against Australia. This announcement was made by the chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth, following India’s series-levelling, comprehensive 99-run win at Nagpur.

There was plenty of pressure on fast bowler Ishant Sharma and medium-pacer Praveen Kumar and Suresh Raina, to some extent, to retain their places. However, impressive showing by the trio at Nagpur meant India are confident of going in with an unchanged squad, at least for the next two matches. Munaf Patel and Sudeep Tyagi continue to remain in the squad as back up for the first-choice pacers.

The third and fourth ODIs will be held in Delhi and Mohali on October 31 and November 2 respectively.

The squad

MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Suresh Raina, Sudeep Tyagi, Yuvraj Singh

More ‘Paine’ for Australia

Meanwhile, Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine, who has impressed in both the games played against India, is the latest in the injury list for the visiting team. The dashing batsman will miss the remainder of the series due to a broken finger. Paine picked up the injury during Australia’s disastrous 99-run defeat in the second match of the seven-game series at Nagpur.
Paine, who himself was drafted into the Australian side as a replacement for the already injured Brad Haddin, will now be replaced by Graham Manou. He is likely to feature in the third one-dayer to be held New Delhi on Saturday.
Earlier, the Aussies missed the services of pace spearhead Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes during the team’s loss at Nagpur. Also missing from the series due to injuries are vice-captain and middle-order batsman Michael Clarke as well as left-arm seamer Nathan Bracken. Owing to the injuries, New South Wales’ Moises Henriques was called in as cover by the Aussie management.

Carrying on the momentum they gained from the Harbhajan-Praveen partnership during the first ODI, India put up a near flawless performance at Nagpur They won by 99 runs to the level the series 1-1, heading into Delhi. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the standout performer for the Indians, stroking a marvellous 124. Further, there were crucial contributions from the other members of the XI too, making it an excellent team effort. Gautam Gambhir continued his good form with a fluent 76 while Suresh Raina relieved some of the pressure on him, making a whirlwind 62.

In the bowling department as well India had their heroes. Praveen Kumar made up for his shabby showing at Vadodara by bowling a probing first spell, claiming two wickets. Ishant Sharma showed further signs of improvement by picking up a couple of scalps and bowling economically, whereas part-timer Ravindra Jadeja ended up being the surprise package, bagging three Australian wickets.

On the other hand, the only thing which went right for Ricky Ponting was winning the toss. But, in hindsight, he would dearly have wanted to lose it. Punter’s decision to bowl first on a batting beauty, keeping in mind the dew factor, backfired and that too in a big way. Australia did manage to strike early when Peter Siddle got Sachin Tendulkar to edge one behind the wickets. But what followed was a fascinating and expected counterattack by Virender Sehwag and Gambhir. The Aussies smelt blood when Sehwag fell for 40, going for one of his big hits and Yuvraj Singh’s promising knock was cut short by Ben Hilfenhaus’ excellent reflex catch. That however only turned out to be the beginning of a long struggle for the Australians.

Dhoni and Gambhir joined forces to decimate the already depleted Aussies. Runs flowed with ease on a pitch that figuratively read ‘bowlers’ graveyard’. Pace spearhead Brett Lee was sorely missed and in his absence even the others were less effective. Siddle was by far the best of the bowlers, pitching the ball more often in the block hole than the others. Conversely, Mitchell Johnson’s expensive figures looked slightly better only because of the couple of wickets he picked up in the last over. That too was thanks too some splendid glovework from Tim Paine. Nathan Hauritz kept things tight but went wicketless, while Shane Watson, whom Ponting reposed faith in despite him 20-run over in the last match, was smashed for plenty yet again.

Even so, nothing can be taken away from M S Dhoni, who paced his innings to perfection. Following the unfortunate run-out of Gambhir, he and Raina steadied the innings before going on an all-out attack in the slog overs. Dhoni brought up his hundred launching a six straight down the ground, off a struggling Johnson. At the other end, Raina kept swinging his bat at everything and, luckily for India, there were more hits than misses. Both were eventually dismissed in the final over, but by then India posted a colossal 354/7.

For Australia to get anywhere close, an outstanding start was needed. Praveen ensured it never came. His inswinging deliveries accounted for Paine and Ponting while Ishant sent back Waston with a rising delivery as the Aussies stumbled to 45/3 and the game was all but decided, barring a miracle. Michael Hussey and Cameron White put on a steadying partnership. However, it was far from enough. White fell to Harbhajan for 23 in an attempt to accelerate the scoring. Hussey went on to top score for his side with a patient 53, before he ended up becoming one of Jadeja’s three victims. The left-hander was beaten in flight by the left-arm spinner and clean bowled. Later, Shaun Marsh was stumped by a long distance and Adam Voges fell going for a slog to give Jadeja his best one-day return in his short international career.

It was a thoroughly comprehensive win for the home side and one that should set up the series nicely, with scores level and everything to play for.

Though the margin of victory in the Vadodara ODI was a mere four runs, Australia were clearly the more dominant of the two sides, with India playing catch up for most part of the game. And the one major difference that cost India greatly was the lack of partnerships chasing a big total. While the experienced Aussie top and middle-order laid a solid foundation for their side, the Indian batting collapsed rather inexplicably on a decent batting surface.

If not for Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar, India would have ended up with a rather embarrassing total. Virender Sehwag looked in great nick, but as often said before he sometimes needs to be careful with his shot selection. His opening partner for the opening game, Sachin Tendulkar, had an off day and will have to strike form soon.

The pressure of captaincy seems to be getting to MS Dhoni. After yet another low score, he would be desperate to do well. Batting higher up the order and playing his natural game should be an option worth considering. Speaking of youngsters, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli have been playing some breezy cameos. However, in modern day cricket, you need to grow fast and 30s and 40s won’t be good enough for long. This applies more to Raina than Kohli, who is relatively new to the international arena.

The Indian batsmen, both young and old, can learn from the manner in which Australia constructed their innings. Despite losing Shane Watson early, Tim Paine and Ricky Ponting protected their wickets during the tough initial period, when the ball was doing things and accelerated once they got their eyes in. And even after they fell, Cameron White and Mike Hussey ensured the good work continued. White, in particular, must be credited for curbing his natural game until later in the innings. Hussey’s final flourish was fantabulous and took Australia to a total they would have been highly pleased with, even though they failed to touch 300.

The Aussies were better of the two outfits with the ball in hand as well. Only Ishant Sharma and Ashish Nehra saved the day for India. Praveen Kumar was lacklustre and Harbhajan Singh was less than half the bowler he was during the tri-series final in Sri Lanka. In stark contrast, Australia had most of their bowlers in form. Brett Lee provided the early breakthrough and also kept up the pressure on the batsmen.

Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson backed them up in the desired manner while Nathan Hauritz is getting more and more impressive with every game. It was just the one over from Watson and a few lapses in the field that had Australia huffing and puffing briefly. But then, were Australia briefly struggled, the Indians disappointment for an extended duration. Thus, it has to be said that the final outcome was a fair one.

Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar added a whirlwind 84 for the eighth wicket, but it wasn’t enough as India still fell short by four runs chasing Australia’s impressive 292/8 in the first ODI at Vadodara. If only the top and middle-order of India had put up some better resistance on a pitch that was not difficult to bat on, Praveen and Harbhajan’s effort would not have been in vain or, to be honest, it might not have been needed. Instead they floundered and ended up conceding the advantage to Australia.

Things started on a positive note when Virender Sehwag, in his peerless style, eased Brett Lee for consecutive boundaries from the first two balls of the innings. However, it was too brief to have any impact as the pacer had his revenge soon, having him caught behind for 13 of an away-going delivery. From there on, it was all downhill for India until the final flourish, with only Gautam Gambhir holding fort with a measured 68. Sachin Tendulkar, opening the innings, looked completely out of sync and air-drove a wide delivery from Shane Watson straight into the hands of Ponting at short-cover. Virat Kohli and skipper MS Dhoni contributed 30 and 34 respectively. However, they both fell when India needed them to carry on for much longer.

The turning point, though, ended up being the dismissal of the well-set Gambhir. The left-hander fell off the first ball of the batting Powerplay when Mitchell Johnson got one to swing enough to beat his defence and trap him in front of the stumps. After that, there was a procession of wickets, which was halted only by blitzkriegs from Praveen and Harbhajan. The duo gave India a realistic chance after they slammed 20 from the penultimate over of the innings bowled by Shane Watson, a number of them full tosses. Nine were needed from the final over, but unlike Watson the less experienced Peter Siddle kept his calm. He cleaned up Harbhajan one short of his 50 and ensured Australia took the crucial lead in the series.

Earlier in the day, steady contributions from a number of their batsmen and shoddy bowling and fielding from the opposition meant that Australia ended up posting a healthy total on board. Ashish Nehra did provide India the early breakthrough, sending back the in-from Watson lbw with one that beat him for pace and movement. But Australia recovered magnificently with all the next four batsmen producing half-centuries against an ineffective Indian attack, and Tim Paine consolidated and then attacked before Cameron White and Mike Hussey carried on the good work, the latter providing the final flourish. He and Johnson took 18 off the 49th over bowled by Praveen. This included an outrageous six by Hussey, which cleared the ground and had even the batsman raising his eyebrows in a ‘wow! how did I manage that’ moment.

Hussey fell for a magnificent 73 from 51, enough to earn him the man of the match. Ishant Sharma was the pick of the Indian bowlers, claiming 3/50 – two of them coming in the last over – while Nehra ended up with 2/58. The other two regular bowlers were highly disappointing though. Praveen went for 77 bowling his full quota and Harbhajan yet again failed to make an impact. Ravindra Jadeja was more impressive, sending back the well-set Ponting and even restricting the runs.

At the end of the day, however, Australia had enough firepower to overcome whatever resistance India put up and win the opening battle.