Aussies level series, set up dramatic finale
Prem Panicker
Sometimes, analysts can amaze you with the timeliness of their comments.
Check out, by way of example, this piece by Daniel Laidlaw, wherein he argues that Australia's one-day woes in India have to do with the composition of the bowling attack.
For the fourth ODI, Australia "rotated" itself into a perfect lineup -- and immediately, looked a different, far more formidable outfit. The real key to the Aussie lineup this time was the return, to the top of the order, of the in-form Mathew Hayden, and a bowling attack comprising four regular bowlers, plus a top-quality bowling all-rounder in Shane Lee -- precisely what Daniel was advocating. India for its part made only one change, bringing in Robin Singh to replace Dinesh Mongia.
Srinath raised some alarms in the very first over when he made one angle away off the seam, and lift a touch, to get Adam Gilchrist flaying at it, the thick edge flying to Vijay Dahiya who juggled, then recovered to hold well.
From then on, the bat held sway. Ricky Ponting, for once, showed no signs of the nerves that seem to afflict him early on in his innings. More importantly, from ball one he was easily on the front foot without, as in previous outings, going too far across and ending up playing around his pads. The slight adjustment of the movement of the front foot meant that he was getting bat, as opposed to pad, to the ball. And at the other end, Mathew Hayden batted as he has throughout what has been an incredible personal series -- with absolute conviction, unshakeable self-belief, and for the bowling side, an ominous fluency.
The two got off the blocks smoothly, mixing aggressive boundary hits and well executed singles to such good effect that the partnership registered its 100 in the 19th over, off 110 deliveries. An over later, Hayden got the single he needed for his third 50 in a row (having missed Indore through "rotation") and one over after that, Ponting thick-edged a Harbhajan Singh arm ball to get his own 50.
From then on, it was pure mayhem as two batsmen, one in prime nick and one getting a second wind after a forgettable series, played brilliant one-day cricket. The progression tells its story: 23/1 in 5 overs, 49/1 in 10, 74/1 in 15, 110/1 in 20, 144/1 in 25, 174/1 in 30, 221/1 in 35...
Equally significant is this set of figures -- the first 50 came off 59 deliveries, the second 50 off 53, the third 50 of the Australian innings off 48 balls and the fourth 50, taking Australia to 200, off just 35 balls. A picture, there, of controlled, calculated acceleration. The 200 of the partnership, reflecting this, came up shortly thereafter off just 196 deliveries.
The highlights of the partnership was Ponting's fluent driving in front of the wicket, and Hayden's murderous play square on both sides off both pace and spin. The two raced each other through the nineties, Hayden winning that personal race to record his first ever ODI century while Ponting, shortly thereafter, recored his seventh, and third on Indian soil.
Some relief came for the leg-weary Indians in the 37th over, when Ponting (101) attempted a huge hoik over long on off Agarkar only for the ball to flare off the edge of the bat, high and down the throat of mid off. Three overs later, Matt Hayden did a little jig down the track, lost the plot against a Harbhajan Singh arm ball, and was comfortably stumped by Dahiya to have Australia, at the 40 over mark, on 246/3.
Steve Waugh and Michael Bevan, with a rock solid platform beneath them, pushed the scoring relentlessly, the 50 of the fourth wicket partnership coming off 42 balls, before Waugh holed out to Zaheer Khan in the 48th over, attempting to chip over the on side but picking out the fielder at long on. That cued in the hard-hitting Shane Lee to come out for a brisk end-overs cameo of 25 off 11 deliveries, and Australia ended its innings on 338/4 -- its hightest against India, surpassing the 329/5 put up at the Adelaide Oval during India's last tour Down Under.
A chase of 339 demanded perfect use of the first 15 overs. And that in turn required two in-form openers. In the event, India had only one -- skipper Sourav Ganguly's own personal nightmare continuing for yet another innings.
It was, in fact, a study in contrasts -- Ganguly unable to put bat to ball with any conviction at one end, and Sachin Tendulkar at the other seemingly unable to miss. So much so, that Glenn McGrath, thanks entirely to Sachin's efforts, went for 40 runs in his first six overs, Damien Fleming at the other end going for 35 off 5 -- and this despite McGrath bowling to a desperation field of slip, third man, sweeper cover, point, cover, extra cover and mid off at one point.
Sourav Ganguly lasted till the 10th over. Nathan Bracken, introduced to give Fleming some cover, struck thanks to a combination of good bowling and captaincy. Having shut down the angles on Ganguly's pet off side drives, Waugh moved his slip to a very short cover, Bracken put an outswinger on a driving line outside off, Ganguly went for it, and smashed it straight to the short cover fielder brought in for precisely that.
At the 15 over mark, India was on 84/1, Sachin having contributed 62 off those, off just 34 balls. That second figure -- balls faced -- indicates a little problem the Indians were having. Both Ganguly and Laxman, during that 15-over period, couldn't quite manage to give the in-form batsman the bulk of the strike.
With the asking rate climbing, Sachin in the 16th over slapped a cover drive at a ball from Bracken slightly short and lifting, aiming to hit on the up and managing, only, to pick out Steve Waugh at short cover. India 85/2, Sachin 62 off 38 deliveries, and the writing -- given the magnitude of the chase -- pretty much on the wall.
Nathan Bracken merits high praise for his performance here. A disciplined line and length, just the right amount of variation, and an ability to bowl to his field ensured that while the two frontline bowlers were collared, Brakcen produced a superb first spell of 5-1-9-1 -- and almost single-handedly turned the pressure back on India. It needs noting, too, that Bracken first came on to bowl when Tendulkar was in a murderous frame of mind.
VVS Laxman, here, had one of his rare failures on this tour -- Warne drifted an arm ball down the leg side, Laxman shaped to glide to fine leg, missed, and overbalanced. Adam Gilchrist did superbly well, collecting the ball, then waiting just that little fraction for Laxman's back foot to lift before knocking the bails off to complete a classical stumping.
Laxman went with India needing 252 off 198 -- and India just didn't have the batting to take it to the wire from there. Dravid came dancing down the wicket to smash Warne down the straight field, but only managed to hit the ball back, at bullet speed, for Warne to make a good face-high catch look deceptively easy.
Steve Waugh has been saying, off and on, that these days he bowls as a means of working out his frustrations. Judging by the way he went today, Australia must be wishing Waugh got frustrated more often -- tight line and length bowling got the wicket of Badani, driving too early at a ball held back a bit, to scoop off the toe of the bat to Warne at short cover. Robin Singh for his part fell in a fashion very much his own, pushing away from the body at a ball from Waugh angling past him, looking to dab to third man and ending up nudging to the keeper instead. Waugh should have got Agarkar LBW immediately thereafter, again with some sensible bowling -- Agarkar was greeted by a bouncer first up (the Aussie captain paying the bowler back for his own constant long-running bouncer war?) and the follow up was a delivery of full length, landing on line of middle and going through straight to take the pad.
At the other end, Warne -- who, for once in a position to apply pressure, turned in his best figures on this tour to date -- produced a well flighted leg break to bring Dahiya forward on the drive, the turn finding the thick edge for Hayden, at slip, to mimic Mark Waugh's effortless catching in that position.
The Indian innings had collapsed -- and Australia (despite Warne having a very good LBW shout against Zaheer Khan being turned down in the 35th over) merely had to complete the formalities. In the 36th over, Steve Waugh pitched one on middle going well down to leg, got Agarkar on the pad and the umpire, probably conscious of having turned down a dilly in the Aussie skipper's previous over, evened the scales by giving this one out.
Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, both of whom seem to enjoy their batting of late and have also shown a marked reluctance to give up their wickets without a fight, then produced a little partnership that epitomised those traits. Harbhajan in particular, seemed to feel insulted when Waugh brought part-timer Michael Bevan to bowl at him. A pulled six over midwicket in the 40th over was followed by two smashing straight sixes off the same bowler in the 42nd, the sequence being interrupted by a cheeky little dab off a Fleming yorker, to get a four to fine leg. Zaheer, for his part, seemed to feel equally insulted when McGrath was brought back to try and finish things off -- and greeted him with a belter, over long on, for six, the celebrating with a straight four a ball later. All good, clean fun for a crowd that had spent most of the Indian innings silent in disappointment. McGrath produced the slower full toss for Zaheer to drive the catch to cover, ending an entertaining cameo. Harbhajan and Srinath then took up the slack -- apparently intent on ruining McGrath's figures. Until, finally, Harbhajan (46) holed out attempting one big hit too many, pulling a short one from McGrath to backward square, ending India's innings ending on 245 and giving Australia a 93-run win.
This report is being written before the presentation ceremony -- so in passing, I'll just say this, that if adjudicator Cammie Smith is seduced, as so many adjudicators have been in the past, by the runs flowing and gives the man of the match awared to anyone other than Nathan Bracken, then there is no justice in this world.
Batting pitch, runs flowing by the tonne, even the great McGrath being slammed for sixes and fours by the Harbhajan Singhs and Zaheer Khans -- and Bracken returns the most impeccable figures on both sides.
It's a batting game anyways -- shouldn't bowlers get some little encouragement, before they become altogether extinct?
Scoreboard
Adam Gilchrist on the match - in Real Audio.
Mail your comments
