India carries winning form into one-dayers

By Vijay Lokapally

BANGALORE, MARCH 25. The collective effort of the Indians proved too hot for the Australians, who must be worried at losing the winning streak in both forms of the game.

The Indian cricketers, in keeping with their new-found image, extended their dominance over the Australians, this time in a limited-over contest.

The memories of the Test debacles continued to haunt the Australians, who were shockingly uncharacteristic in some aspects of the game tonight. They dropped a few catches, fumbled in the field and their throws failed to hit the stumps. This was not the Australian team one had known.

It was nice to see a different Indian team, certainly not the kind one had known prior to this home series. There was lot of drive and substance to its efforts on the field tonight. Quite a refreshing acquisition for this team of young achievers who pulled off a 60-run victory to send the crowd into raptures.

The Indian victory, soured by two debatable leg-before decisions against Matthew Hayden and Steve Waugh, was built on the platform erected by a determined display from Rahul Dravid and his two adventurous partners - Virender Sehwag and Vijay Dahiya, not to forget the cameos by Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman.

Night to remember for Sehwag

It was a night to remember for `man of the match' Sehwag, keen to make a mark in the big league; a night to remember for Dahiya, returning from an injury; and of course for Dravid, wanting to prove a lot of people wrong. But Sehwag stood out for his handsome contribution as off-spinner too.

The gritty Australians made a brave charge under the floodlights, led by Hayden, the man in amazing form. He clouted the bowlers with disdain and with his robust batting picked runs at will except the one which could carry him past the 100-mark. In his haste to get there, he was foxed by a faster one. The sporting crowd celebrated his dismissal, but also accorded him a thunderous ovation for having made a match of it.

The Australian response had been meek initially as Mark Waugh succumbed to a desperate shot and Ricky Ponting failed to shed his wretched form with the bat, falling to a stupendous overhead catch by Dravid. The arrival of Michael Bevan paved the way for Australia's revival but his departure brought despair to the side even as the Indians looked rattled by the ease with which he and Hayden pasted the Indian bowlers. They were relieved to see Bevan's back.

Bevan fell when Australia needed him. Hayden got a rough decision. Damien Martyn succumbed to a cut and Steve Waugh was shocked when S.K. Sharma adjudged him leg-before. The Aussie skipper did not hide his displeasure even as partner Adam Gilchrist expressed his ire at the umpire. The Aussie camp may have been justified in its disappointment at the supervision from one end, with last man Glenn McGrath too seen in an act of dissent. The Aussies, in private, may have a lot to talk of the umpiring.

The Indians would have had few complaints. Taking a few setbacks in its stride, the Indian batting potential came to the fore when the young brigade continued the good work of the Test series. In posting a total of 315 after Sourav Ganguly elected to bat the Indian team established a clear advantage which was not lost by the bowlers. The cushion was too good for the likes of Ajit Agarkar and Javagal Srinath to cover their erratic bowling.

The sight of the Australians committing too many mistakes just about reflected the state of the visiting side. The mentally tough Aussies looked jaded, especially the bowlers who quickly seemed to run out of ideas against the inspired Indians.

On a track full of runs, the Indians adopted the sensible approach of reserving the big shots against the bad balls. Steve Waugh began with some thoughtful field placements but gradually ended up with few men within shouting distance from the bat. The Indians grew in strength once they discovered that there was plenty to score off, provided they kept their enthusiasm in check.

The start may have been shaky when Ganguly failed to keep the ball down but the splendid form of Tendulkar did not allow the Australians to establish an early dominance. With Tendulkar playing his strokes effortlessly, the Indian innings took the right course where the emphasis was on playing the ball on merit. Tendulkar, of course, was an exception to this strategy as he came up with astounding shots as only he can play.

Sad end to Tendulkar's brilliance

In one particular over, Tendulkar destroyed Glenn McGrath with a flurry of front-footed strokes, beginning with a daring pull for six followed by three delectable boundaries. The Aussies knew they had a fight on their hands as Tendulkar set his sights on a run-plunder. A fatal misjudgement by Laxman, however, allowed the opposition to breathe easier and the crowd went into mourning as Tendulkar, sent back, was run out by yards.

The Tendulkar dismissal boosted the Aussies and left Laxman shaken. A few desperate shots from the Hyderabadi conveyed the state of his mind after his error cost the team a dear wicket, but Laxman recovered in the company of Dravid to shape the Indian recovery.

Laxman played some rousing shots with sensational timing, especially a cover-driven six off Shane Warne. But he paid the price for poor shot-selection when he tried to hoist Ian Harvey. The Indians suffered a jolt when Hemang Badani fell cheaply and that brought Sehwag to the middle.

With Dravid to guide him, Sehwag grabbed the opportunity to carve a brilliant fifty, which must have done a world of good to the 22-year-old's confidence. Nurtured on small grounds in Delhi, this compulsive stroke-maker gave an insight to his temperament by curbing his natural instincts and dealing with the Australian attack with discipline.

Some of the shots from Sehwag may not have pleased the purists but then they fetched valuable runs and that is what mattered at a time when the Australians were beginning to assert themselves. A strong off-side player, he waited for the right ball to play the lofted drive and prospered in the company of Dravid, whose excellent running between the wickets was a feature of the Indian innings in the afternoon.

It was Sehwag's maiden fifty in his third one-day innings. This was a crucial outing for this Delhi cricketer and he came good with the bat before an impulsive shot ended his knock. But Sehwag had done his bit with the bat.

Dravid played an innings of immense character. He had opted to anchor the Indian innings even if it meant checking his shots at many points. Starting off with a straight-driven four off Warne and a stunning pull off McGrath for a six, Dravid discarded the big shots and appeared a little subdued in the middle overs. The instructions for Dravid were clearly to keep his end intact and it was a role he played to perfection.

Running splendidly for his partners, Dravid carried the innings on his shoulders and allowed himself the freedom to cart Warne and Mark Waugh for a boundary each much later in the innings. Dravid never lost control until the time he drove the ball to long-on.

The value of Dravid's innings lay in the fact that he motivated Sehwag and Vijay Dahiya to play their natural game. Dahiya was simply outstanding, even if there were a few edges off his bat. But there were plenty of meaty strokes too as his racy knock put India in the driver's box. A straight six off Mark Waugh was breathtaking amidst a wide range of shots that adorned Dahiya's dazzling performance.

There was plenty to cheer for everyone. For the students who put away their books and thronged the Chinnaswamy Stadium. For the die-hard fans who spent hours in the sun to get a seat inside the colourful arena. And for the others who carried the joys of Ugadi festivities to the venue.

The jarring note was struck only towards the end when fans invaded the field, a fire fighting engine came into action and only a handful of Aussies made an appearance at the presentation ceremony. Just not in keeping with their professional image.

Scoreboard

INDIA

S. Ganguly c M. Waugh b Fleming 6 (27b) S. Tendulkar (run out) 35 (26b, 6x4, 1x6) V. V. S. Laxman c Martyn b Harvey 45 (34b, 7x4, 1x6) R. Dravid c Harvey c Martyn 80 (34b, 7x4, 1x6) H. Badani c M. Waugh b Warne 11 (18b) V. Sehwag b Fleming 58 (54b, 8x4) V. Dahiya (run out) 51 (39b, 6x4, 1x6) A. Agarkar c and b McGrath 13 (15b) H. Singh c Ponting b Harvey 0 (1b) Z. Khan (not out) 1 (2b) J. Srinath c Martyn b McGrath 2 (5b)

Extras (nb-6, w-7) 13 --- Total (in 49.5 overs) 315 ---

Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Ganguly), 2-52 (Tendulkar), 3-102 (Laxman), 4-122 (Badani), 5-222 (Sehwag), 6-283 (Dravid), 7-306 (Agarkar), 8-311 (H. Singh), 9-312 (Dahiya).

Australia bowling: McGrath 9.5-0-60-2, Fleming 10-0-62-2, Harvey 10-0-68-2, Warne 10-0-58-1, M. Waugh 6-0-42-0,Martyn 4-0-25-1.

AUSTRALIA

M. Hayden lbw b Sehwag 99 (89b, 7x4, 1x6) M. Waugh b Srinath 5 (7b) R. Ponting c Dravid b Zaheer 9 (14b, 1x4)

M. Bevan c Robin (sub) b Ganguly 49 (57b, 3x4) S. Waugh lbw b Sehwag 18 (24b, 1x4) D. Martyn c Dahiya b Sehwag 1 (6b) A. Gilchrist b Zaheer 27 (28b, 3x4) I. Harvey c Ganguly b Agarkar 17 (22b, 1x4) S. Warne b Srinath 13 (18b, 2x4) D. Fleming (not out) 0 (0b) G. McGrath lbw b Srinath 0 (2b) Extras (lb-3, nb-6, w-8) 17 --- Total (in 43.3 overs) 255 --- Fall of wickets: 1-16 (M. Waugh), 2-44 (Ponting), 3-154 (Bevan), 4-173 (Hayden), 5-179 (Martyn), 6-212 (S. Waugh), 7-230 (Gilchrist), 8-252 (Harvey), 9-254 (Warne).

India bowling: Srinath 7.3-0-49-3, Zaheer 8-0-34-2, Agarkar 8-0- 54-1, Harbhajan 8-0-41-0, Sehwag 9-0-59-3, Ganguly 3-0-15-1.

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