Sport

Intense Australia comes up trumps

— Photo: AFP

DRIVING FORCE: Man-of-the-Match Michael Clarke carved out a responsible half-century to anchor the Australian innings.

Adelaide: Matthew Hayden was on target when it mattered the most.

The big man whipped a direct hit from widish mid-off after India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had driven paceman James Hopes. Dhoni’s runner Rohit Sharma set off for a single, saw danger, and flung himself forward in desperation. But Hayden’s throw had nailed him.

India, in pursuit of 204, was 134 for six when its captain walked back. It was the decisive moment of the CB ODI tri-series contest here on Sunday.

Earlier, Hayden had failed to react when an edge flew close to his left shoulder. Now, he was showing off his muscles to jubilant teammates.

Defending small totals is never easy. It requires consistency and aggression. One sizable partnership can swing the game in the batting side’s favour.

Australia retained its intensity throughout the Indian chase. The final dismissal reflected the Aussie resolve — Adam Gilchrist flung himself to his right to come up with a tremendous take even as the ball was dying on him.

Australia has virtually qualified for the finals with a 50-run win and a bonus point against India.

Mitchell Johnson & Co. were relentless. They were also helped by some ordinary strokeplay from India under the lights.

Yuvraj Singh, finally, seemed to be finding his feet when he pulled a Brad Hogg long hop to hole out in the deep. The Aussies celebrated as Yuvraj departed crestfallen.

It can be argued that the Aussie bowling and fielding created the pressure and forced mistakes from the batsmen. Ricky Ponting’s men hunted as a pack on the field.

In the afternoon, Ishant Sharma was outstanding. He was speedy — Ishant clocked 153 kmph — and probed the batsmen with bounce around the off-stump. Irfan Pathan was lively, hit the right areas, and scalped four. Munaf Patel and Harbhajan Singh were steady. The Indian batsmen did not complement the bowlers’ effort.

Australia has 17 points from five games, and India, eight. Sri Lanka has six from four matches. India faces Sri Lanka in a huge game here on Tuesday.

On Sunday, India let the moments fly away. Rather, champion teams can find escape routes.

Australia recovered from 73 for five in the 24th over with Man-of-the-Match Michael Clarke orchestrating the fight-back with a 108-ball 79. A total of 203 gave the host hope.

Clarke’s organised footwork separated him from the rest of his teammates. He drove off the front foot, rocked back for the cuts and was fluent off his legs; he showed no signs of discomfort from a rib injury.

The bounce in the Adelaide Oval pitch was more than normal but there was no appreciable seam movement for the pacemen.

Johnson, though, made life hard for the batsmen with his skiddish pace from a partly sling-arm action. The left-arm paceman used the short-pitched ball effectively; these deliveries were aimed at the batsman’s chest than over his shoulder. Spearhead Brett Lee was not missed.

The Indian chase was rocked in the beginning. Sachin Tendulkar, playing across to Nathan Bracken, was adjudged leg-before in a marginal decision.

Australia struck at regular intervals. The Indian think tank included a fifth bowler in Munaf after Virender Sehwag failed to recover from a side strain. The side was a batsman short.

Indian attempted to lengthen its order by promoting Irfan Pathan to the No.3 slot. With the target being only 204, the move made little sense.

Robin Uthappa could have been promoted in the order instead. Earlier, Ponting elected to bat. Ordinary stroke-selection from the Aussie batsmen made the wicket appear harder than it actually was.

Gilchrist was caught at his crease while negotiating an Ishant delivery that darted in.

Ponting attempted to hit Munaf on the up and was done in by the bounce. The Punter’s feet movement is still tentative.

Hayden appeared in good touch before attempting to cut a Pathan delivery too close to his body. Andrew Symonds was given a torrid time by Ishant.

The paceman brought one back into the right-hander, then tested Symonds with a full length delivery before the Aussie, fatally, opened the face of his blade.

Then, Michael Hussey chased and edged a widish delivery from Pathan.

Clarke rallied with Hopes and Hogg. His stand with Hogg took the total from 112 for six to 184 for seven.

These were crucial runs and Hogg batted with typical enterprise.

The partnership was another critical phase of the contest.

SCOREBOARD

  Australia: A. Gilchrist b Ishant 15, M. Hayden c Dhoni b Pathan 13, R. Ponting c Rohit b Munaf 10, M. Clarke c Ishant b Pathan 79, A. Symonds c Uthappa b Ishant 3, M. Hussey c Dhoni b Pathan 5, J. Hopes st. Dhoni b Harbhajan 19, B. Hogg (run out) 32, M. Johnson (not out) 9, N. Bracken c Dhoni b Pathan 0, S. Clark (not out) 8, Extras (lb-2, nb-2, w-6) 10; Total (for nine wkts. in 50 overs) 203.

Fall of wickets: 1-25 (Gilchrist), 2-41 (Ponting), 3-43 (Hayden), 4-50 (Symonds), 5-73 (Hussey), 6-112 (Hopes), 7-184 (Hogg), 8-187 (Clarke), 9-187 (Bracken).

India bowling: Sreesanth 8-0-35-0, Ishant 9-1-32-2, Munaf 9-1-31-1, Pathan 10-1-41-4, Harbhajan 10-0-40-1, Yuvraj 4-0-22-0.

India: G. Gambhir c Ponting b Johnson 34, S. Tendulkar lbw b Bracken 5, I. Pathan c Hayden b Hopes 14, Rohit Sharma c Gilchrist b Hopes 1, Yuvraj c Clark b Hogg 26, M.S. Dhoni (run out) 37, R. Uthappa c Gilchrist b Johnson 18, Harbhajan c Gilchrist b Johnson 4, S. Sreesanth st. Gilchrist b Hogg 1, Ishant (not out) 2, M. Patel c Gilchrist b Bracken 0; Extras (lb-2, nb-1, w-8) 11, Total (in 41.2 overs) 153.

Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Tendulkar), 2-55 (Pathan), 3-59 (Gambhir), 4-59 (Rohit), 5-115 (Yuvraj), 6-134 (Dhoni), 7-141 (Harbhajan), 8-150 (Uthappa), 9-152 (Sreesanth).

Australia bowling: Bracken 7.2-1-21-2, Clark 8-1-33-0, Johnson 10-1-42-3, Hopes 6-3-16-2, Hogg 8-1-30-2, Symonds 2-0-9-0.

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