All-round India draw level at MCG

After five futile attempts, India finally won an international fixture against Australia as the eight wicket win in the second T20 at MCG helped them level the two match series one all. While India usually bank on their strong batting, it was the sharp fielding of Ravindra Jadeja and Co. that set up their first win in fifteen overseas international matches.

India put in their best fielding performance on the tour Down Under to restrict Australia to a manageable 131-run total. In reply, the batsmen batted with purpose to overhaul the target, losing only two wickets in the process. Gautam Gambhir remained unbeaten on 56.

The Indian bowlers backed by some sprightly fielding kept the batsmen on a tight leash and bowled them out with two deliveries remaining in the innings. A rejigged home batting line-up couldn’t get going as wickets fells in a hurry especially towards the end when they lost five wickets for 12 runs.

The hosts experimented with the batting order- Mathew Wade was moved to number six and Aaron Finch partnered David Warner. But, the opening partnership couldn’t last long as Warner was caught at deep square leg in the third over trying to hammer Praveen Kumar out of the park. Two balls later, Kumar got one to angle across the left handed Shaun Marsh.

The woefully out-of-form batsman attempted a feeble drive and the resulting edge was parried by Virender Sehwag before Dhoni completed the catch.Meanwhile, Finch batted with lot of confidence and punished anything wide of the stumps. He hit six boundaries during a breezy knock of 36 before calamity struck. A direct hit by Ravindra Jadeja caught Finch short of his ground after David Hussey had called for a tight single. It was first of the four run-outs in the Australian innings.

Next man in, George Bailey had a chance to play a captain’s innings with his side in some strife but Jadeja’s accurate throw resulted in another run-out. After affecting two dismissals with his fielding, Jadeja removed David Hussey for 24.

With Australia crossing hundred in the fifteenth over, the last five had to yield some fireworks for them to reach a decent total. Even though hero of the last match, Mathew Wade got a partnership going with Mitchell Marsh but MS Dhoni pulled off a lightning quick stumping to sent back Marsh and Rohit Sharma felled the stumps with a pin-point throw to cut short Wade’s promising 32-run knock.

With the tail looking for quick runs, wickets tumbled- Clint McKay was caught behind and Brad Hogg was pinned in front of the stumps. Fittingly, last man Xavier Doherty was run-out as Australia failed to play out their full quota of twenty overs.

After the fielders and bowlers did their job with aplomb, it was the turn of batsmen to come good. Although, the target was well within their reach, there were doubts as the visitors have hardly clicked in all departments during a single game so far on Australian soil.

All those worries were put to rest by 43-run opening partnership between Gautam Gambhir and Virendar Sehwag. Both the Delhi boys started cautiously and avoiding any extravagant strokes in the first couple of overs. Knowing that the asking rate was never going to be a problem, they got their eye in, speaking in relative terms, before normal traffic resumed.

After few well-struck ground strokes, Sehwag went down town in the sixth over, lofting Doherty for a monstrous six. However, Brad Hogg ended the one shot blitz, bit prematurely, as Sehwag offered a simple catch at covers on a full toss that should have landed in the crowd.

While Gambhir dropped anchor in a bid to hold up one end, Virat Kohli played with his usual flair. He ran well between the wickets in his 24-ball 31 before Wade took a superb catch behind the stump. With Gambhir scoring runs at a steady rate, MS Dhoni came in at number four with India in driver’s seat. He hit a searing drive and a pull to reduce the equation to 12 from three overs.

Meanwhile, Gambhir completed his seventh fifty in T20 internationals off 54 balls. Even though, India were on the brink when the nineteenth over started- 3 runs were needed- David Hussey and McKay spiced up the proceedings by bowling accurately. One run off three deliveries suddenly seemed tight but Gambhir settled the issue with a sublime that purred across the turf for a boundary.