Australia thrash ordinary India

An all-round Australia comprehensively outplayed India at Brisbane to reclaim their position at the top of points chart in CB series. The 110-run victory was fashioned by incisive bowling from Ben Hilfenhaus and Brett Lee, who picked up eight wickets amongst themselves to derail India’s 289-runchase before it had even started to move properly. The visitors were shot-out for 178 as Australia pocketed five points from the match.

The hosts went into this game on the back of a below-par batting performance against Sri Lanka and needed their openers to fire on a flat surface after stand-in captain Ricky Ponting elected to bat first. With India choosing a four-man pace attack, David Warner and Mathew Wade had to play cautiously against the new balls. India had a chance of breaking through in the first over but Rohit Sharma shelled an easy chance in the slips. Immaculate lengths from Zaheer Khan and Vinay Kumar made life difficult for the Aussie openers as the first eight overs yielded only one boundary.

After repeated attempts to break free, Warner finally managed to get away by launching Zaheer down the ground for a six in addition to two boundaries in the same over. With Wade struggling to get going, Warner tried to keep the score board moving but perished on 43, caught at midwicket off Irfan Pathan’s bowling. Ricky Ponting’s lack of form was evident during his 26-ball struggle, he score only seven and when his attempted loft found the fielder at deep square leg, it was his fifth consecutive single-digit score in the series.

Despite packing his side with seamers, MS Dhoni soon found out that the part-time spin of Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma was effective in keeping the runs down. Mathew Wade was caught by the latter off his own bowling as Australia lost momentum after the bowling powerplay and slipped to 116 for 3 in the 28th over. With their run rate hovering around 4 runs per over, Michael Hussey and Peter Forrest were not only left with job of increasing the tempo but they had to stitch together a partnership as well. An umpiring error almost ended Michael Hussey’s rearguard before it had even started but he lived on to put Australia into a strong position.

Forrest and Michael Hussey added exactly hundred for the fourth wicket to lay the platform for a late charge. As India dropped a host of chances in the field, the two were able to march forward with quick running and intelligent placement. While the partnership progressed at better than run-a-ball, there was hardly a wild shot played. Eventually, Irfan Pathan removed both of them in the 44th over, not before they had brought up their respective fifties.

The arrival of two new batsmen at the crease towards the end can be problematic for the batting side but Daniel Christian and David Hussey played sparkling cameos to boost Australia to a formidable score. Whatever control India had in the first half was lost after the century stand and the last ten overs went for 101 runs to further damage their chances of getting some crucial points.

In reply, India lost the race once Brett Lee and Ben Hilfenhaus ripped the heart out of their batting with a devastating spell upfront. The early blows pushed India into a hole as they receded to 35 for 4, the recovery had to be monumental and even though, MS Dhoni hit a fifty, his effort only served the purpose of decreasing the margin of defeat.

To begin with, India had the line-up to overhaul what was a stiff target and for that to happen, the openers had to last long. But, Brett Lee had other ideas and bowled an absolute beauty to remove Gautam Gambhir- the ball shaped in towards the left hander before snaking away to take the edge en route to the keeper.

The other Indian opener, Sachin Tendulkar was constantly troubled by Lee’s bounce and movement. And, the rewards were reaped by Ben Hilfenhaus, bowling from the other end. He slashed a short ball but only found Xavier Doherty at third-man. Rohit Sharma played loosely on a Lee delivery to be caught behind and when Virat Kohli was caught in the slips, India were in dire straits.

The tottering chase was somewhat steadied by 46-run stand between Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni. But, the recovery was still in infancy when Raina departed while chasing a wide Daniel Christian delivery. The crisis deepened with Ravindra Jadeja’s dismissal.

With the asking rate going through the roof, the result became a formality and the only matter of interest remained whether India could prevent Australia from getting the bonus point. With Dhoni falling with the score yet to cross 150, even that possibility diminished and India were all-out for 178.