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Rain rescues India from a demoralizing defeat against Aussies

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The third match of the DLF Cup has been abandoned following incessant rain during the second half. It was the much awaited Australia-India clash that started out in a promising fashion with the Aussies going berserk and then India pulling things back to get themselves in a strong position. India had to chase a target of 245, which they could have successfully done through a mixture of caution and aggression. However, there was a rain break that made the new target for the Indians absolutely tough with 170 to get off 29 overs. It was a cautious start from Dravid and Tendulkar in the five overs before the break putting up just 16 on the board. The batsmen had to get back after the break with a totally changed attitude and they had to go for their shots, which they did, and found themselves out of the game at 35 for 5 in 8 overs. Mitchell Johnson was too accurate and too quick as he swung the ball around in the right spots to account for four dismissals in the space of two overs. India were definitely in for a demoralizing defeat, but the rain had saved them and the Umpires had to call off the match as the rain did not stop at all.

In the afternoon, Ricky Ponting had rightly called ‘Heads’ and he opted to bat first. His new opening combination was Shane Watson along with Phil Jaques. There were changes in the Australian side with Simon Katich, Dan Cullen and Nathan Bracken giving way to Damien Martyn, Brad Hogg and Stuart Clark. The Indian team had just one change with Yuvraj Singh getting in for Mohammad Kaif. After a few watchful overs from Agarkar and Munaf, the opening pair of Watson and Jaques decided to take the bowlers on. The bowlers were getting clobbered and it was only at the end of the 10th over that India could get the breakthrough. Phil Jaques (25 in 25 balls, 2x4s 1×6) was the first one to go as he had miscued his slog off Munaf Patel. Australia were off to a good start by then scoring 64 on the board. Ricky Ponting looked dangerous and he kept the momentum going with Watson. He was unfortunately dismissed as he played his pull shot off Pathan straight to short fine leg, Sachin Tendulkar. The dangerous Ponting could get 20 to his name with four boundaries. RP Singh got India back on the track as Damien Martyn gave catching practice to Dravid at first slip off his bowling. Dravid had spilled the catch though but juggled it enough for Dhoni to take it on the rebound.

With all the three powerplays got rid of, Dravid got Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag to operate in tandem. Australia couldn’t get going as they struggled to get in terms of the turn and the variations from Harbhajan in particular. It was Harbhajan who got India into a strong position as he got the wickets of Shane Watson and Mark Cosgrove to reduce Australia to 167 for 5 in the 32nd over. Watson who smashed his 3rd ODI fifty was taken inches above the grass at short mid wicket by Suresh Raina after playing an uppish flick. Watson fell after making 79 from just 70 balls with the help of 10 boundaries and 2 sixes. Cosgrove, the other batsman dismissed by Harbhajan, was forced to nick a sharp off break to the slip fielder. Michael Clarke had to slow down and make sure that Australia lasted out the 50 overs, he almost achieved that as he batted till the 47th over to take Australia to 230 for 7. Clarke had got 64 in 94 balls with 5 sixes and a pull for a six off Munaf Patel before holing onto the deep. Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel got the wickets of the tail to rap up the innings for 244 with four balls remaining. For the record, there was a short rain delay at the fall of Stuart Clark’s wicket which was the 9th one of the innings after 48.5 overs. Munaf Patel had ended up with three wickets, going for 53 in his 10. The best of the pack was Harbhajan Singh with 2 for 26 in 10 and he was well complemented by Sehwag with none for 43 in his 10. Irfan Pathan’s lackluster form with the ball continued and this time he went for 32 in 4 overs.

There was always the threat of rain for the Indians when they had come down to bat. The last stages of the Australian innings saw lightning in the sky and there were the thunders that were threatening the future of the match. The hope for India was that they could get to bat out enough overs to constitute a proper ODI as the ground at the Kinrara Academy Oval would anyway dry very quickly. The first ball that Sachin Tendulkar had faced against Glenn McGrath, which was in the 3rd over of the innings, was a short of length delivery that crashed right on his helmet. Tendulkar thought that it was a bouncer that would go over his head. McGrath earned the first points for sure but Tendulkar had later charged down the track to lift him just over mid on’s head for a boundary. That wasn’t a well executed shot from Tendulkar but he definitely showed glimpses of what was coming up against McGrath from him for the rest of the match. But rain played spoilsport and the players had to leave back to the pavilion with India at 15/0 in 5 overs.
 
After a long break, the Umpires could manage to get play underway and the new target for India was 170 from 29 overs. It looked like a chaseable target for India considering that the wet outfield would have made it difficult for the bowlers to grip. But Mitchell Johnson had other ideas as he took the outfield out of the equation as he thought the 22 yards strip was more than enough to cause the damage. India first lost Dravid (6 in 21 balls) in an attempt to break free. The skipper had driven Mitchell Johnson on the rise and straight into covers. The very next delivery following Dravid’s dismissal was a cracker of a delivery from the left armer which nipped back sharply to defeat Pathan’s weak defence and rattle the stumps. Sehwag had joined Tendulkar and the former got yet another upper cut over the slips for a six, this time the bowler was Stuart Clark. But the joy was short lived as Sehwag (8 in 5 balls) was run out at the striker’s end after being sent back by Tendulkar in an attempt to get a third run for his cover drive. Replays showed that Tendulkar had turned blindly in his 2nd run and had taken few steps forward before saying ‘no’ to leave Sehwag stranded mid way. Tendulkar (12 in 17 balls) soon succumbed to the pressure as he drove away from his body to an away going delivery from Mitchell Johnson to be caught by the keeper. Yuvraj Singh was also removed by Mitchell Johnson as he had to fend helplessly to the slips to one that angled in and bounced a bit more. All this time, the match was played with slight drizzle in the air and as Dhoni walked in to join Suresh Raina, the rain got heavier for the Umpires to halt play and call on for the covers. The rain continued to stay much to the delight of the Indian team and in the end, the match was abandoned.

This match has shown that India should use spin as the major weapon in the next two games and they might bring in either Dinesh Mongia or Ramesh Powar to drop one of the seamers. Irfan Pathan might get the axe for his poor bowling but RP Singh might be the one who could be out. Australia have shown that they can dominate with any combination of players in their line up. The Aussies have found a new bowling hero in Mitchell Johnson who ended up with devastating figures of 4 for 11 in his 4 overs. The next match is between Australia and West Indies on the 18th which would be followed with great interest by the Indians as they require Windies to lose to stay in this tournament.