India beat Australia by 99 runs
A knock on the back of the helmet first ball rattles a majority of batsmen and fires up a few. Those belonging to the second category are steelier than normal human beings and possess this rare ability of overcoming shortcomings by sheer will power.
Leading from the front in India’s quest for an equaliser in the second match of the ODI series against Australia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni displayed these qualities in ample measure in an innings that stood out also for the way it was paced. Steadying the ship first and then cutting loose, the captain made sure Australia needed a titanic effort and chasing 354, they sank to a 99-run defeat.
Although India maintained a run rate of more than six per over throughout, the visitors had reason to be satisfied up to a point because they were striking at regular intervals. Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh fell after getting good starts and India needed a big partnership to make most of the excellent batting conditions when they lost their third wicket in the 16th over.
Common sense was the need of the hour and Dhoni and Gambhir kept their cool at a critical time. With the ground being big, there were lots of gaps and the left-right combination concentrated on placing the ball into the vacant pockets and ran hard. That their 113-ball stand of 119 contained just six fours showed how well they did it.
It’s ironical that despite running so well, Gambhir was eventually run out, but with a blend of bold and deft strokes, Suresh Raina ensured that the momentum wasn’t lost. His 11th ODI half-century came at the right time for the team.
Dhoni, who was welcomed to the crease by a bouncer from Ben Hilfenhaus, shifted gears dramatically towards the end and the last 10 overs produced 108 runs. The batting power play taken in the 40th over fetched 47 and runs kept coming in torrents with the skipper clearing the fence with some astonishing straight hits on way to a fifth ODI hundred.
The late carnage also meant that instead of chasing a big total, Australia were in pursuit of a Himalayan one and they were not in the game at all in the second half. The steep asking rate induced risks and this invariably resulted in casualties whenever the bowlers produced good deliveries.
June 5th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
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