On-toes Australians are a run-away hit

On-toes Australians are a run-away hit
JOE WILLIAMS

PUNE, MARCH 28: While the Australians broke the shackles to get back to winnings ways, the Indians went into a shell. The Aussies, displaying sheer professionalism, notched up an effortless eight-wicket win to level the five-match series 1-1 in the Pepsi Cup One Day International, at the Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday.

It was a lethargic show by the Indians as their fielding, throwing and catching left a lot to be desired. This would leave coach John Wright with a Herculean task of redefining the basics to the side. To make matters worse their running between the wickets which resulted in three run-outs only compounded miseries. It was the poor play of the team which overshadowed Tamil Nadu youngster Hemang Badani’s maiden ODI century, which had earlier given India a respectable total (248 in the stipulated 50 overs).

But for a ‘life’, when Michael Bevan dropped Badani (52), the century mark would not have been achieved.

However, led by a superb unbeaten knock of 133 by Mark Waugh, the Australians cantered past the 249-mark with 4.5 overs to spare.

Despite having lost the last three encounters (two Tests and the first ODI), the Australians displayed magnificent revival skills, exhibiting their class today. Their batsmen made the rival attack look pedestrian.

The in-form Mathew Hayden and Mark Waugh put on 143 runs for the first wicket in just 25 overs to lead the Aussie run pursuit. By the time the Indians got the first breakthrough, there was little left for their bowlers to work up another miracle.Not only was the Indian performance below par, it was also a big letdown for the huge crowd which had started gathering inside the stadium much before the first ball was to be sent down.

Saurav Ganguly’s bad patch continued. He survived just 29 minutes before Glenn McGrath bowled him. All eyes were on Sachin Tendulkar, who began his innings in a flash. His liking for McGrath was loud and clear as he hit the seamer for a boundary and a sixer early on. Damien Fleming too faced the wrath of his batting, but impetuosity finally got the better of Tendulkar and Fleming had the last laugh. Tendulkar smacked Fleming twice to the fence before holing out on the next one, giving Darren Lehmann at the deep fine-leg a catch.

Then followed the three run-outs Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and debutant Dinesh Mongia. This put the brakes on the Indian run rate which was quite healthy at that stage. As the innings slipped away, the Indian hopes also dipped. However, it was the face-saving 93-run fourth-wicket partnership between Badani and Laxman that helped India stabalise the innings.

The only sign of relief for the spectators was Badani scoring his hundred. But the heat took its toll on the centurion as he perished soon after getting to the mark.Apart from the defeat, the heat stroke that Badani suffered was another cause of concern for the Indians. However, Dr Suresh Gokhale, who attended on the left hander, said: “The two bottles of saline were enough.”

Scoreboard
INDIA Saurav Ganguly b Mcgrath 4
Sachin Tendulkar c Lehmann b Fleming 32
VVS Laxman (S Waugh) run out 51
Rahul Dravid (M Bevan) run out 13
Hemang Badani c Lehmann b Bracken 100
Dinesh Mongia run out 2
Vijay Dahiya c Bracken b Fleming 2
Sunil Joshi c M Waugh b Bracken 19
Zaheer Khan b McGrath 15
Harbhajan Singh not out 1
Javagal Srinath not out 3
Extras (w-4, lb-2) 6
TOTAL (for 9 wickets, in 50 overs) 248
Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-37, 3-60, 4-153, 5-157, 6-162, 7-221, 8-239, 9-244.
Bowling: Glenn Mcgrath 10-1-49-2, Demien Fleming 10-1-39-2 (w-2), Nathan Bracken 10-1-54-2 (w-2), Damien Martyn 7-0-41-0, Andrew Symonds 10-0-41-0, Mark Waugh 3-0-22-0.
AUSTRALIA
Mark Waugh not out 13
Mathew Hayden c Ganguly b Zaheer 57
Darrel Lehman (Yuvraj) run out 1
Michael Bevan not out 33
Extras: (b-4, lb-10, nb-4, w-7) 25
Total (for 2 wkts in 45.1 overs) 249
Fall of wickets: 1-143, 2-163
Bowling: Javgal Srinath 7-0-33-0 (3-w), Zaheer Khan 6-0-26-1 (1-w), Harbghajan Singh 10-0-46-0 (w-1), Sunil Joshi 9.1-0-054-0 (w-2), Saurav Ganguly 3-0-17-0, Sachin Tendulkar 10-0-59-0 (nb-4).