Fears of rain threatened a complete washout on the eve of the second India-Australia ODI here. But the Indians showed that a washout was also possible on a surprisingly bright and sunny day. If the first one-dayer at Bangalore was cut short by intermittent showers, today’s game was truncated by an overpowering Aussie outpour.

Although the formality of the official victory margin of 84 runs was completed much later, the jam-packed crowd had gradually started to disperse almost half-way through the Indian innings. When Rahul Dravid was caught inches inside the mid-wicket boundary fence by Mitchell Johnson off Brad Hogg with the scoreboard reading 136/5 in 25.1 overs, it was clear that India would end up miles behind the Aussie total of 306.

As many of those who had prayed for the clouds to stay away from the Nehru Stadium moved towards the gate, they would have wondered if there was a provision for posting a fresh petition to reverse their plea. The Aussies showed today that, except for Twenty20, there can be emotional and sentimental favourites for a cricket game but the Men in Yellow continue to remain the hot favourites always — be it ODIs or Tests.

Aussie skipper Adam Gilchrist showed it on the field first and later said: “In Twenty20, even after a team wins 10 games at a stretch, one can predict the outcome of the 11th game. But in a 50-overs game, the better side will win more often than not.”

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