India must thank the heavens for gaining a point yesterday after another disappointing day in the field
India must thank the heavens for gaining a point yesterday after another disappointing day in the field
On Dassera evening yesterday, the weather gods smiled kindly upon the Indian team, even as it was clutching desperately at straws like a drowning man, hoping and praying that the thunderstorm, which unleashed its fury on Pretoria and Johannesburg in the evening, would not abate.
With thunder and lightning putting on a celestial display, as though by way of a Diwali curtain-raiser, further play was ruled out after Australia had chalked up a potentially match-winning score of 234 for four at the end of 42.3 overs.
An Indian defeat in the cliffhanger would have meant a virtual elimination from the Champions Trophy after the setback against Pakistan last Saturday.
The aura of their euphoric ICC World Twenty20 victory in South Africa in 2007 considerably tarnished after their failure to retain the title in England last May, the team's eminence in world cricket has already taken a beaten in recent times.
India have not won the Champions Trophy since 2002 when they shared the title with Sri Lanka. They lost to New Zealand in the final in 2000 and to Australia in the final of the 2003 World Cup, which they had won way back in 1983.
India, who play debilitated West Indies at the Wanderers tomorrow, are now third on the Group 'A' table with one point behind Pakistan (4 points), who have qualified for the semi-finals and Australia (3).
India will have to defeat the West Indies with a substantial margin and hope that Australia will lose convincingly to Pakistan on the same day, in which eventuality the second semi-final place will be determined on net run rate. At present India have a net run rate of u20131.08 and Australia +1.00.
The limitations of the Indian attack were exposed again yesterday as Australia, opting to bat after winning the toss on a good batting surface, but which had a hint of moisture in the early passages, let Ricky Ponting and Tim Paine seize the initiative, thanks largely to the waywardness of Ishant Sharma.
Ashish Nehra, who has been the pick of India's bowlers thus far, bowled a superb line and length and fully exploited the initial damp conditions, which assisted swing and made batting a hazardous proposition.
India struck early, sending back Shane Watson for his second successive duck, with the score nine. The situation was somewhat similar to that of the previous match against Pakistan in which undisciplined bowling enabled Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf to assert dominance after Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal and skipper Younus Khan had been dismissed early.
Nehra and Praveen Kumar bowled intelligently in the right areas, restricting Australia to five from the first four overs, but Ishant Sharma was prodigal again, when he came on first change.
Sharma's persistence in bowling short and wide from wide of the stumps enabled the Australian batsmen to assert their dominance, admittedly with some skilful batting on a wicket of unpredictable bounce, which played progressively true.
It is sad to see the steep decline in Sharma's performances, as bowler and fielder, after his heroics on the last tour of Australia.
Apart from his obstinate insistence on bowling outside the off stump without bringing the ball in, the lanky Delhi bowler needs to go back to the drawing board to work on his speed and overall hostility.
Ponting's scintillating knock of 65, from 88 deliveries, was a joy to behold. It re-iterated his lofty status in the pantheon of contemporary batsmen.
While his defence was technically flawless, the Australian captain's impeccably-timed front foot drives in the cover and extra cover regions were an object lesson.
Ponting's majestic six off the front foot over long on from a Praveen Kumar in-cutter will linger long in one's memory for its classical effortless execution.
Ponting twice offered return catches to Praveen Kumar, the first before he had opened his account, but both fell just short of the bowler on his follow-through. A more athletic bowler would have capitalised on the chances.
And, had Praveen Kumar observed the fundamental principle of standing behind the stumps for a run-out opportunity, he could have dismissed Paine with the score 12 for one, following Mahendra Singh Dhoni's shy at the stumps at the bowler's end.
Harbhajan and Amit Mishra both extracted sharp turn. While Mishra dismissed Paine, caught by Harbhajan at mid-wicket while trying to sweep, the Turbanator went wicketless.
Mention must be made of Gautam Gambhir's run out of Ponting with a bull's eye throw at the stumps at the batsman's end from close to the point boundary.
Gambhir was easily the outstanding fielder in an outfit whose fielding, although still sub-standard, was an improvement from its display in the match against Pakistan.
However, too many singles were given away as the result of a diffidence to attack the ball.
