AUSTRALIA DOMINATING WORLD CHAMPION INDIA IN THEIR FIRST SUPER 8 MATCH

 

The 16^th match of the ICC World Twenty20 saw Australia face India in the second match of the day in Colombo. Both sides had earlier watched a thrilling contest between Pakistan and South Africa in which the spinners had had a huge influence on the game.

This match was to be played on the same wicket as used in that match so it was little surprise when India named three spinners, Ashwin, Harbhajan and Chawla, in their starting XI. Australia however resisted the temptation to pack their side with slow bowlers and maintain the same balance of attack as they had in the group matches.

Given the inclement conditions in the evenings in Colombo it was something of a surprise that Dhoni chose to bat first especially when the potential for bowling in wet conditions or a Duckworth Lewis reduced contest came into play.

In the absence of Sehwag; Pathan was once again opening the innings with Gambhir. Both men looked in good touch as they raced to 21 before Gambhir was run out in unusual fashion. Gambhir was the non-striker and set off for a quick single when his partner dead batted a ball from Cummins. He had however underestimated the speed of the young Australian quick with Cummins easily outstripping Gambhir for pace and then side footing the ball, like a footballer might, onto the stumps with Gambhir short of his ground.

Even after the run out India were able to continue scoring briskly as first Kohli and then Yuvraj combined well with Pathan to keep the score ticking over. Australia were also able to stay in touch with the wicket of Kohli and some sharp fielding keeping the contest close.

At the halfway stage of the innings India had reached 70 for 2 and looked well placed to score in excess of 150. However the 11^th over of the innings was a turning point as Shane Watson once again showed his uncanny habit of influencing the outcome of the match. He picked up two wickets in that over with Yuvraj and Pathan the men to fall. He finished the innings with figures of 4-0-34-3 as he passed Ajantha Mendis to become the tournaments leading wicket taker.

India's woes were compounded when Mitchell Starc beat Rohit Sharma with the first ball of the next over and bowled India's match winner from their previous match against England.

Australia were now in the ascendency and their quick men were able to push home the advantage as they restricted the scoring rate. The wicket of Dhoni also aided Australia's cause with only Raina, who scored 26 from 19, really able to score effectively in the final few overs. His efforts took India to 140 which many felt, in light of the first match of the day, could be a competitive total even if it was short of what India would have targeted after a good start to the innings.

India's hopes of victory and the thought that 141 might be a tricky target to chase were decimated by a brutal assault from Watson and Warner. An opening stand of 133 took the match away from India in rapid fashion.

Both men punished any wayward bowling of which there was plenty. The Indian spinners, perhaps struggling in wet conditions, served up an array of long hops and full tosses which were dealt with ruthlessly. Watson was the more fluent of the pair and top scored with a magnificent 72 from just 42 balls. He found his range early on and remarkably hit only two fours compared to an incredible seven 6's.

As impressive as Watson and Warner were they were assisted in no small measure by poor bowling. With the dew and rain soaking the outfield it appeared Dhoni had completely misread the conditions and perhaps would have been better served with an extra pace bowler. Harbhajan and Chawla, who were so good against England, found little assistance from the surface and could do nothing in the face of relentless boundary hitting.

It was almost a mercy when the match ended, with some 5.1 overs to spare, as India had been completely out played. One of the most important lessons of the day was that Australia had not been deceived by the earlier match and panicked into making changes but rather back themselves to perform with the formula they had devised.