Venue: Adelaide Oval
Event : 7th ODI CB series Ind vs Aus
Result: Dhoni’s poor call for a run pulls the curtains down for India.
Cricket is a demanding game. Even a single moment of indecision or a rash decision can cost you big time. Today two decisive moments went Australia’s way. One was when Sachin played way in front of the crease only to let the ball hit high on his pads. The umpire raised his finger while the Hawk eye showed that the ball was too high. Sachin stared in disbelief. The second moment was one which Dhoni would rue for long. Batting with a runner owing to his cramps, Dhoni made the call for a quick single which was not there. Dhoni’s runner Rohit Sharma’s desperate dive was in vain. The Ozs seized the magical moment with a direct hit and for that atleast, they deserved to win.
Electing to bat the Ozs ran into the usual road block, Ishant Sharma. This pacer’s consistency is the talking point in the cricketing world. Extracting good bounce,thanks to his height, he troubled the Oz openers and got rid of Gilchrist who played on. Hayden signaled his intentions when he made a mockery of Patel’s pace by stepping down the track and clearing the ropes by a mile. Ponting at the other end, struggling for form,was determined not to be Ishant’s bunny and departed to Patel instead.
Runs dried up. Hayden and Symonds departed soon and Australia was struggling at 50 for 4. There was no boundary scored for a span of 10 overs. Clarke and Hussey felt the heat. Hussey succumbed to the pressure, edging Pathan to Dhoni -Clarke was in danger of being stranded as he tried to rattle up some runs with the tail- Hogg especially giving him good support. The aussies stuttered to 203. Pathan was the wrecker in chief claiming 4 scalps for a mere 41 runs.
India started off nervously. Sachin had trouble getting off the mark. Gambhir was fluent again. The left hander is very strong in the square region. But his strength turned out to be his downfall as he slashed one straight to Ponting at square. Dhoni promoted Irfan to No 3 again which baffled many. Probably Pathan was surprised too as he couldn’t settle into the role. 3 wickets in quick succession meant Yuvi and Dhoni had to redo what they had done on numerous occasions earlier.
Sadly that was not to be. Yuvi showed signs of getting his form back- a six off Hogg signaled his intentions. But he flattered to deceive. Yuvi’s departure followed by Dhoni’s runout meant it was curtains for India. India crumbled to 153 – the Aussies earned a deserving victory. On hindsight one could feel that the Indian batsmen made a mountain off a mole hill.
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