WEATHER PLAYS SPOILSPORT

Venue: The Gabba.
Event : 1st ODI of CB series IND vs AUS
Result: Weather Gods deny fans a thriller.


Sunday witnessed a damp end to the first match of the CB series. Chasing a paltry total less than 200, Australia was on to a racy start with a flurry of boundaries. But it was short lived. Gilly departed soon. Ishant Sharma went out to prove that his brilliance in the Perth test was not a flash in the pan and stunned James Hopes with an inswinger. A beauty from Sreesanth got punter to edge to the slips. 3 wickets down with not even 50 on the board meant that the ball was in India’s court. That was when the weather Gods decided to have some fun.

Earlier India batted first. Adelaide centurion Sehwag blasted one straight down the ground but played onto the stumps soon. Then came Sachin’s first ever dismissal via hit wicket, Brett lee being the benefactor. Then, followed a period of resistance. A 50 run partnership between Gambhir and Rohit Sharma raised some hopes. The elegant Sharma drove and cut with flair while Gambhir benefited from 2 drop chances in the slips.

But once the two departed it was always a question of when the innings would fold. Uthappa failed to trouble the scorers. Lee reserved his best for debutant Manoj Tiwary. A scorching Yorker uprooting the stumps. Tiwary was all at sea. Lee went on to claim 5 scalps.


Dhoni rallied around with the tail to lead India closer to 200. The match was truncated to 45 overs a side owing to the rain. Sadly the weather went from bad to worse.