| Scorecard: | India v Australia |
| Player: | RT Ponting, MEK Hussey, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni |
| Event: | Australia in India 2009/10 |
If patience is a virtue, Team India possessed tonnes of it today. First the bowlers toiled hard and though they didn't succeed in getting wickets, still the line and length was impeccable most of the time. Australian batting could not come anywhere close to a run-rate of 5, anytime in their innings, though they always had wickets in hand. As a result of these efforts, the bowling restricted the Aussies to a total of 229, by no means low, but by no means, very tough to chase down as well.
Then MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh combined in a brilliant partnership of 148 runs to finish the game comfortably. At one point of time though, the Indians looked in deep trouble, struggling at 53 for three with the top order including the likes of both localites, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir back in the hut even before the end of the 16th over. With this win the Indians now have a 2-1 lead in the series with four games still to be played.
Chasing 230 to win and go 2-1 up in the series, the Indian openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag started well. Mitchell Johnson's first over was whacked for 12 runs as Tendulkar looked in supreme touch to start the proceedings.
After this over though boundaries suddenly dried up and Sachin also adjusted well to milk the bowling with wristy and punchy hits. Sehwag on the other hand looked a pale shadow of himself during his brief stay. For the first time in the series, he looked struck and many a time failed as he attempted to break free. His brief vigil at the crease ended as he tried to whip one across the line against Mitchell Johnson but the ball stayed low and knocked out the middle stump.
The run-rate continued to dwindle as some sharp singles became the order of the day. One of such became Tendulkar's nemesis. He tried to steal a non-existent single but Mitchell Johnson found the timber before Tendulkar could come anywhere close to the returning crease. Two runs later, it was the turn of the second localite, Gautam Gambhir to get out. The left-hander seemed like set for a big knock as he started to nudge and find the singles but against the run of play, played a nothing shot and Hauritz in his second ball tasted blood.
India were in deep trouble at this stage and what was needed was ultimate application. Fortunately Yuvraj's return in the middle order was crucial and he and his skipper looked to consolidate. Run-rate was never going to be an issue considering the abilities of both to wield the leather at any given point. Dhoni had come into the game at the back of one of his most brilliant knocks at Nagpur and he started in similar fashion, picking up singles and doubles and rotating the strike.
It was a bigger challenge for Yuvraj as he had to play a different game to his natural one. He had to first consolidate and then wait for the correct time and opportunity to play shots. He played to the billing perfectly and alongside Dhoni probably played one of the best innings of his career thus far. The knock showed that Yuvraj now no more can be considered as good only on pitches where the ball comes to his bat comfortably.
Once set though, he took his liberties and attacked the Aussies. He took special liking towards Moises Henriques and Adam Voges and both were hit for sixes and proved expensive once the left-hander got into the act. Once he started the carnage, a run-rate which had started to come close to the danger zone again dwindled and India were in the driver's seat. He got out at 77 with India needing just 29 runs in the last six overs.
It must be appreciated though as how the Indian skipper MS Dhoni takes the role of second fiddle. By no means are his abilities as limited as a first timer seeing him today would have thought about his knock, but then he very well knew that the need of the hour was that he has to stay till the end and he did just that.
Resultant of these efforts from probably two of the most reliable middle-order batsman in the world currently, India knocked over the required runs with ease.
Earlier in the afternoon, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting was delighted to win the toss and elected to bat first on a not so good looking track at the Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi. The track left a pretty bad impression during the recently concluded Champions League T20 and though this one was a newly relaid one, it still had the look of a dry bone, which looked to turn worse towards the end of the game.
Ponting when asked what would be a good total on the track, did not put his batsmen under any pressure saying he would be looking to somewhere close to 200-220. How good was the estimate considering it was 229 that the Aussies ended up with.
In a yet another change to the batting order, Ponting alongside Shane Watson opened the innings for Australia. The duo laid a solid platform adding 72 runs for the first wicket and looked rarely troubled by any bowler on show. The run-rate was not great but in conditions such as these, holding up wickets was what was very crucial and the duo succeeded in that.
From the very outset the approach seemed to indicate that the skipper was wary that a collapse was never too far away on a surface like this. Ponting, who opened only for the second time in his long career, and also Watson didn't try anything fancy during the partnership.
For Watson this had to be a severe test of patience. Someone like him known to wield the power of his shoulders and willow, played in the most sedate manner for his 41. The Indian seamers also understood pretty early that this pitch will offer them nothing and bowled as straight as possible. Seeing that his seamers have done a decent job but havent got any wickets, Dhoni brought in Ravindra Jadeja in as early as the 11th over and he mostly relied on keeping the ball as slow as possible.
Ponting started with a trademark drive of Ashish Nehra in the second over. The beauty of the shot lied in the fact that Ponting hardly hit the ball, he just pushed it and the ball easily reached the fence. Apart from such occasional boundaries though, it was mostly single-double cricket on show from the openers. The first wicket fell in the 17th over when Yuvraj Singh's first delivery beat Watson in flight and forced him to drag his back foot out of the crease. Dhoni was quick and Watson fell short by a crucial moment. Mike Hussey came in to bat at Watson's fall and this decision again showed how dependent were the Aussies on their experienced campaigners to play well on this track.
Two of Australia's most experienced players then added 56 crucial runs for the second wicket before Ponting fell victim to a zooter from Jadeja. Tje left-arm spinner fired one full and quick on middle, which Ponting tried to clip across the line but the ball found a liking to his pads and he was found right in front of the stumps. Hussey though by now had settled well in and for Mr. Cricket this was a place and time he is so tailored to do well.
To start off, he was all about the little tickles and nudges. He also like the two openers first took time to access the pace and bounce and till that time never tried anything outrageous.
The left-hander just had three boundaries and a six to his credit but still his strike rate was a fluent 99. It was he and Mitchell Johnson who added 21 in the last two overs and took the score from a potential 215-220 odd to 229.