Rain ruins Tri Series first match
Ranjan ANANDAAPPA in Australia
The opening limited over game in the Commonwealth Bank series between
Australia and India was abandoned due to rain after several stoppages at
the Woolloongabba Stadium in Brisbane yesterday.
In pursuit of a modest victory target of 195 in their allotted 45
overs in a rain hit game with several revised targets which ultimately
boiled down to 141 runs to get in 26 overs, Australia were 3 for 51
still needing 90 more runs to win off 112 balls when a heavy downpour
brought the game to an abrupt halt which forced the umpires to abandon
the first day\night game.
Gilchrist and Hopes provided the substance for Australia with a 38
run stand for the first wicket while chasing the first revised target of
196 runs off 43 overs when Australia resumed their innings after the
first stoppage for rain.
After many interruptions and revised targets Ishant Sharma and
Shanthakumaran Sreesanth bowled with a bit of an Australian flavour to
push back the Aussies sharing the wickets of both openers and that of
skipper Ricky Ponting for a ‘duck’.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat
first on a pitch that looked fast enough to play strokes whilst at the
same time gave some help for the bowlers.
The bowling of Brett Lee was the most impressive feature in the
Indian innings. His tendency to bowl short to unsettle the batsmen and
the full pitch delivery which gave little room for the batsmen to bring
their bats down in time which accounted for their down fall.
Sehwag opened with Tendulkar and left armer Nathan Bracken provided
the early break through for his team when he got one to come in and
Sehwag was bowled off his bat. Then disaster struck for India when their
prolific scorer Tendulkar while taking off for a run toddled on his
stumps and was declared out hit wicket by the third umpire. India were
then 26 for 2.
Rohith Sharma and Gautham Gambhir gave some respite for the Indians
when the pair partially brought back India into the game. The third
wicket pair added 65 runs bringing the score from 26 for 2 to 91.
The pair showed the determination lacking in some of their senior
colleagues. Debutante Ashley Noffke was struck for two consecutive fours
in his first over and was also struck over cover point for another by
Gautham Gambir in his 39, which came off 51 deliveries.
The only other worthwhile partnership was between skipper Dhoni (37)
and Harbhajan Singh (27) who added 42 runs for the eighth wicket in
their final tally of 194 in 45 overs.
BRISBANE, Sunday
INDIA
V. Sehwag b Bracken 6
S. Tendulkar hit wicket b Lee 10
G. Gambhir lbw b Johnson 39
R. Sharma c Gilchrist b Lee 29
M. Tiwary b Lee 2
M.S. Dhoni c Ponting b Lee 37
R. Uthappa c Clark b Noffke 5
I. Pathan run out 21
H. Singh c Clarke b Lee 27
S. Sreesanth run out 4
I. Sharma not out 1
Extras (lb7, nb2, w4) 13
TOTAL 194
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-12 (Sehwag), 2-26 (Tendulkar), 3-91 (Gambhir),
4-93 (Sharma), 5-94 (Tiwary), 6-102 (Uthappa), 7-147 (Pathan),
8-189 (Dhoni), 9-190 (Harbhajan), 10-194 (Sreesanth)
BOWLING: Lee 9-2-27-5 (nb2), Bracken 9-0-55-1 (w1), Noffke 9-0-46-1,
Johnson 9-2-33-1 (w2), Hopes 6-0-17-0, Clarke 2-0-5-0 (w1), Symonds 1-0-4-0
Overs: 45
AUSTRALIA
A. Gilchrist c Dhoni b Sreesanth 14
J. Hopes b I.Sharma 17
R. Ponting c Sehwag b Sreesanth 0
M. Clarke not out 2
A. Symonds not out 5
Extras (b4, w4, nb5) 13
TOTAL (for three wickets) 51
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-33 (Gilchrist), 2-38 (Hopes), 3-39 (Ponting)
BOWLING: Pathan 2-0-23-0 (w2), Sreesanth 3.2-0-17-2 (w2),
I. Sharma 2-0-7-1 (nb5DID NOT BAT: M. Hussey, B. Haddin,
A. Noffke, B. Lee, M. Johnson, N. Bracken |
