India cracked

Ganguly was run out
By Lee Grant - 10 Jan '04
January 29 2004

That was an exciting win to Oz at the MCG in the opening game of the VB series. I usually don’t follow ODI matches, except in CWC years, but I got my appetite back with the heroics of Ponting’s men in South Africa last year – and the teams are so evenly matched this year.

It was a madcap match and one that India should have won with 43 to get off 36 balls left and 6 wickets still in the shed, but they cracked, whilst Oz held their nerve as they do most of the time. With the batting line-ups of both teams so strong and the bowlers less good, plus a top pitch, the par score should have been about 310 for the team batting first and about 290 for the second team. Australia kept pushing the score regardless of losing wickets as is their wont, but should have played out the 50 overs.

Ajit Agarkar bowled well, but he was gifted a few wickets, as were the Oz bowlers. There is so little difference between these two teams that small margins in some areas over 50 overs are enough to win. The cracking catch by Ricky Ponting to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar and the consecutive dismissals of Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly were key, but I thought the main difference in the two teams was the ground fielding superiority of Oz. Add to that their super catching, something the test team were woeful at.

The Indians openers put on a good start but were scratchy. Despite scoring well and at a good rate, SRT still didn’t look convincing. Ganguly was the best batsman. From an Oz point of view it was funny to see him run out because he often risks his partner’s wicket with lazy running.

Perhaps not unexpectedly after the draining test series, the best players for Oz were non-test players, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds and Ian Harvey. We biased Sydney-siders have been waiting for Clarke’s inclusion in the test team for two years now and perhaps his way into the team is through ODI performances – as it was with Matt Hayden returning to the Oz test team a few years ago. Symonds has been going from strength to strength in the last 12 months. A year ago he was bogged down in the Oz ’A’ side, and lucky to be there. He was an arguable selection for the CWC, and then came his rescue of Oz against Pakistan that changed his career.

Damien Martyn looks supremely out of sorts. Lehmann is back for South Australia after his Achilles problem and scored 83 in 84 balls in a ODD match v. Tasmania yesterday, and took 2/24. In Perth, Martin Love scored 100 in 94 balls for QLD v. WA but man-of-the-match Justin Langer trumped him with 100 in 74 for WA to win the game for them. Simon Katich batted well in the 4 day game NSW v Vic. Any of these players could threaten Martyn for his ODI spot, and his test spot is under fire too. I wish we had the same experienced bowling choices.

The most significant performance yesterday was by 20-year old old quick Shaun Tait who played for Australia ‘A’ v. India in Hobart recently. He was MOM and got 8/43 for S. Australia v. Tasmania. Watch this space. He will play for Australia in both forms of the game within a few years.