Australia came out the victors in a low-scoring fourth match of theCarlton & United Series at the Sydney Cricket Ground this evening
Rick Eyre14-Jan-2000Australia came out the victors in a low-scoring fourth match of theCarlton & United Series at the Sydney Cricket Ground this evening. Itwas all over by 9.12pm, and looked for most of the day like beingsomething of a walkover, but in the end there was just enoughexcitement to keep the 38,831 SCG crowd on their toes. Australiadefeated India by five wickets with 23.1 overs to spare, but splendidbowling by Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad kept a glimmer of hopealive for the tourists when all else seemed lost.India were dismissed for exactly 100, a total that in the end was notquite enough to defend on a pitch that was providing plenty ofassistance for the seamers in both teams. But it was the all-roundefforts of Andrew Symonds that won the man-of-the-match award ahead ofexcellent bowling performances by Glenn McGrath and Javagal Srinath.Pitch curator Tom Parker was quoted in the morning’s papers as sayingthat 300 would be a winning total on this strip. But by the end of theday that sounded like a prediction worthier of Tom Parker, thehyperbolic manager of Elvis Presley.Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and elected to bat first. India made twochanges from the team that lost by 28 runs to Australia on Wednesdaynight, Devang Gandhi and Nikhil Chopra replacing Jacob Martin and AjitAgarkar. Australia fielded an unchanged eleven, with Stuart MacGillnamed as twelfth man.The crowd buzzed with excitement as Tendulkar strode to the crease,elevating himself to open along Sourav Ganguly. Much was anticipatedof the first appearance in Australia of the duo in this capacity. Butso little was delivered, with both players back in the pavillionwithin the first five overs thanks to some excellent bowling by GlennMcGrath.Tendulkar had scored a single from his first ten balls faced, when hemisjudged the bounce from a McGrath delivery outside off stump andedged a simple catch to Adam Gilchrist. The left-hander Ganguly was onfive when he fished outside off to a shorter ball from McGrath whichgot some movement off the seam, another simple catch toGilchrist. India 9 for 2.Runs were hard to come by for Laxman and Dravid against the swing andseam of Fleming and McGrath. The first non-single of the match came inthe tennth over when Dravid deflected Fleming to fine leg, for MichaelBevan to misfield an easy save and nudge the ball into the boundary.India’s third wicket fell when a hostile McGrath got a ball throughLaxman’s defences, removing middle stump. Laxman faced 25 deliveriesfor his 2, the hasty last-minute decision to include him in India’sone-day squad looking ever more questionable.With Devang Gandhi joining Dravid at the crease, the score at the endof the eleventh over was 21 for 3.India’s fourth wicket of the day fell with just 29 runs on theboard. Brett Lee, who replaced Damien Fleming in the twelfth over ofthe day, struck in the second over of his spell. With just twofielders forward of the wicket, Devang Gandhi (6) spooned an easycatch of Lee straight to one of the two, Michael Bevan at extra cover.Glenn McGrath’s superb opening spell of 7-3-5-3 came to an end, andwith Shane Lee joining in the brotherly bowling attack some of thepressure eased on Rahul Dravid and Robin Singh. The two built arecovery of sorts until Singh (11) fell to a Shane Lee outswinger,taken by Damien Martyn at first slip. Their stand was a valuable 42 inthe circumstances and scored at 3.3 per over.Andrew Symonds, who had replaced Brett Lee at the southern end, strucktwice with successive deliveries in the 28th over. He had Dravid (22)adjudged lbw by umpire Simon Taufel, although the ball pitched outsideoff and seamed in with the batsman appearing to play a shot.Anil Kumble slashed at a ball which should have been a wide, and wasgone first ball, taken by Adam Gilchrist – the Australianwicketkeeper’s 100th career catch in his 79th ODI. Nikhil Chopra leftthe hat trick ball alone, pitching outside off.The hapless Sameer Dighe was the eighth wicket to fall for India,edging McGrath’s final ball of the day to Damien Martyn at firstslip. Dighe scored 2 from 21 balls, giving him 11 from 57 deliveriesso far in this series. McGrath finished the day with the astonishingfigures of 10-4-8-4.Andrew Symonds took the last two wickets of the innings, for thesecond time in the innings. Chopra, who had edged a boundary throughfirst slip, was gone for 14 when Symonds trapped him plumb lbw afterIndia had reached 100 in 178 minutes.Next ball, Symonds dislodged Venkatesh Prasad’s off-stump, to finishwith 4/11 from 3.3 overs.With the Indian innings ending at precisely 5.30pm, Australia had 20minutes to bat before the start of the dinner break. Mark Waugh andAdam Gilchrist survived a short five-over spell before the interval,in which 12 runs were scored without loss. Waugh was fortunate tosurvive two confident lbw appeals off Srinath during the pre-dinnerspell, umpire Peter Parker giving in favour of the batsman on bothoccasions.After dinner Mark Waugh became Srinath’s first victim when he wasgiven out lbw to a ball cutting in from off. Umpire Peter Parkeradjudged that the ball would not have missed leg stump, and Waugh wasout for 3.Ricky Ponting had not scored when he slashed at a ball from Prasad,well taken by Laxman at second slip. Michael Bevan came out to joinGilchrist (19*), but before play could resume the rain which had beenthreatening to appear all day finally descended.The sharp but not heavy shower descended on the SCG amid brightsunshine at 7.12pm with Australia on 29 for 2 after ten overs. Playresumed 26 minutes later with no reduction in overs.Gilchrist immediately put the foot on the accelerator hooking Srinathfor two boundaries from the first two balls after the raininterruption. A short delay followed later in that over as the umpiresapproved Tendulkar’s request to place sawdust on the bowlers’footmarks at each end. Unlike the controversy during the Test match afortnight ago, the surface was slightly slippery after the shower ofrain.Gilchrist had hit five boundaries in his 51-ball knock when, on 37, hemisplayed an on-drive from Srinath, getting a thick outside edge toRahul Dravid at third slip. Chasing a small target, his innings hadplaced Australia into a strong position. However the fall of twowickets in that over placed that hold in jeopardy.Michael Bevan failed yet again in his promotion to No 4 in the battingorder. He had scored two when, three balls after Gilchrist’sdismissal, he found himself in trouble yet again with a liftingdelivery from Srinath, fending it to Kumble in the gully.With Steve Waugh and Damien Martyn the new men at the crease,Australia were 4/56 after 15 overs. The required run rate was barely1.2 per over, but Australia still needed to hang on to their sixremaining wickets. And there was still a chance that the rain wouldreturn.Australia lost their fifth wicket with the score at 59, captain SteveWaugh (4) given out lbw decision by umpire Parker – though there was alot of movement, possibly passing leg stump – to become Srinath’sfourth victim of the innings.Srinath (10-2-30-4) and Prasad (10-0-29-1) both bowled unchanged, andwhile Srinath received all the plaudits, Prasad also beat the bat onmany occasions.The arrival of Ganguly in the attack to replace Srinath was greetedwith two lofted fours by Andrew Symonds, one a straight hit that felljust inside the fence.At the end of the 25th over, Australia needed 17 runs forvictory. Tendulkar, hardly the shrewdest captain in world cricket,made the brazen move of replacing Robin Singh (2-1-1-0) with AnilKumble. The response from Andrew Symonds? Three boundaries in sixballs. Twelve runs off Kumble’s first over at a crucial moment of thegame.Martyn joined in the slogfest with a boundary off Ganguly, and asingle to mid-on brought victory.Symonds was named man of the match for his 28 not out from 32 ballsand 4/11 from 3.3 overs. Australia now join Pakistan on four points,though Pakistan have a match in hand. Australia are showing signs of abrittle batting lineup this season. Bevan’s promotion to No 4 seemsunwarranted as is the selectors continuing faith in Damien Martyn. Itis a mystery why Stuart MacGill does not walk straight into the shoesof Shane Warne at every opportunity, while there is the inescapablefeeling that Australia are playing one, and maybe two, Lee brotherstoo many in the short-form game.India are winless after three matches and have an uphill battleforcing their way into the finals from here. Their batting is showingno consistency, and Tendulkar is leading the team in the field like aCaptain Uninspired. Srinath and Prasad bowled with a passion whichsuggested that the match was theirs if only they had 150 or so todefend. Continuous excessive appealing and self-congratulations ateven the scent that they may have taken a wicket continues to be amajor weakness in the emotional fabric of this Indian side who wouldbe better off concentrating on the basics and putting more effort,more hard work, into getting the habit of possessing the will to win.