5th ODI: Australia beat India by 3 runs
05.11.09 / Cricket / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)
breathtaking 175 to very nearly take India to a sensational win in a
nerve-wrecking fifth One-dayer against Australia but the hosts floundered in the
dying stages to succumb to a three-run defeat and give the visitors a 3-2 lead
in the series.
Chasing
Australia’s mammoth 350 for four, built mainly around Shaun Marsh’s 112 and
Shane Watson’s 93, the Indians rode on Tendulkar’s heroic 141 ball knock to come
within sniffing distance of a remarkable win but the tailenders faltered under
pressure to be all out for 347 with two balls to spare.
It was a
remarkable exhibition of strokeplay by Tendulkar, who not only notched up his
45th ODI hundred but also became the first cricketer in the history of the game
to cross the 17,000-run mark.
It was also the fastest century by an
Indian against the Australians as well as the highest individual score against
the visitors.
The jam-packed Rajiv Gandhi International stadium
witnessed an extraordinary contest which saw as many as 697 runs being scored in
a game which fortunes fluctuated from one end to the other till the very end.
The two teams will now travel to Guwahati for the sixth One-dayer to
be held on Sunday.
Tendulkar was at his ominous best from the onset
as he clobbered the Australian attack to all parts of the ground, hitting 19
fours and four sixes.
Opening the batting, he first shared 66 runs
with Virender Sehwag (38 off 30) and then stitched a vital 137 runs with Suresh
Raina, who made a run-a-ball 59, for the fifth wicket in exactly 19 overs to
power India to the victory.
But Tendulkar’s dismissal in the first
ball of the 48th over, caught when he played the scoop shot at fine leg by a
diving Nathan Huaritz, unhinged the Indian innings as the remaining tail-end
batsmen proved unequal to the task of scoring 19 runs in 17 balls.
Ravindra Jadeja (23) and Praveen Kumar (9) were run out, while
Ashish Nehra fell for one as India slid to defeat from 299 for four in the 43rd
over.
The Indian innings was floundering at 162 for four when
Tendulkar was joined by Raina and their excellent stand for the fifth wicket
brought India on the doorsteps of victory, but it was not to be.
Except for Sehwag and Tendulkar, the Indian top order failed as
Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni departed cheaply
to leave Tendulkar with the huge task of guiding India past the finishing line.
Tendulkar, who had been outstanding in the field while most of his
other teammates fumbled when Australia batted, got the ideal partner in young
Raina.
The duo piloted the innings from a difficult 162 for four in
the 24th over with their century stand with Tendulkar guiding and cajoling his
younger partner to a nicety. They were separated only when India needed 52 runs
from 45 balls, Raina top-edging a sweep to keeper Graham Manou.
The
hosts asked for the batting Power Play when 46 were needed from the last six
overs with four wickets in hand, after Harbhajan Singh made a first ball duck,
but to add to India’s misery, Tendulkar started to develop leg cramps by that
time.
India needed 31 runs from the last 24 balls and then 19 from
18 when Tendulkar and Ravindra Jadeja departed at the same score. The equation
was brought down to 16 from 12 when Ashish Nehra was out.
The hosts
needed eight of the last over and got four of those before Praveen Kumar was run
by Hauritz after the right-hander went for the second run.
Tendulkar, who notched his fourth 150-plus innings in his 435th ODI,
played with a lot of freedom once he reached the landmark of 17,000 runs.
Tendulkar and Sehwag were going great guns before the Delhi dasher
top-edged a hook off Ben Hilfenhaus to fine leg.
Ponting decision to
bring in Clint McKay into the attack in place of the expensive Bollinger worked
as Gambhir although greeted the debutant with a four, the right-arm pacer got
his revenge getting the lefthander’s wicket, caught at third
man.
Tendulkar, after reaching his 50 with a single in 47 balls that
included seven hits to the fence, lofted the 26-yar-old McKay to the long on
fence for his eighth four.
The champion batsman, whose previous
highest score in this series was 40 made at Mohali in the fourth tie, then
turned on the heat at Nathan Huaritz and struck the off-spinner for successive
fours. He also hoisted him for two sixes off successive balls.
In
between, Yuvraj Singh was caught and bowled in a tame manner while trying to
flick Watson after he added 34 runs in 30 balls with Tendulkar.
Skipper Dhoni too departed early, caught brilliantly at gully off
McKay to leave India in a spot of bother at 162 for four in the 24th over.
But Raina fully utilised the life handed by Cameron White at slip in
the first ball he faced from McKay and blossomed in Tendulkar’s company, hitting
10 fours and three sixes to take India inches closer to the win before the tail
made mess of their efforts.
Earlier, strapping Queensland
all-rounder Shane Watson smashed 93 off 89 balls with three sixes and eight
fours, while left-handed Shaun Marsh’s maiden ODI century took Australia to
their second highest total against India.
The 26-year-old son of
former Australian opener Geoff made a run-a-ball 112 with the help of two sixes
and eight fours, putting on 145 runs for the first wicket with Watson.
Marsh was out in the slog phase, caught just inside the boundary
line off Ashish Nehra.
Skipper Ricky Ponting too chipped in with a
run-a-ball 45 and was also involved in a breezy 91-run stand for the second
wicket with Marsh in 82 balls to set up the late assault in which the visitors
added 105 runs in the last 10 overs.
Cameron White (57 in 33 balls
with 5 sixes and 2 fours) and Michael Hussey (31 in 22 balls with 2 sixes and
one four) struck lusty blows against the three Indian pacers.
Electing to bat first on a perfect batting track after Ponting had
won the toss for the fourth time in five ties, the right-left duo of Watson and
Marsh put on the first century stand in the series on either side to lay a
strong foundation.
The Indian spinners, particularly Harbhajan
Singh, applied the skids on the tourists’ runaway start, to keep Australia well
under check by denying them boundaries for 80 balls in the middle overs.
The Indian bowlers had a total off day barring Harbhajan whose two
spells cost 28 runs in eight overs and 16 in his last two for the wicket of
Watson. Nehra and Praveen Kumar were just not in their elements and were
punished mercilessly by the batsmen. Munaf, in his first match, was equally
unimpressive and left-arm slow bowler Ravindra Jadeja was hammered for 44 runs
in five overs.
To top it all, the Indian fielding too was below par
barring a few diving stops as there were a number of mis-fields, Nehra in
particular being pathetic with his slow running and poor anticipation.
