Tidy India keep Australia to 252
Australia 9 for 252 (Warner 68, Wade 56, D Hussey 54, Sehwag 3-43) v India
| |||
Australia posted an unconvincing 9 for 252 against India in the triangular series ODI at the SCG, and might not have made it that far without a decision to rule David Hussey not out when he appeared to obstruct the field - or handle the ball - early in an innings of 54.
Needing to win in order to have a realistic chance of qualifying for the finals series, India were given a fine start by the intelligent and miserly bowling of Praveen Kumar, whose opening spell of six overs harvested two wickets at a cost of 14 runs, including only one boundary. Umesh Yadav also made a mark with his speed and aggression.
Praveen's victims included Shane Watson, playing his first international of the summer as Australia's stand-in captain while Michael Clarke recovers from a flare-up of the back trouble that has been an intermittent problem across his career.
David Warner fared the best of the batsmen, striking his way to 68 from 66 balls before skying Ravindra Jadeja. Suresh Raina claimed the catch despite a heavy collision with Irfan Pathan that left both fielders laid out on the outfield. Matthew Wade and Hussey also chimed in, but the latter was perhaps fortunate to get past 17.
Running a single, Hussey held out his hand to block Suresh Raina's return from the edge of the fielding circle - whether this was an attempt to simply prevent getting hit was unclear - and MS Dhoni immediately appealed either for handling the ball or the recently changed laws for obstructing the field, which forbid a batsman from changing his running line to intercept a ball headed for the stumps. After a lengthy television consultation the appeal was rejected, much to the consternation of the visitors. They exchanged plenty of words with Hussey when he was dismissed, 37 runs later.
Australia's early progress had been slow against Praveen's wiles, though more runs were collected from Pathan at the other end. Watson pulled at a delivery shaping away from him and managed only to spoon a catch to mid-on, while Peter Forrest fell to a slower delivery that he dragged onto the stumps.
Warner's innings provided the hosts with some momentum, but he lost Michael Hussey due to a running mix-up, and his own bright stay was ended by Jadeja. David Hussey's reprieve offered him and Wade the chance to regather the innings, which they did well enough in a stand of 94.
Wade's stay was ended when he steered a swift Yadav delivery into Dhoni's gloves, before Hussey fell to the same combination, snicking behind in his attempt to pull Yadav from outside off stump. The fact that Hussey appeared to walk did little to soothe India's frustration about the earlier incident.
Clint McKay was not long in staying before he wafted at Virender Sehwag and was stumped, and late blows from Daniel Christian and Xavier Doherty were not enough to take the total beyond the mediocrity it always seemed likely to be mired in.
Watson made his long-delayed return to the team as captain after Clarke failed to recover in time from back soreness that emerged in Hobart. Australia have now had four captains of the national side in various formats this summer - Clarke, George Bailey, Ricky Ponting and Watson.
In the other change to the team, McKay was recalled for Ryan Harris, who proved expensive with the ball in the loss to Sri Lanka on Friday.
India were able to recall Dhoni after suspension, meaning Parthiv Patel dropped out of the XI that lost to Sri Lanka in Brisbane.
The visitors must win the match to stay in realistic contention for the finals, otherwise relying on bonus points as well as wins to close their gap with Sri Lanka and Australia,
No comments:
Post a Comment