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 Bangalore,
Nov 13: Weighed down by a merciless Australian batting assault,
India buckled under pressure of chasing a huge total as the world
champions warmed up for the summit showdown with a comfortable
61-run victory in the TVS Cup triangular cricket series here
yesterday. After Australia posted a mammoth 347 for two riding on
blistering centuries by Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting, Sachin
Tendulkar led a spirited Indian fightback with a classy 89 before
the hosts lost steam to be stopped at 286 for eight in their
allotted 50 overs in an absorbing floodlit encounter at the M
Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The Indians, who
desperately needed a victory to bolster their chances of making it
to the November 18 final in Kolkata, were outplayed in all
departments of the game by the formidable Aussies who recorded their
fifth consecutive victory in the series. The only consolation from
the defeat was the bonus point the hosts got which has tied them on
points with New Zealand, both teams having ten points from five
matches. The Australians, who have qualified for the final, widened
their lead atop the points table having garnered 28 points from six
outings.
 India
have no option but to defeat New Zealand in their last match in
Hyderabad on Saturday to make it to the majestic Eden Gardens in
Kolkata for the summit showdown. Earlier, electing to bat, Australia
piled up 347 for two, the highest-ever score at the venue, with
Gilchrist (111) and Ponting (108 not out) tearing the Indian bowling
to shreds. Only Tendulkar could hang around for long as Sehwag (39),
Sourav Ganguly (37) and Rahul Dravid (34) got the starts but could
not build the innings which compounded India's misery. The Indian
run chase began in right earnest with Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag
stitching 103 runs for the opening wicket to provide a solid
foundation.
Sehwag, who had not
played the last match against New Zealand due to an injury,
struggled to find his rhythm in the initial stages being beaten
repeatedly by the two Australian new ball operators Brad Williams
and Michael Kasprowicz. Tendulkar, who has been in very good nick,
set the tempo by slamming Kasprowicz for two boundaries in his very
first over but the Indians could not really pick up the run rate
with Sehwag struggling to get the runs at the other end. The Delhi
player was lucky to get a longer tenure at the crease as Mathew
Hayden dropped a rather simple catch at first slip when he was on
six, Kasprowicz being the unlucky bowler.
In the same over,
Sehwag got another life when Damien Martin spilled a difficult
chance at the cover region much to the delight of a capacity crowd.
After scratching around for a while, Sehwag unleashed a flurry of
strokes, picking up Andrew Bichel for some special treatment by
clobbering him for 16 runs in the 15th over of the innings.
Tendulkar, on the other hand, looked quite comfortable as he did the
bulk of the scoring during the partnership, which raised hopes of a
spirited Indian fightback.
 The
opening pair put on 103 runs in 17.3 overs before Ian Harvey
provided the breakthrough for the Aussies by evicting Sehwag for a
53-ball 39. Sehwag went for an attacking shot but missed the ball
completely as it kept low to dislodge his stumps. The stylish VVS
laxman, who joined the action after Sehwag's dismissal, put on 45
runs for the second wicket with Tendulkar before falling prey to
spinner Michael Clarke, trying to accelerate the pace of scoring.
Laxman made room to play a drive on the off-side but failed to
connect the ball properly and Andrew Symonds pulled off a
spectacular catch at extra cover to reduce the hosts to 148 for two
in 25 overs.
Skipper Sourav
Ganguly, returning to the team after a fairly long injury-induced
lay-off, got down to scoring immediately as he clobbered Clarke for
three consecutive boundaries to put the run chase back on track.
Tendulkar, who notched up his 64th one-day half century by slamming
Harvey to the boundary, kept the run flow going without taking too
many risks. While Tendulkar displayed his class by executing some
glorious shots on both sides of the wicket, Ganguly was also prompt
to dispatch the loose deliveries to the fence.
 But
a big jolt awaited the Indians in the 29th over which saw Harvey
getting the prized scalp of Tendulkar, much to the relief of the
Australians. The batting maestro was bowled by a ball, which skidded
and kept low, hitting his pads first before dislodging the stumps.
His 91-ball 89 contained 12 boundaries and a mighty six. The
departure of Tendulkar virtually opened up the floodgates as the
Indians lost Ganguly, Dravid and Yuvraj Singh as all the batsmen
tried to force the pace of scoring. Earlier, man-of-the-match
Gilchrist gave an awesome display of strokeplay to crack his maiden
century against the Indians before Ponting made a 102-ball 108.
Gilchrist set the packed Chinnaswamy Stadium ablaze clobbering 14
boundaries and a six during his knock as the world champions
plundered runs at will on what appeared to be a very good batting
strip.
After Gilchrist's
rampage, Ponting maintained the tempo with a flurry of strokes to
notch up his 15th one-day century and help Australia post the
highest score at this venue. Damien Martyn (61 not out) and Mathew
Hayden (44) also made merry with useful contributions, leaving the
hosts with a difficult asking rate of nearly seven runs per over.
The two Australian openers Gilchrist and Hayden provided the
launching pad for the assault with a rollicking 119-run opening
partnership, which completely left the hosts in a daze. The two
famed Aussie openers were in devastating form as they tore the
Indian bowling to shreds with a barrage of boundaries, compiling as
many as 105 runs in the first 15 overs.
Gilchrist set the
ball rolling by slamming the first ball of the innings by speedster
Ashish Nehra to the boundary and then slammed another boundary to
collect 15 runs from the very first over. (Agencies)
Published:
Thursday, November 13, 2003
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