Nightmare for Jadeja and India
By Gemma Wright
I imagine that Ravindra Jadeja fell out of bed this morning, scalded himself in the shower, burnt his toast, and ran over a cat on the way to the ground. That’s the kind of day he’s had. The last 3 balls of his 1st over were smashed out of the ground by Australian opener Shane Watson. In the previous over, Jadeja had missed a difficult opportunity to catch Watson at mid wicket. Brought back into the attack in the 9th over, it was Warner’s turn to dispatch his first three balls for 6, making it 6 maximums in a row for the bowler, and leaving him with figures of 2-0-38-0. All before 10.30am. If he bought a lottery ticket today he’d probably get a paper cut.
Australia’s batsmen gave a master class in T20 batting. Their first wicket stand of 104 came from 65 balls. Not bad considering the first over was a maiden. Any less than perfect ball was sent over the rope, with 16 sixes and 6 fours in the innings. India looked lacklustre in the field, which has become a familiar theme with the teams from the sub-continent in this competition. On 167/3 in the 17th over, Australia must have had their sights on 200, but the fall of both the Hussey brothers in the final 3 overs slowed the pace, and India held them to 184/5.
India failed to capitalise on the momentum they gained in those final few overs, their opening batsmen looking rattled by the pace of the Aussie attack. Tait and Nannes were again pick of the bowlers, taking 3 apiece. The contrast in the fielding between the two teams was stark, Australia enthusiastic, athletic, and importantly, supportive to their team mates. Australian captain Michael Clarke gave high praise for his teams’ fielding, and claims to have the two best openers in world T20 cricket, with a strong adaptable squad.
Sharma was the only saving grace in an otherwise dismal performance by the Indian batsmen. He remained not out on 79, and one of only 2 batsmen to make double figure. Although scoring most of his runs off the medium pacers, he was a reminder of how destructive India can be when on form.
Dhoni played down the loss. As he saw it, the high run-rate necessitated India’s shot selection. In truth, they were seriously outclassed by a team that have only recently joined the T20 party. Australia, dominant in both ODI and Test cricket, surprised everyone by not taking to the shortest format immediately. However, they have announced their arrival in style, and look likely to continue for a while in this tournament.
