India give it back, without a fight : The Tribune India

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The Tribune at world cup: Rohit Mahajan in Sydney

India give it back, without a fight

 We won’t give it back” was the slogan, simple and extremely marketable, that was devised by the advertising guys to define India’s defence of the World Cup.

India give it back, without a fight

Australia’s Michael Clarke, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson and Aaron Finch celebrate the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja.



 We won’t give it back” was the slogan, simple and extremely marketable, that was devised by the advertising guys to define India’s defence of the World Cup. On Thursday night at the Sydney Cricket Ground, “it”, the World Cup, was not merely taken away. It was wrenched away from India’s feeble grip by a strong and muscular Australia. Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc led the ambush on the Indians.

Australia beat India in the semifinals by 95 runs, but the actual margin was much bigger. It was probably over when India lost Suresh Raina in the 23rd over, and it was definitely over when Ajinkya Rahane fell in the 37th over. This left MS Dhoni the impossible target of getting 151 runs off 14 overs, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja and the lower tail.

This wasn’t going to happen, despite the relentless yelling and chanting by the majority Indian support in the stands. Noise has little utility if the players aren’t up to the challenge. Indian supporters from across the world, from Canada to Papua New Guinea to Europe and Africa, had descended on Sydney for what was billed as a final before the final. It didn’t live up to the hype for more than a dozen overs, because it became too easy and one-sided for the Australians. The Indian fans, colourful and vocal and in your face, were silenced by the time the dew began to fall in the early evening. The Australians had set up an almost unchaseable total when they batted after winning the toss.

Toss it

Dhoni later said that he was worried a bit on losing the toss. Yesterday, the captains of the two teams had discounted the importance of winning the toss. But winning the toss has been key in India’s big wins in the tournament — against Pakistan and South Africa in the group stage and against Bangladesh in the quarterfinals. India were able to bat first after winning the toss against these three teams, and they got big runs. After that, the scoreboard pressure, some tight bowling and fine fielding did the trick in those wins.

Today the shoe was on the other foot. India lost the toss and after the early loss of David Warner, Australia consolidated through a partnership of 182 between Steven Smith and Aaron Finch.

Over the last few days, speculation has raged over the quality and nature of the wicket; in the event, it turned out to be a placid surface to play on. It was a bit up and down early in the Australian innings, but then it settled into a comfortable batting surface when India’s turn came to bat.

Smith has been a source of recurring torment to India over the last four months, beginning with the Test series. He took his total of runs scored off the Indian bowling during this time to 921 with a very fine century. Smith’s knock (105 off 93 balls) began in a placid manner but exploded into a torrent of runs as he settled in. Finch was less convincing, but he managed to hang on.

The Indians tried to apply the brakes, and succeeded well for a while; between the 34th and 44th overs. Australia scored only 61 runs and lost four wickets. The score, which seemed capable of passing 350 at one stage, crawled. But during the fall of these wickets and after, the Australians continued to hit out. Johnson’s powerful strokes took them to 328, the highest total in a World Cup semifinal.

The chase

India’s pursuit of the target of 329 took off when Dhawan started attacking Faulkner, taking 16 runs from his first over, the 10th of the Indian innings. Josh Hazlewood got Dhawan when the opener went for a lofted drive on the off side and Glenn Maxwell took the catch easily.

Kohli was pinned to the crease in an excellent over by Hazlewood, and he grew desperate. In the 15th over, he tried to assert himself. It was an unadvisable move, to go for a six without settling down, when the required run rate was only a shade over 7.2. Kohli edged his pull and the ball went up high into the night’s lights before descending and falling into the gloves of Brad Haddin. Johnson, the ball after he was hit for a six by Rohit in his next over, sent him back with a quick one that Rohit edged onto the wicket. Raina, as is usual, struggled against the pace of the Australians.

Rahane’s end, in the 37th over, when he feathered a ball to the wicketkeeper, ended India’s last hope. Jadeja is incapable of forcing the pace, and most of his runs came off the edges of his bat. He was the first of the two batsmen run out tonight.

The second was Dhoni, of course — the irony of the super-swift getting run out can’t be missed.

It was not going to be Dhoni’s night. It was not going to be India’s night. “Shikhar’s dismissal was slightly on the softer side, at a time when we could have had the bowling under pressure,” Dhoni later rued.

“There was too much (for me and the lower order to do),” he added. “Our lower order can’t contribute too much in these conditions.”

India lost the title as much to the Australian team as to the conditions, despite being in these parts for four months. They come back empty-handed from the visit, apart from some obscure “positives”.

Australia’s key men fired, india’s couldn’t

Sublime Smith 

Looks like he could score a ton against India blindfolded. He scored four back-to-back hundreds against India in the Test series, and hammered one again on Thursday, the most painful of all. His fluent ton allowed the struggling Finch to hang on and laid the foundation for a 300 plus total.

Shami fails to deliver

The Indian pace spearhead failed to give a breakthrough when Smith and Finch were putting on the match-winning 182-run partnership for the second wicket. At 200 for 1, with 15 overs to go, Australia were more than ready for the final assault. Though the bowlers fought back well, the damage had already been done.

Johnson comes alive

The left-arm pacer, who had a quiet World Cup until now, chose this game to roar back into top form. First up, he hammered a valuable 9-ball 27 and then dismissed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in quick succession to snuff out the hopes of an Indian win.

 Scoreboard

Australia

 

Finch c Dhawan b Yadav 81

Warner c Kohli b Yadav 12

Smith c Rohit b Yadav 105

Maxwell c Rahane b Ashwin 23

Watson c Rahane b Mohit 28

Clarke c Rohit b Mohit 10

Faulkner b Yadav 21

Haddin not out 7

Johnson not out 27

Extras (b 1, lb 7, w 6) 14 

Total (7 wickets; 50 overs) 328 

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-197, 3-232, 4-233, 5-248, 6-284, 7-298

Bowling

Shami 10-0-68-0

Yadav 9-0-72-4

Mohit 10-0-75-2

Kohli 1-0-7-0

Jadeja 10-0-56-0

Ashwin 10-0-42-1

India
 
Rohit b Johnson 34

Dhawan c Maxwell b Hazlewood 45

Kohli c Haddin b Johnson 1

Rahane c Haddin b Starc 44

Raina c Haddin b Faulkner 7

Dhoni run out (Maxwell) 65

Jadeja run out (Smith) 16

Ashwin b Faulkner 5

Shami not out 1

Mohit b Faulkner 0

Yadav b Starc 0

Extras (lb 8, w 5, nb 2) 15

Total (all out; 46.5 overs) 233

Fall of wickets: 1-76, 2-78, 3-91, 4-108, 5-178, 6-208, 7-231, 8-232, 9-232 

Bowling 

Starc 8.5-0-28-2

Hazlewood 10-1-41-1

Johnson 10-0-50-2

Faulkner 9-1-59-3

Maxwell 5-0-18-0

Watson 4-0-29-0

Man of the Match: Steven Smith


Reactions

I think the best two teams have reached the final. They have the best two captains on display at the World Cup and they are the most balanced for these conditions. — Rahul Dravid

Indians played great cricket against the teams they have beaten before, the result today was something that was expected. Australia have been the better team and they have proved it today. 328 was chaseable but they totally dominated. — Brian Lara

You need the top three-four to get a big hundred to have a chance in such a huge chase. Australia bowled well. Besides, Kohli got out early and when he gets out cheaply, India struggles. — Shane Warne

I thought the SCG pitch was an Indian track rather than an Australian. It was a flat track and India should have chased down the target. The lack of partnerships was India’s undoing. — Harbhajan singh

I think Australians have got more match winners than India. They are not relying on the same guy all the time. They have got a lot of wicket-taking bowlers. And when they have beaten you consistently, it is very very difficult. Australia were the superior team. — Ian Chappell

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