Friday, March 25, 2011

India Vs Australia, Quarter Final – Match Review

India Vs Australia – 2nd Quarter Final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, 24th March - Ahmedabad

India made one change from the previous game, Virender Sehwag came in for the Yousuf Pathan and Suresh Raina kept his place from the previous match against West Indies. For the Australians David Hussey came in place of Steven Smith.

Australia won the toss and as expected Ricky Ponting elected to bat first. The pitch showed signs of wear and tear and the Aussies were very cautious in their approach at the start. They reached 40 for the loss of in form Shane Watson at the end of 10 overs. Haddin started to open up and hit an important 50 but fell soon after. Michael Clarke and mike Hussey fell without any significant contribution to the score but Ponting marched on. In the company of David Hussey he flourished even further and hit a magnificent century. The Aussies finished with 260 at the end of their 50 overs, Ricky showed that “Form is temporary but class is permanent”.

260 seemed a very good score with the pitch assisting spin, the ball keeping low and the ball also holding up a little on the batsmen…

Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag took advantage of some pretty wayward stuff from Shaun Tait but Brett Lee bowled very well at the start. It was Shane Watson who got the first wicket when Sehwag could not keep a short pitched bowl down and top edged it to Mike Hussey. But Gautam Gambhir steadied the innings and the nerves with Sachin Tendulkar, both hit patient 50’s. Gambhir was senselessly run out while MS Dhoni followed him soon after to the pavilion, the match seemed in the balance with India requiring 73 runs at about run a ball. Suresh Raina joined Yuvraj Singh, both played and missed a few and hit a few of the middle and finally won it in the end with 2.2 overs to spare.

It was a good game, lived up to its billing of a high profile clash of the titans… the pressure on the players was immense and the Aussies fought till the very end… A great game, Pakistan awaits India next!!!

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