WOULD THE third of the ODI finals in the Commonwealth Bank Series 2007/08, scheduled for March 7, be necessary? It may not be, as of writing. The ODI at Adelaide Oval will be relevant only if India and Australia are tied 1-1 after the second final being played at Brisbane on March 4. With India prevailing over the Aussies throughout the game in the first final in Sydney, notching up a fine six-wicket victory with 25 balls to spare, such a question naturally arises.

 

One probable reason why Aussies put up such a poor show must be the severe damage caused to the team’s confidence on Friday (February 29). Basking at the top after the 8-match play-off, with 9 points more than India’s 17 and Sri Lanka pushed to the bottom, the Aussies were widely expected to increase the lead. However, the world champion received a good thrashing from Sri Lankans. Australia squandered five wickets for eight runs, which led them to a humiliating loss.

 

It is going to be a Herculean task to avoid further shattering of the players’ morale on account of the Sydney loss. In fact, Ricky Ponting must pray that the ‘obnoxious weeds’ give him a chance to reach Adelaide! Although the Aussies got to bat first, in partial antidote to the low morale the team was in, it was a pathetic sight to see the champions reeling at a princely 24 for 3. The gamble of MS Dhoni, who is never satisfied with a drab and dreary game, paid fantastic dividends. Praveen Kumar shattered the stumps of Ricky Ponting with the new ball; Ponting was back in the pavilion after a captain’s knock of one run! It was then the turn of Adam Gilchrist (7).

 

The famed Australian fight back was led by the ‘affable’ veteran Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds, who enjoyed pounding the Indians, particularly Irfan. The partnership raced to 50 in fewer than 50 balls. Poor Irfan, at one stage, looked miserable, conceding 29 runs to Hayden in two overs. The terrific 100 runs for the fourth wicket stand came off just 105 balls with Hayden scoring 67 and Symonds scoring 31 (44 balls).

 

Evan as the Australians mauled the Indian bowlers on their way to an impressive total it was Kumar who put Harbhajan Singh’s bunny back into the Sardar’s pocket. Bhajji got the wicket of the other famous antagonist as well in the 27th over, as Hayden (82), swept powerfully in the air a delivery pitched on the middle stump; Chawla, fielding at deep square leg, sprinted gracefully and held a brilliant catch on the run, the way a leopard grabs a pelican on a stately flight. Some entertaining histrionics came from MEK Hussey, whose tale ended with Dhoni running him out off a Pathan delivery. He made a useful 45 in 67 balls.

 

On a wicket that any team would have preferred to bat first on, the Indian bowlers had a difficult job. But, with remarkable consistency and accuracy, they restricted the champions to a total of 239 for 8. The first 100 runs were conceded in 106 balls but the Aussies collected the next 100 in 172 balls. The Indian batting line-up was presented with a comfortable asking rate of 4.8, clearly an opportunity to get ahead in the best-of-three finals with a morale-boosting lead.

 

Sachin Tendulkar was an embodiment of confidence and supplemented the great job the bowlers had done, by scoring his first ODI century in Kangaroo land. His 42nd ODI century was also his eighth against Australia, but the first against them in their country. The maestro received fantastic support from RG Sharma (66 off 114 balls). The fourth wicket partnership between them yielded full 100 runs off 114 balls. Sharma contributed 53 runs to the partnership while Sachin contributed 43.

 

India started confidently with Tendulkar and Uthappa effortlessly scoring the first 50 (including 5 extras) off 67 balls. When Gambhir came in place of Uthappa, the 26-year-old had the chance of his lifetime to fuse with Sachin and build a great partnership. However, he was nowhere near the ‘wall’ he is touted to become. The confidence seen in the last outing was completely absent. He faced just 4 balls before a throw from Johnson was neatly collected by bowler Hopes to dislodge the bails. Gambhir foolishly ran himself out with just three runs to his credit. Yuvraj too disappointed, facing 21 balls to just get into double digits.