Team India wasted itself away against Australia in the 7th ODI of CB Series and succumbed to a comprehensive 50-run defeat failing to keep their nerve in a moderate cricketing chase at Adelaide, Oval on Sunday, February 17, 2008. Australia undoubtedly outdid the Indian team in every single department of the game, which proved good enough to snatch a commendable victory from the jaws of defeat.
The Aussie innings got off to a disastrous start earlier after winning the toss and choosing to bat first earlier in the day. The top trio of Gilchrist, Hayden and Ponting were swiped away by the young Indian trio of Ishant, Pathan and Patel before any of them could settle down. But this proved to be just the beginning as a young and dynamic Indian bowling side came into its own and blasted open the Aussie batting line up with Ishant and Pathan spearheading the attack. Only Clarke could find a foothold as things went from strange to bizarre when Symonds and Hussey got out attempting a few cheeky shots. As the Aussie scorecard read 73 runs for 5 wickets, Hopes and Clarke looked like having figured out the problem as they strove to develop 'the' partnership, which could see them through. Soon after, however, the deceptive spin of Harbhajan was capitalized in the form of a brilliant stumping effort by Dhoni to send Hopes back to the pavilion. Hogg pitched in very well with the Clarke as the duo put on no less than 72 runs on the board to resuscitate the Aussie innings and see off the threat of Australia being bundled out prematurely. But as all good things do, the memorable partnership came to an end with Hogg being involved in an unnecessary run-out effort by Dhoni and Harbhajan at the personal score of 32 runs. Soon Pathan got the better of Clarke before Australian innings withered away to end at a total of 203 runs for 9 wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Even after successfully restricting Australia to a not-so-competitive score, India failed to keep their nerve against the piercing Australian bowling attack.
Tendulkar departed first, without making any substantial contribution, followed by Pathan giving in to Hopes. The great Indian batting collapse was initiated in the 15th over itself as Gambhir misjudged a shorter and wider one, pulling it to end up in the hands of Ponting at backward point. Rohit Sharma was the next victim, whose hopes of making an impression against 'Hopes' met with a fatal shot selection. Yuvraj and Dhoni started working to resurrect the flailing Indian innings like they have done on a number of occasions previously, but things looked different this time around with Yuvraj trying to regain his form with the bat and Dhoni looking a little dual-minded at times in his judgment. The all-important partnership, which could have made all the difference for the India, ended in an unfortunate manner when Yuvraj came up with a regrettable stroke against an outstanding Hogg, only to be bagged by Clark with relative ease. India still seemed in with its last strand of chance with a blossoming stand between Uthappa and Dhoni before Dhoni suffered from cramps and called for a runner. In an unfortunate follow-up, Dhoni was adjudged run-out against a poorly judged call by the skipper himself, which Rohit Sharma fell short of as the runner. The writing on the wall was legible to everyone now with the scorecard reading 134 runs for 6 wickets. Soon, the Indian tail was wrapped up by an all-too wicket-hungry Australian attack as India lost the match by a whopping 50-run margin, which also earned Australia an additional bonus point. In the bargain, India was bundled out for merely 153 runs in 41.2 overs. Team India was made to pay dearly for its complacency, which was all too evident in the loss against Sri Lanka.
Last Updated on 24 August 2012
