T20 ICC WORLD TWENTY20 WEST INDIES 2010: Super Eight - India Vs Aus

T20 ICC

World Cup

Twenty20

West Indies

 CRUSH COURSE

WARNER, WATSON ON RAMPAGE AS OZ LEAVE INDIA IN SIXES AND SEVENS

Bridgetown: India's grandiose plans of trapping Australia in a web of deceit backfired equally sensationally, here on a bright Friday afternoon.

           Their gambit of going into the opening Super Eights match with just two speedsters, despite Kensington Oval's penchant for bounce and pace, was always laced with great risk; but they were surely being over-ambitious, if not downright cheeky, if they thought their part-time spinners could double as a fifthe nowler too.

          Not surprisingly, they suffered a thumping 49-run defeat, while chasing 186; they also found a huge dent in their designs on a semifinal slot. Rohit Sharma, who was added a s a contingency to any batting malfunction, slammed a counter-attacking 79 (46b, 4x4, 6x6); but it was always going to be only a face-saver, rather than a match-saver.

          Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed that he follows the norm too, when he chose to bowl on winning the toss. But he took his first chance by tossing the ball to Harbhajan singh:the crafty off-spinner bowled a deceptive maiden over too to raise hopes of a successful ploy.

         The mayhem, however, was just round the corner. Strike bowler Ashish Nehra was greeted by David Warner (54) with a boundary; Shane Watson (72), then, added to the insult, smashing him for a six. The opening pair hoisted 104 runs in just 10 overs to suggest a true and complete rout. ishing rate till the 15th over, galloping away to 145 for 2; but the last five overs yielded only 39 runs to give India some respite, and even some hope.

        Earlier, Harbhajan, conceded only three runs in his second over too; it promptly forced Dhoni to make his next gamble: he summoned Ravindra Jadeja to replace Nehra at the other end. A double-spin attack by the fourth over itself on a pace paradise: if nothing , it exposed India's hand completely.

       The first three deliveries went off peacefully; but the next three sailed into the stands for spectacular sixes. The aerial assault had begun. Dhoni persisted with spin from one end; from the other, he furiously rotated his meagre resources, hoping to regain some sanity, somewhere. But, the Aussies had smelled blood; the bowlers continued to bowl short and they responded by swatting them like flies.

        Jadeja was brought back in the 10th over. in a last ditch attempt; he was promptly handed the same treatment. This time, Warner took up the mantle, belting him for three sixes. Yuvraj Singh had to fill in with his own left-arm spin for the remaining two overs.

          India needed a hand some start to make the chase: Murali Vijay waded through Dirk Nannes opening over, who came at him at over 90 miles per hour. Suddenly as the ball zipped past clueless bats, it looked the story was unfolding somewhere else.

         Gautam Gambhir drove his first delivery and tickled another to pick up two fours. Nannes, however, delivered two quick blows in the next over to trigger the collapse; next over, Suresh Raina too fell, attempting another nain pull. By the fifth over, India had been reduced to 23 for four. Rohit, who came as high as Number four, was joined by Dhone: this was the last hope for a fightback.

         But Dhoni too didn't last long, succumbing to the lone spinner. It was just a question of time after that. Rohit played many glorious shots, including a delectable cut and a handful of bludgeoning hits.

         At one stage, there were even mumurs of a miracle victory. Sadly, the tail-enders, weighed down by the daunting target, kept attacking and tumbling.

        In the end, Rohit remained unconquered on 79. India now play West Indies on Sunday in a must-win game for survival.