Monday, Feb 02, 2004
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Cricket
By G. Viswanath
Brett Lee celebrates Sachin Tendulkar's dismissal. - Photo: V.V. Krishnan
PERTH, FEB. 1. Australia, powered by robust batting by Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds, raced to a resounding victory in the penultimate league match of the VB tri-Series after Brett Lee brought the Indians down to their knees. The first match at the WACA which was supposed to be a grand rehearsal prior to next week's showdown failed to live up to expectations from the Indian point of view. India's captain Sourav Ganguly predicted another run-in with the World Cup champion, but unfortunately Lee and Co. had other ideas. Today's pitch was something like the typically Australian one the Indians looked at since they arrived here in November. It afforded bounce and the Indians looked all at sea. Lee's first spell was remarkable. His second burst was no less impressive. It was a fascinating sight to see him run in from the top of his bowling mark and get into his rhythm. Lee kept an immaculate line and length. He spearheaded the Australian attack and subdued the Indians who posted their lowest score in seven internationals. Even the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar was left searching for answers as the ball came fast, bounced and seamed a bit. The Australians didn't bowl at his body, but relentlessly probed around his off stump. Lee squared him up completely in his second over and Matthew Hayden took the resultant catch over his right shoulder. V.V.S. Laxman perished soon offering a catch to Gilchrist. Lee's effort was truly top class and after his first spell, India made headway through some bold batting by Yuvraj Singh. Sehwag, who was lucky to get away with some edgy shots, directed a short ball straight down the throat of Lee at third man. Ajit Agarkar missed the line and length as many as 20 times before scoring. Gilchrist tossed the ball to Lee for a second spell and he responded quickly bending back the off stump of left-hander Rohan Gavaskar, the ball brushing the batsman's front pad. But the match was over once the Australian speedster caused the downfall of Tendulkar and Laxman. After experiencing some early hiccups, Gilchrist and Symonds rifled shots all around the park taking the home team past the target. Gilchrist lost the toss for the sixth time, but kept his undefeated record intact. Two sensational catches by Gavaskar at cover and Laxman at second slip offered a flicker of hope, which Gilchrist, adjudged `man of the match' and Symonds, doused with an array of strokes that left the Indians stunned. The first chance that came as early in the second ball of the Australian innings was put down and from thereon Gilchrist was the master. Symonds has been a different player altogether since his brilliant century against Pakistan in the World Cup match. He has been consistent, aggressive and a dangerous batsman to deal with. His two sixes off Irfan Pathan and Murali Kartik were mighty blows. Gilchrist said after his team's resounding victory that he enjoyed getting the Indians play in Australian conditions. "We are up 3-1 now, but I cannot see a clear-cut winner of the series. Brett just stepped up his pace on the greenish pitch and was very accurate. He was the most dominant bowler of last summer's series. It's nice to have played a match here before the finals. Myself and Symmo just allowed our natural instincts to take over.'' Ganguly said he was not sure about the nature of the pitch so he decided to bat first. "When I left the dressing room, I had decided that we should field, but then I realised that our batsmen had been in form. Well, when you play Australia on a pitch like this, you know that they are going to come very hard at you. Lee generated pace and bounce. There was not much seam movement. It was just a question of getting through the first 10 overs. We were in the match at 37 for three, but then Gilly and Symonds just took it away.''
SCORE BOARD
Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Tendulkar), 2-32 (Laxman), 3-50 (Sehwag), 4-57 (Ganguly), 5-79 (Dravid), 6-101 (Gavaskar), 7-129 (Agarkar), 8-142 (Yuvraj), 9-172 (Pathan). Australia bowling: Gillespie 10-0-51-1, Lee 10-2-22-3, Williams 7-2-23-1, Bichel 7-0-44-1, Symonds 10-0-37-2, Hussey 3-0-15-0, Clarke 2-0-4-0.
India bowling: Agarkar 9-0-56-2, Pathan 8-0-69-2, Balaji 10-1-37-1, Kartik 5-0-39-0.
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