— Photo: AP

GREASED LIGHTNING: Mitchell Johnson (second from right) returned after the rain break to send shivers through the Indian camp, taking four of the five wickets to fall.

Kuala Lumpur: Rain continued to dog Team India's footsteps; only, this time it did Rahul Dravid's men a huge favour. The weather gods kept India — teetering at 35 for five following a Mitchell Johnson ambush — in the tri-nation tournament when all seemed lost.

Both teams took two points for the `No result'.

The third game of the DLF Cup was rapidly acquiring the credentials needed for being a humdinger when the heavens opened for the first time during the Indian innings. Chasing 245 for victory in 50 overs, India had made its way to 16 for no loss in five overs: Sachin Tendulkar — pinged on the helmet by Glenn McGrath — had charged him with success; Rahul Dravid had allowed finely calibrated McGrath deliveries past under strict supervision.

Chaos

But, the two-hour delay fixed the target at a steep 170 from 29 overs, and chaos reigned. Dravid found Martyn at cover off the fifth ball on resumption; Irfan Pathan was done in by one that left him at pace, and met off-stump, as left-armer Johnson, who Dennis Lillee called a "once in a generation bowler", stood poised on a hat-trick.

Virender Sehwag slashed Stuart Clark over third-man, but exited in a moment of madness. He took off on a non-existent third — Martyn made the transfer at the boundary to Michael Clarke, who fired in his throw alongside the stumps.

Tendulkar, evaded the hat-trick, but drove at an 87.3 mph Johnson delivery outside off, feet following the stroke, and edged behind. Yuvraj Singh — in the eleven for Mohammad Kaif — could do no more than nick to first slip.

M.S. Dhoni strode out to join Suresh Raina, but the spray frozen in the beam from the light towers had the last word, saving India's day.

Good work

Earlier, India did a magnificent job reining in the Australian beast conceived by Shane Watson and nurtured by Michael Clarke. Nipping persistently at its flanks till it yielded and crashed to ground, Dravid's side did a fair imitation of a pack of wolves bringing down a water buffalo.

Australia, cruising on 157 for three at one stage, lost its last seven wickets for 87 runs in an innings played out under dark clouds threatening to burst.

Harbhajan Singh was India's standout performer, after nearly having made a mess of things when he dropped Watson — opening with Phil Jaques — in the seventh over. The blond all-rounder, then on a diffident 13, ravaged India till Harbhajan made amends. The off-spinner was the prime instigator of a period of play between overs 25 and 40 that saw just 52 eked out runs. Sehwag was a willing and capable ally.

Harbhajan started off by rifling in his first few deliveries, conceding five in his first over. But, he settled, slowing it through the air, acquiring turn and bounce. Watson skipped down the track, failed to keep his flick down, and watched in dismay as Raina pulled off an excellent catch, diving forward.

Phase of plunder

Thus ended a phase of plunder.

In this phase, Watson — first with Jacques, briefly with Ponting, and then with Clarke in his period of sparkle — menaced India with the possibility of a score in excess of 325. After seeing out the first five overs for 17 runs, Australia's openers changed tack. The over Harbhajan spilled Watson, Jaques crashed the unfortunate Agarkar through cover before swinging him over long-on.

Watson chipped Munaf, who repeatedly beat both sides of the bat, straight and followed it up with a crunching pull for six. Jaques's departure to an unsightly hoik brought Ponting. The skipper crackled with intent, striking four boundaries in his 19, before helping Pathan to short fine-leg. It was just the stroke of luck India needed.

With Martyn's waft pouched smartly by Dhoni off Dravid's fumbling fingers, Clarke tempered his instincts to nurse Australia through. He saw out 94 balls for his 64 (5x4, 1x6), where Watson had taken 74 deliveries for 79 (10x4, 2x6). Sehwag's nifty back flick on his follow through nipped a potential Clarke-Haddin alliance, and Munaf and Agarkar returned to oversee 4.2 death overs, splitting four wickets and conceding just 17 runs.

Johnson to return home

The press conference after the action-filled match — rain notwithstanding — mirrored what went on before it.

It was revealed that Mitchell Johnson, who devastated India's batting, would be on a flight home on Sunday; that Rahul Dravid didn't open the bowling with Irfan Pathan because he felt a good start was crucial; and that Ricky Ponting had texted Shane Warne about his reportedly disparaging comments on coach John Buchanan.

In all this, both skippers admitted that India's poor position was magnified by the rain break.

"Aw, look you can't say either way," said Ponting, when asked if he thought the match was in the bag. "At the interval, India would have probably fancied their chances. But, to come out suddenly (to a readjusted target) requires a different mind-set."

Dravid substantiated: "If you look at it from the perspective of 35 for five, yes, we got away with two points. But, at the start of the innings, 245 in 50 overs I thought was chaseable. I'm still disappointed we didn't get those 50 overs. I'm not saying it would have been easy — it never is — but..."

Failure to adjust

"Probably we didn't adjust to the demands (of changing the target). There was a lot of things to think about suddenly. We had to chase at seven with the new ball seaming around, we had to keep an eye out on Duckworth-Lewis, we knew the Power Play overs were reduced," he added.

It also came to light that Johnson, Phil Jaques and Mark Cosgrove would be flying back to Australia. This, Ponting said, was a decision the selectors had made before the tournament had started.

"We came here with 18 players. It was always going to be tough to manage that many over the tournament," he said, adding that the players concerned had known about this prior to the tournament.

Dravid backs Pathan

On Pathan not being given the new ball, Dravid said, "We needed a good start and I think Irfan has struggled a bit. Ajit (Agarkar) and Munaf (Patel) have been our best bowlers, and I thought we'd use Irfan in the middle and see how it goes. Unfortunately, it didn't come off."

He also spoke of how India will have to play extremely well "hopefully over 100 overs" and have a bit of luck to make the final from this situation.

Both the captains commended Johnson's accuracy with the new ball. They concurred that he had "bowled in the right areas" and had exploited the conditions. "He's quick, he can swing it, and he's a lefty," Ponting added.

SCOREBOARD

Australia: P. Jaques c Sehwag b Munaf 25, S. Watson c Raina b Harbhajan 79, R. Ponting c Tendulkar b Pathan 19, D. Martyn c Dhoni b R.P. Singh 4, M. Clarke c Raina b Munaf 64, M. Cosgrove c Dravid b Harbhajan 4, B. Haddin (run out) 18, B. Hogg c Dhoni b Agarkar 12, M. Johnson c Dhoni b Agarkar 1, S. Clark c R.P. Singh b Munaf 7, G. McGrath (not out) 1; Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-5) 10. Total (in 49.2 overs): 244.

Fall of wickets: 1-64 (Jaques), 2-92 (Ponting), 3-113 (Martyn), 4-157 (Watson), 5-167 (Cosgrove), 6-200 (Haddin), 7-230 (Clarke), 8-232 (Johnson), 9-243 (Clark).

India bowling: Agarkar 8.2-0-50-2, Munaf 10-1-53-3, R.P. Singh 7-1-35-1, Pathan 4-0-32-1, Harbhajan 10-0-26-2, Sehwag 10-0-43-0.

PP1 (1-10): 64/1; PP2 (11-15): 24/0; PP3 (16-20): 31/2.

India: R. Dravid c Martyn b Johnson 6, S. Tendulkar c Haddin b Johnson 12, I. Pathan b Johnson 0, V. Sehwag (run out) 8, Y. Singh c Jaques b Johnson 0, S. Raina (not out) 1, M.S. Dhoni (not out) 0; Extras (nb-1, w-7): 8. Total (for five wkts in 8 overs): 35.

Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Dravid), 2-20 (Pathan), 3-34 (Sehwag), 4-34 (Tendulkar), 5-35 (Yuvraj).

Australia bowling: McGrath 3-1-10-0, Johnson 4-0-11-4, Clark 1-0-14-0.

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