Young Indian burning fire buries the Aussie hatchet
Jadeja’s all-round performance powers India to a comfortable eight wicket victory.
India, chasing a mediocre total of 132, started off on a calm note for a change, Sehwag and Gambhir played off the Quick Start Overs scoring 42 runs without losing their wickets. Sehwag departed in his typical fashion, bringing in the man in form Virat Kohli to the crease. This is where the Aussies lost the plot as Kohli and Gambhir digged out runs from every nook and corner possible with some attacking shots as well as with clever singles and doubles. They did everything possible to thwart Bailey’s constant bowling changes.
Gambhir got to his 7th T20I fifty and did not lose his wicket till the end. When Kohli got out, surprisingly, the captain inserted himself ahead of Suresh Raina. All the four top order batsmen put up double figures.
Gambhir, for his unbeaten half-century, earned himself the Batting Momentum of 75. Brad Hogg, the left-arm chinaman, grabbed the Bowling Efficiency of 73. Dhoni and Gambhir did face some jitters at the end of the innings when it came down to scoring a run off three balls after three runs were needed off two overs. In the Extreme Performance Overs, they picked up 21 runs for no loss.
Earlier, Australia started off on an average note as they lost the big-hitting David Warner early. Shaun Marsh, who is facing the biggest slump of his career, departed without disturbing the scorers. The Quick Start Overs fetched 42 runs for 2 wickets. David Hussey, the experienced campaigner in this format of the game, began to take the game to the Indians but departed off Jadeja. Aaron Finch, who replaced Travis Birt in this match, played some sparkling shots before he departed, achieving a Batting Momentum of 71.
The Australian middle-order showed its fragile nature as the wickets kept on tumbling at regular intervals. Ravindra Jadeja, the young athlete, affected three run outs and picked up a wicket, summing up his day’s work as phenomenal.
Matthew Wade, the star of the match the other night, again showed a contrasting display of cricket, as last time, he scored a breath-taking 72 off 43 balls, this time he went about calmly, composing a patient innings of 32 off 29 balls. Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar did well with some assistance from the pitch.
The ball was swinging both ways early in the innings, which prompted the skipper to romp in the medium-pacer Virat Kohli to bowl rather than the preferred offie, Ashwin. Praveen Kumar for his two wickets and 21 runs off 3 overs, earned the Bowling Efficiency of 100. The tail did not wag enough for Australia as the Extreme Performance Overs yielded them only 25 runs and a staggering five wickets. Australia ended up two balls before 20 overs at 131.
India finished the game with 154 points, leading the home side by a comfortable margin of 9 points. Jadeja was named the Man of the Match for his stupendous efforts.
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