India crash to second-lowest total
The Bulletin by Brydon Coverdale at the MCG
February 1, 2008
India 74 (Pathan 26, Bracken 3-11) v Australia
Four months ago India were crowned the inaugural Twenty20 world champions and they almost set another record at the MCG, crashing to the second-lowest total in the format's international history. Only Irfan Pathan's unbeaten 26 helped them crawl past Kenya's mark of 73 as they were dismissed for 74 in the 18th over.
Pathan was the only man to reach double-figures in an embarrassing display that proved India needed to shed significant rust after playing no Twenty20 games since October. Nathan Bracken finished with the best figures of 3 for 11 but all the bowlers had success as India failed to adjust to the tempo.
The world champions were like a learner driver, struggling to master the accelerator and one minute trying to go too fast, the next minute over-using the brakes. They wanted to use the game as a warm-up for the CB Series, which starts on Sunday, but more net sessions might be in order for several players. Mahendra Singh Dhoni tried to steady his men after they fell to 5 for 32, but after labouring for 27 deliveries for his 9 he needed to stay until the end.
Instead, Dhoni gave David Hussey his first moment in the international spotlight, albeit as a bowler. Hussey was firing in offspinning darts when he gave Dhoni some more air; the ball was there to hit but Dhoni did not time it and skied a catch to Brett Lee at deep midwicket.
That left India at 6 for 49 and, though it did not seem possible, it was all downhill from there. Adam Voges was the toast of the MCG after removing Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth in consecutive balls, the first to an athletic catch by Michael Clarke at mid off and the second snared by Brad Hodge at point.
Ishant Sharma survived the hat-trick ball - Clarke, the stand-in captain, placed all his fielders in catching positions around the bat - but a competitive total was well and truly off the cards. They nudged past the record low before Adam Gilchrist took a sharp catch up to the stumps in his last Twenty20 international to remove Pathan and give Bracken his third wicket.
The visitors threatened to turn Twenty20 into Ten10 when they lost a man in each of the first four overs after Dhoni chose to bat. Changing from Tests to the shortest format cannot be easy but several of the offenders were not part of the five-day outfit.
Three balls without scoring was unbearable for Virender Sehwag, who jammed Lee to backward point in the first over. Clarke made the perfect start to his second match as leader, making a diving stop and throwing down the stumps at the bowler's end as Sehwag tried for a cheeky single.
Gautam Gambhir followed in the next over, squeezing a simple catch to James Hopes at mid off from Bracken and Robin Uthappa was out in a similar fashion in the fourth over, handing David Hussey his first international catch, also at mid off. In between Bracken's strikes a fired-up Lee shattered Dinesh Karthik's stumps with a full toss after pushing him back to sway out of the way of a 148kph bouncer.
The near-capacity crowd - there were a few noticeable chunks of empty seats - was hoping for a second Australian victory in one day after Karen Rolton's women downed England in a curtain-raiser Twenty20. The spectators also wanted a good innings out of their local man, the debutant David Hussey, but unless Australia's top order stumbles he might have to wait for his first chance to bat at international level.
Brydon Coverdale is a staff writer at Cricinfo
Cricinfo - India crash to second-lowest total
The Bulletin by Brydon Coverdale at the MCG
February 1, 2008
India 74 (Pathan 26, Bracken 3-11) v Australia
Four months ago India were crowned the inaugural Twenty20 world champions and they almost set another record at the MCG, crashing to the second-lowest total in the format's international history. Only Irfan Pathan's unbeaten 26 helped them crawl past Kenya's mark of 73 as they were dismissed for 74 in the 18th over.
Pathan was the only man to reach double-figures in an embarrassing display that proved India needed to shed significant rust after playing no Twenty20 games since October. Nathan Bracken finished with the best figures of 3 for 11 but all the bowlers had success as India failed to adjust to the tempo.
The world champions were like a learner driver, struggling to master the accelerator and one minute trying to go too fast, the next minute over-using the brakes. They wanted to use the game as a warm-up for the CB Series, which starts on Sunday, but more net sessions might be in order for several players. Mahendra Singh Dhoni tried to steady his men after they fell to 5 for 32, but after labouring for 27 deliveries for his 9 he needed to stay until the end.
Instead, Dhoni gave David Hussey his first moment in the international spotlight, albeit as a bowler. Hussey was firing in offspinning darts when he gave Dhoni some more air; the ball was there to hit but Dhoni did not time it and skied a catch to Brett Lee at deep midwicket.
That left India at 6 for 49 and, though it did not seem possible, it was all downhill from there. Adam Voges was the toast of the MCG after removing Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth in consecutive balls, the first to an athletic catch by Michael Clarke at mid off and the second snared by Brad Hodge at point.
Ishant Sharma survived the hat-trick ball - Clarke, the stand-in captain, placed all his fielders in catching positions around the bat - but a competitive total was well and truly off the cards. They nudged past the record low before Adam Gilchrist took a sharp catch up to the stumps in his last Twenty20 international to remove Pathan and give Bracken his third wicket.
The visitors threatened to turn Twenty20 into Ten10 when they lost a man in each of the first four overs after Dhoni chose to bat. Changing from Tests to the shortest format cannot be easy but several of the offenders were not part of the five-day outfit.
Three balls without scoring was unbearable for Virender Sehwag, who jammed Lee to backward point in the first over. Clarke made the perfect start to his second match as leader, making a diving stop and throwing down the stumps at the bowler's end as Sehwag tried for a cheeky single.
Gautam Gambhir followed in the next over, squeezing a simple catch to James Hopes at mid off from Bracken and Robin Uthappa was out in a similar fashion in the fourth over, handing David Hussey his first international catch, also at mid off. In between Bracken's strikes a fired-up Lee shattered Dinesh Karthik's stumps with a full toss after pushing him back to sway out of the way of a 148kph bouncer.
The near-capacity crowd - there were a few noticeable chunks of empty seats - was hoping for a second Australian victory in one day after Karen Rolton's women downed England in a curtain-raiser Twenty20. The spectators also wanted a good innings out of their local man, the debutant David Hussey, but unless Australia's top order stumbles he might have to wait for his first chance to bat at international level.
Brydon Coverdale is a staff writer at Cricinfo
Cricinfo - India crash to second-lowest total
