TVS Cup final - Australia v. India

[Donny]

The Bevan/Clarke partnership realised 65 runs from 55 balls and took Australia to 5/235.

Bevan's 40 took 70 balls and Clarke's 44, just 28.

This looks a lowish score but it's difficult to tell. Not having a frontline spinner could cause a problem for the Aussies but Harvey may just be a trump card.

[HAL]

Where did Bevan's take 40 ?

[2 PIES IN CAIRNS]

It's very "getable" ..shit, I hate that (non)word. I reckon the first ten overs will win or lose it for us.
Interesting to note that according to the commentators (Lawson) the average "chasing score" ie. team batting second..(why couldn't he say so?) on this ground is 188! Yeah, I know, stats mean sfa , but at the moment, we've got 235 more than them. Oops, there's my coaching coming out again.

Pete

[Donny]

4 overs gone. 1/10

Bracket caught and bowled Sehwag for 5.

[Donny]

Tendulkar has 6 from 32 balls.

Laxman just played 3 delightful shots for 3 fours and then was bowled by Williams for 22.

2/36 after 12 overs.

[tazza2000]

Good Economy Rate by the opening bowlers restricting India to ust 24 runs off the first 11 overs. Need to take more wickets to prevent the final overs rush.

Williams gets belted for 3 fours then takes the wicket of Laxman. Let's try to get the other guy out now.

[Newelly]

woohoo we won the freak taking 4 wickets in 4 overs.

[Donny]

Yes !! 4/21 to Harvey.

The enthusiasm and team spirit of the Australian team is quite remarkable. You'd think a team that wins so often would just say, "Oh yeah, good win" shake hands all round and head off to put their feet up and have a beer.

When the last Indian wicket fell, there was absolute jubilation. It was like they'd finally won something.

Gilly was running around like a little kid, beckoning to the other team members and coach to come out and join them.

When the injured Bevo, Jimmy Maher, Kasper, Bucko and all the support crew got out to the middle, they formed a circle with Gilly in the middle, still running around like a kid, leading their chant.

As it built to a cresendo, a nervous audio attendant waited to mute out the 'naughty' word, as in, "Australia, Australia. You f****** beautyyyyyyy"

He missed. I think it was the 'You' that got bleeped.

It was great to see Michael Clarke win the Man of the Match award. How must he feel ? So young and yet able to win such an award playing with his heroes, the best cricket team in the world.

Once again, the unflappable Michael Bevan played a pivotal innings and, once again, he and a hitter added better than run-a-ball in the last 10 overs. As usual, he summed up the situation perfectly and played accordingly.

Losing our frontline pace attack turned out to be highly beneficial as Nathan Bracken was just pipped by Sachin Tendulkar for Player of the Series and Williams twice won Man of the Match awards.

Clarke and Simon Katich will soon replace Darren Lehmann and Jimmy Maher in the ODI squad and Bracken and Williams are ready to step up when needed and already put the big hearted Andy Bichel under the microscope for that 4th. bowling spot after McGrath, Gillespie and Lee.

Congratulations and well done to Ricky and the boys. Always a pleasure to watch.

[Donny]

Harvey hastens Australian win

The Wisden Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran

A superb allround display from Michael Clarke, and a devastating exhibition of late-overs bowling from Ian Harvey inspired Australia to a 37-run victory in the final of the TVS Cup. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Hemang Badani had given the raucous capacity crowd more than a few glimpses of hope, but India simply had no answers to the Clarke-Harvey show.

At 159 for 4, with Badani timing the ball superbly and Dravid rotating the strike cleverly, India were on course for a famous victory. Then, Badani went to sweep a Clarke delivery, which flew off the top edge to Andrew Symonds at square leg. It was a massive blow, given how fluently Badani had eased the ball through the covers each time Andy Bichel or Clarke erred in line and length.

Minutes later, Dravid too was back in the pavilion, having played on to Clarke. His 49 was another fine effort, but the manner of the dismissal was enough to rouse his own ire.

That set the stage for Harvey, who had been smacked around in his first spell by Tendulkar and Dravid. In the first over of his second spell, he bowled Murali Kartik and then yorked Zaheer Khan the next ball (186 for .

And after Ajit Agarkar had briefly excited a flagging crowd with a wonderful straight six off Clarke, Harvey came back to tie up the game. Harbhajan Singh spooned a slower ball to cover, where Symonds took a magnificent catch diving forward, and then Aavishkar Salvi was knocked over to leave India 37 short.

India's reply had started slowly, with Sehwag giving Nathan Bracken a return catch via the pad (8 for 1). VVS Laxman then tested Brad Williams's patience with two edged fours, before producing three authentic shots to the rope. An infuriated Williams responded with a delivery that hit the seam, kept low, and knocked out the off stump (36 for 2).

Tendulkar, who took over half an hour to strike his first four, opened up against Bichel and Harvey, and India were coasting when Bichel produced a superb off cutter to send back Tendulkar for 45 (99 for 3). Yuvraj Singh followed soon after, caught by Hayden at slip off Symonds, and India were tottering. Badani and Dravid gave it a good shot, but ultimately it wasn't quite enough.

Earlier, the Australians put 235 on the board despite a wretched start. Adam Gilchrist made just 7 before being bowled off the pads by Agarkar (16 for 1), and Hayden – who was gifted two chances by a butter-fingered Laxman – following soon after, thumping a Zaheer delivery to the same man at short cover (32 for 2).

Damien Martyn and Ricky Ponting played some superb strokes to up the run rate, but all that impetus was lost once Kartik and Harbhajan came on. Kartik bowled quite beautifully, flighting the ball and turning it sharply on a surface that was beginning to take appreciable turn.

Ponting (36), who had twice been reprieved by the hapless Laxman, edged one that turned sharply across the bat to first slip, where Laxman dived low to make some amends (112 for 3).

Symonds made just 10 before smashing Harbhajan straight to Badani at midwicket (129 for 4), and Martyn's tremendous anchoring effort ended at 61 when he flicked a Sehwag delivery to Yuvraj at midwicket (170 for 5).

India were in control at that stage, but Clarke's frenetic 28-ball 44 titled the scales, aided by a gritty 40 from Michael Bevan, who batted with a pulled hamstring. In the final analysis, justice was done, as an outstanding side who won six of their seven matches - and held most of the catches that came their way - beat one that lost four games, and fluffed too many lines in the field. Remember this day, and remember the name Michael Clarke, already on his way to becoming the next Australian legend

[Donny]

Silver lining, touch of grey

The Wisden Verdict by Amit Varma

This match typified India over the last couple of years: substantial passages of brilliance, interspersed by outbreaks of mediocrity. One didn't know what to think. Was the silver lining a sliver of sunlight? What was that touch of grey? How good is India, really? On the evidence of this game, and the last two years: brilliant, at times; but not consistent enough, and not against Australia.

Many things went right for India today. Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan bowled hostile, finely controlled spells first up; Murali Kartik and Harbhajan Singh choked up the runs in the middle overs; Hemang Badani and Agarkar lit up Eden Gardens with their controlled aggression. But all of this was punctuated by a slew of dropped catches, by the usual indiscrete strokes, by the inability to go on and finish things off. Time after time, India flickered; in the end, they burned.

The brightest spark was Kartik. In a form of the game where spinners, if they bowl at all, bowl flat and look to contain runs, Kartik flights it, loops it, and goes for wickets. He was outstanding, both lethal and economical, against West Indies in the home series around this time last year, and he bowled in a similar vein in this tournament. He has lifted himself to becoming India's first-choice spinner in one-day internationals – even if that is partly by a process of elimination.

That makes it all the more befuddling that Kartik is still not being given a run in the Test side. He is not going to Australia with the Indian team, which is a pity, because Australia have – against Ray Price recently and Daniel Vettori two years ago – been occasionally discomfited by top-class left-arm spin. Kartik is an intelligent bowler who has plenty of guile and variation in his bowling, and going purely on form – Harbhajan's bowling has recently been utterly devoid of ideas and intensity – he should have been in the Test squad.

Aavishkar Salvi is part of the squad to Australia, and how that will please the Australians. Salvi's lack of pace – and his lack of big weapons to make up for it – will make him easy pickings for Australia, as he was today. Why did he play? He was the fifth man accommodated due to India's five-bowler strategy, and it was a waste – he bowled three overs for 23 runs. An extra batsman would have helped, and playing Anil Kumble, given the state of the pitch, would not have been a bad idea either.

And now for Australia – what superlatives are left to heap upon them? In the pressure cooker of world cricket – the noisiest ground in the world, Eden Gardens – they played with composure and professionalism to make sure that all of India's pockets of brilliance went to waste. As we saw in Kolkata and Headingley in 2001, and at Antigua in 2003, it takes sustained brilliance to beat Australia – because that is exactly the quality they possess. There is no let-up in their intensity, ever. To beat them, you have to match them; they do not come down to your level.

It has been speculated in recent times that too much of the Australian team is over 30, that they do not have a younger generation of equally talented players waiting to take over. Piffle. Michael Clarke is a batting great of the future – as he showed today, and has shown earlier in the tournament as well, he has the ice-cold nerves of Michael Bevan, the audacity of Ricky Ponting, and a footwork against spin which surpasses that of any of his team-mates. His left-arm spin is handy, too. Along with Nathan Bracken, he represents a future of Australian cricket that appears likely to be as bright as the present. No clouds, and no need of a silver lining.

[piedys]

Donny,
Congrats to the boys!
"In the pressure cooker of world cricket – the noisiest ground in the world, Eden Gardens – they played with composure and professionalism"
The news reported that there were 101,000 people in attendance and the roar of the crowd was defeaning even for TV!
We coudn't pack that many people into the MCG right now even if we wanted to!
Rather bizzare fact that we hadn't played a ODI there since the 1987 world cup final?
And no chance us scum without pay-TV could get a delayed telecast or even a 60mins highlite package?
Sometimes, the ACB and ch.9 shit me more than the AFL.

dyso

[piedys]

Just checked the score card on baggygreen

http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2003-04/OD_TOURNEYS/TVS/SCORECARDS/AUS_IND_TVS_ODI-FINAL_18NOV2003.html

Cannot believe Laxman dropped 4 catches. Although he eventually took a couple as well... hot potatoe, hot potatoe, hot potatoe.......

dyso

[commonwombat]

Dyso,

With regards to yr point re Ch 9 and ABC, they ARE indeed grade 1 turd inducers at times however they aren't at fault on this one.

TV rights out of India and much of the subcontinent is under the control of one Mark Mascarenas, who has massive pay TV interests and the term robber baron has been frequently and succintly to describe his business dealings.

Why should the Aus free to air guys cut their goolies off in negotiation over a product that will by and large not prove economically viable for them to show. Ergo, it's not worth their while paying way beyond what it's worth.