A view from the Gully (6 June 1999)

6 June 1999

A view from the Gully

Tawfiq Aziz Khan

India were catapulted further away from a semifinal berth by that lanky Australian called Glenn McGrath. This Aussie match-winner suddenly struck form and broke the backbone of Indian batting within minutes of the rain-delayed match. A good support came on the other end from Fleming, known for his ability to swing the ball both ways.

In this very important opener of the Super Six stage, both teams were under pressure and if the recent form was of any consequence then the Indians were ahead of the Australians in all departments of the game. Their last win against England had not only took them to the Super Six but raised their moral sky high. In this World Cup the Indians are truly always under pressure not only from their opponents but from their millions of supporters also who believe that Azhar's men can deliver the Cup to India.

The Australians surprised the West Indies in their last group match, McGrath was the wrecker in chief. They were also in contention and a team of Australia's standing, a pre-tournament favourite can never be taken lightly by any opponent however powerful or confident they felt they are. Like India, Australia were also putting their act together after the initial setback.

Experts were divided on the issue of Azhar's decision of putting the Australians in to bat on the traditionally hard and bouncy wicket of The Oval. Australia have a strong batting line-up and their middle order with Michael Bevan coming in at number 6 is particularly capable of taking apart any attack. So, against a side that had a penetrating attack it was suicidal to have invited them to bat specially when India won their last three matches batting first and with the knowledge that they were bad chasers. A total beyond 250 on these English wickets have always been difficult to overhaul for any team unless something extraordinary happened Australia always looked like a side that was capable of scoring these runs.

The Indian seam attack has hardly been as effective as the Australians' and the fifth bowler's slot has always been filled in with part-timers like Ganguly and Robin Singh. On this particular day the opening attack came for a bit of stick and it was left to Ganguly to provide a breakthrough but by that time the Aussies were in a happy position. All the top seven bats men scored freely and the Indian spinners were shown no respect by the Aussies led by Mark Waugh. That was a pointer too, because Australia had hardly lost a game in which Mark Waugh scored runs and this one too proved no exception. The absence of genuine fifth bowler was once again felt as Ganguly, Singh and Tendulkar conceded 78 valuable runs in their 13 overs.

The much heralded battle between Tendulkar and Shane Warne did not see the light of the day as McGrath brought one up just from short of length that caught the maestro in two minds. It was a jem of a delivery to which any bats man of Tendulkar's class would have succumbed. A similar delivery sent Dravid to the dressing room and when Fleming fooled Ganguly, all the centurians retired to the dressing room with only a dozen runs on board. When Azhar was struck by an awkward bounce India's pitcher of owe was full to the brim.

A sporting Jadeja and heavy weight Robin Singh launched a crusade against Aussie attack hammering Warne for 21 runs in one over but by then the Australians were safely on a boat for the shore. Jadeja's ton, achieved in carefree manner, went in vain.

The Indians must win against New Zealand and Pakistan very convincingly if they want to keep their chances alive, even then the calculators will come into play.

Source :: The Daily Star