Showing posts with label Mohali. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mohali. Show all posts

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Ind/Aus 2013 Third ODI - Australia wins a scintillating match at PCA Mohali

Australia won a scintillating match of Cricket at PCA ground, Mohali, on Saturday evening.

Earlier Australia won the toss and chose to bowl first. And was able to apply pressure on the Indian top order batsmen, with the scoreboard reading 37/2 at one stage.

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni came together and put up a 72 run partnership for the fifth wicket, until Kohli was out for 68 runs.

 Dhoni stitched up another 76 run partnership with Ashwin for the 7th wicket. Thus propelling India to a total of 303 and in the process scored first century(139) by any Indian batsman at PCA, Mohali.

Under the circumstances Dhoni single handedly managed to put up a respectable score for India with only sizeable contribution coming from Kohli's 68.

Australia chasing 304 lost wickets at regular intervals, with notable scores of Finch 38 and Aussie Skipper Bailey 43. Shane Watson was little bit unlucky to be given out LBW, as umpire seem to have erred.

Run out of Glenn Maxwell looked like Australia was staring defeat. 

After the Wicket of Brad Haddin, James Faulkner came to the crease to bat with Adam Voges, who scored a sensible 50 shortly before, and with Australia needing nearly 90 runs in just 8.5 overs.

Just when Australia needed a big over of runs, Ishant Sharma was handed the ball for the 48th Over by Dhoni. Till then Ishant Sharma had given away only around 30 runs in his previous 9 overs with one wicket to his credit.

In Ishant Sharma's tenth over Faulkner from nowhere scores 30 runs with huge sixes and boundaries tilting the match towards Australia decisively with only nine needed from the last over.

Australia cruises to victory with 3 balls to spare, thanks to James Faulkner's 64* (29) and Adam Voges 76* not out.

Man of the Match was overwhelmingly James Faulkner for his cameo knock which put Australia 2-1 ahead in the 7 match series with the next match slated in Ranchi city, in Jharkhand state on 23rd October.

Valleyz.Blog

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Ind/Aus 2013 Third ODI: Mohali - Match Analysis

After the first two matches between India and Australia, the two sides now stand 1-1 in the series with the third match scheduled in Mohali. 

Both the teams have did well in showing their strength, particularly with the bat. Putting up 300 plus totals in the first two games show, how well the teams are producing the consistent batting display.

Australia have reasonably did well while batting against India. It is to be noted that Australia opened the batting in both the earlier fixtures at Pune and Jaipur. Which means Australia were not under pressure chasing the total in the second innings.

It will be interesting to see how the teams perform at Mohali, which is a more balanced pitch than we have seen in the earlier matches. Pitch at Mohali usually carries pace and bounce, assists bowlers and batsman evenly.

A score of around 300 would be a challenging one on this surface. Also the match being a day and nighter, there would be dew factor in the second innings of the game.

So the team winning the toss will probably look to bat first as it would be difficult to grip the ball under the lights. And it will not be a free run scoring pitch that we have seen in Jaipur. 

India need to look at its bowling options again as it has conceded 300 plus totals in both the outings. 

It is particularly harsh on the part of the bowlers in this age of big hitting cricket, with more and more T20 Cricket, the bowlers are always under pressure. 

Ashok Dinda should be considered in place of Vinay Kumar, if team think tank is expecting nip and bounce from the wicket.

Pitches in the sub continent particularly are not favourable for seamers in particular, where they do not have the nip and bounce found in green wickets in other parts of the world. 

It is difficult to select the Australian bowling lineup, as all of the bowlers were taken to task by inform Virat Kohli. The strategy should be to bowl in good areas consistently. 

Mohali match could assist Australia slightly in the bowling department as the track is not as flat as it was in Jaipur.

Team batting first and scoring around 300 will have a distinct advantage and any total around 270 would be difficult to defend.

Valleyz.Blog