Well, well, well. What a good time to post it onto my blog! Great. It is the start of a championship series between India and Australia and obviously the game of cricket. First of the two tests started in the 1st of Oct. From the moment it started it was the fight for the ascendancy to clinch each session by both sides. It looked like Indians were having a problem with the first two sessions. But then once the ball started reversing Zak started to lead the attack and gave two breakthroughs late in the day, which put the Aussies on to the back foot. Paine gave some pain to India on the second day and Watson, as well, finishing his century. But Bhajji came off with some two wickets and then slowly started to find inroads in the Aussie line up. Aussies finished it off with a good 428 runs. Zak finished with a five wicket haul which was impressive.
That was the start of the first innings of batting from the Indians. Sehwag came out to bat and we all know what he can do, and he did just that. He punched quick boundaries irrespective of the bowler. No respect was given and he reached to a half century. Suddenly, there were wickets falling in the form of Sehwag and Gambhir. Nightwatchmen Ishant made sure that there were no more wickets in the day at Mohali, by giving a good support to Dravid. Then the next day was explosive but unlucky for the Indians. It was a superb innings from Raina, Sachin and Dravid. But unfortunately was not supported by centuries. Then Aussies had their nose in front with some flurry of wickets and made sure that Indians were 23 runs short of their total.
Then it was the fourth day when Aussies were back into the field with such confidence, with their lead. They were sailing along nicely with 87 for no loss. I don't know where this guy Ishant Sharma came in form. He started to find a way through the batting line up of the Oz. He produced three wickets in just two overs. There was the comeback for India. Credit has to be given to the Indian spinners who bowled in tandem without leaking away runs. They were among the wickets in the fourth day and the Aussies were struggling. They were bowled out for a meager 192 runs. India were set a target of 216 and were ready to go. Just when things were going India's way, there was a big blunder from Billy Bowden who gave out to one that was clearly missing the off stump of Gambhir and was a big inside edge. I didn't expect Billy to do such a blunder. Then the Aussies started playing the mind games. They started pitching the ball short of length and it all started to happen for them. They are good at pitching it short, walking up to the batsmen, looking into the eyes of the batsmen and playing with the temperament of the batsmen. Dravid, Sehwag, and Raina were out for cheap runs. Again Raina apparently had problems with the short pitched stuff. India were in trouble. Aussies right on top. Finishing the day on a high note.
It was the fifth day with India needing 160 odd runs and Aussies needing 6 wickets to win.Sachin and Zak were at the crease. Zak was moving the ball in the gaps and Sachin was trying to dispatch some to the fence. There was some good partnership building, when Zak was caught. Unbelievably with a back spasm, Laxman came into the field with a runner. He came in and Hauritz was given some punishment for varying too much. It showed that VVS was good even with that back problem. Sachin was also comfortable. He wanted to up the rating and then the problem started again. Sachin fell to a short one after getting cramped for room outside off stump. Mohali was silent after that. Dhoni came in and was run out which was absolutely not needed. Harbhajan came in and he had no reply for an uneven bounce from the pitch.
India were 8 down and needed another 92 runs. Laxman was with Ishant and Raina, as a runner. Ishant and Laxman were cool and composed in the middle. No extravagant shots. Their strategy was to put away the bad balls and leave or defend the good ones. Ishant was solid in defence. Laxman was producing some outstanding shots which got India closer to the target. It was a wonderful partnership that made Ponting think like crazy. He was not knowing what to do. It was 11 runs needed for India and 2 wickets for Australia. Still anyone's game.Then there was the turnaround. Ishant was adjudged leg before by Ian Gould but it was missing the leg stump by quite a distance. Everyone at the edge of their seats. Ojha was not known for his batting prowess. Laxman had to steer the ship for India. Ojha was making some mistakes in his running and Laxman was yelling at him. It was pressure. Some how it came down to 2 runs to win. It was six runs to win when an overthrow reduced 4 runs from the target.That was a runout missed by the fielders. It was Ojha batting when a good decision was ruled out by Billy. It was plum in front and it was not given. It got even as Ishant was given the wrong decision by Ian Gould. Then Mitchell Johnson strayed on to the legs of Ojha which flicked the pads of Ojha and missed by Paine. Then it was two runs for India and it was a historic win for the Indians.They won it by just a wicket. What a match it turned out to be.Emotions all around. I've not seen VVS getting so emotional. Here we go. The man has proved again. It is not just hitting runs. It is holding the tail and also scoring runs. I salute this man for his perseverance.An obviously underrated cricketer.
I'll remember this for a long time cause I've witnessed each and every ball. It has been evenly poised everytime and that's what creates the interest.
A test championship is on the cards for sure. With this match it certainly will get endorsed like crazy. We can expect a test championship. What a victory!! I've been lucky enough to witness such a match. Absolute ripper!!
That was the start of the first innings of batting from the Indians. Sehwag came out to bat and we all know what he can do, and he did just that. He punched quick boundaries irrespective of the bowler. No respect was given and he reached to a half century. Suddenly, there were wickets falling in the form of Sehwag and Gambhir. Nightwatchmen Ishant made sure that there were no more wickets in the day at Mohali, by giving a good support to Dravid. Then the next day was explosive but unlucky for the Indians. It was a superb innings from Raina, Sachin and Dravid. But unfortunately was not supported by centuries. Then Aussies had their nose in front with some flurry of wickets and made sure that Indians were 23 runs short of their total.
Then it was the fourth day when Aussies were back into the field with such confidence, with their lead. They were sailing along nicely with 87 for no loss. I don't know where this guy Ishant Sharma came in form. He started to find a way through the batting line up of the Oz. He produced three wickets in just two overs. There was the comeback for India. Credit has to be given to the Indian spinners who bowled in tandem without leaking away runs. They were among the wickets in the fourth day and the Aussies were struggling. They were bowled out for a meager 192 runs. India were set a target of 216 and were ready to go. Just when things were going India's way, there was a big blunder from Billy Bowden who gave out to one that was clearly missing the off stump of Gambhir and was a big inside edge. I didn't expect Billy to do such a blunder. Then the Aussies started playing the mind games. They started pitching the ball short of length and it all started to happen for them. They are good at pitching it short, walking up to the batsmen, looking into the eyes of the batsmen and playing with the temperament of the batsmen. Dravid, Sehwag, and Raina were out for cheap runs. Again Raina apparently had problems with the short pitched stuff. India were in trouble. Aussies right on top. Finishing the day on a high note.
It was the fifth day with India needing 160 odd runs and Aussies needing 6 wickets to win.Sachin and Zak were at the crease. Zak was moving the ball in the gaps and Sachin was trying to dispatch some to the fence. There was some good partnership building, when Zak was caught. Unbelievably with a back spasm, Laxman came into the field with a runner. He came in and Hauritz was given some punishment for varying too much. It showed that VVS was good even with that back problem. Sachin was also comfortable. He wanted to up the rating and then the problem started again. Sachin fell to a short one after getting cramped for room outside off stump. Mohali was silent after that. Dhoni came in and was run out which was absolutely not needed. Harbhajan came in and he had no reply for an uneven bounce from the pitch.
India were 8 down and needed another 92 runs. Laxman was with Ishant and Raina, as a runner. Ishant and Laxman were cool and composed in the middle. No extravagant shots. Their strategy was to put away the bad balls and leave or defend the good ones. Ishant was solid in defence. Laxman was producing some outstanding shots which got India closer to the target. It was a wonderful partnership that made Ponting think like crazy. He was not knowing what to do. It was 11 runs needed for India and 2 wickets for Australia. Still anyone's game.Then there was the turnaround. Ishant was adjudged leg before by Ian Gould but it was missing the leg stump by quite a distance. Everyone at the edge of their seats. Ojha was not known for his batting prowess. Laxman had to steer the ship for India. Ojha was making some mistakes in his running and Laxman was yelling at him. It was pressure. Some how it came down to 2 runs to win. It was six runs to win when an overthrow reduced 4 runs from the target.That was a runout missed by the fielders. It was Ojha batting when a good decision was ruled out by Billy. It was plum in front and it was not given. It got even as Ishant was given the wrong decision by Ian Gould. Then Mitchell Johnson strayed on to the legs of Ojha which flicked the pads of Ojha and missed by Paine. Then it was two runs for India and it was a historic win for the Indians.They won it by just a wicket. What a match it turned out to be.Emotions all around. I've not seen VVS getting so emotional. Here we go. The man has proved again. It is not just hitting runs. It is holding the tail and also scoring runs. I salute this man for his perseverance.An obviously underrated cricketer.
I'll remember this for a long time cause I've witnessed each and every ball. It has been evenly poised everytime and that's what creates the interest.
A test championship is on the cards for sure. With this match it certainly will get endorsed like crazy. We can expect a test championship. What a victory!! I've been lucky enough to witness such a match. Absolute ripper!!
No comments:
Post a Comment