Vadodara: If there was any doubt in anybody’s mind about the popularity of One-day cricket then this was a perfect match to answer those people. The match was all but over when Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting set up what seemed like a pretty comfortable win for the Aussies until a eighth wicket partnership of 84 runs between Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan Singh threatened to snatch the game away from Australia.

India required 9 runs to win off the last over but in the end it was Peter Siddle who held on to his nerves better as he clean bowled Harbhajan Singh (49) off the second ball of the 50^th over. Ashish Nehra was left with six to score off the last ball which proved a bit too much for a No.10 batsman. The Australians finally won the game by 4 runs.

Earlier, the Australian top order took full advantage of some lackluster Indian bowling notching up a huge score of 292 for 8. Ricky Ponting led the way for the Aussies with a brilliant 74 and was amply supported by Michael Hussey (73), Tim Paine (50) and Cameron White (50).

Australia suffered an early blow when Watson fell off the eighth ball, before recovering superbly through a near-century stand between Ponting and Paine. The good start was built upon by half-centuries from White and Hussey as the Indian bowling, which has struggled of late, was put to the sword in merciless fashion.

On a day characterised by some poor fielding and wayward bowling, the only respite for India was that speedster Ishant Sharma seemed to be getting back into his rhythm, finishing with figures of 3 for 50.

India began their chase in style with Virender Sehwag hitting the first two deliveries of the innings from Lee for boundaries. But Lee settled score by getting rid off Sehwag by having the batsman caught for 13 in 11 balls. India lost another big wicket when Sachin Tendulkar drove a wide ball from Watson up into a packed off-side field and Ponting took a blinder at short cover-point.

Virat Kohli, playing in company of Delhi teammate Gambhir, steadied the rocking ship with a stand of 58 in 75 balls and the pair raised the 100 in the 19th over when Kohli (30) went for a big shot of Adam Voges and was caught at long-on by Shane Watson.

Gambhir and Dhoni then put together a partnership of 64 runs for the fourth wicket before Mitchell Johnson first removed Gambhir (68) off the first ball of the batting powerplay, ruining India’s plans to step up the scoring rate. He then caught and bowled Suresh Raina to leave India at 183 for five in the 37th over. It was left to Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja to guide India home but the Indian skipper got out soon, trying to loft Watson and giving a tame catch to Lee at mid on. Jadeja followed soon as he was trapped in front of the wickets by Hauritz.

At 201 for seven in their pursuit of a 293-run victory target, India seemed heading for a comprehensive defeat before Praveen (40 not out) and Harbhajan (49) came up with a defiant 84-run stand off 57 balls for the eighth wicket that nearly took them home.

Harbhajan and Praveen brought down the target to 30 from the last 15 balls and then nine from the last six. But once Harbhajan departed off the second ball of the final over from Peter Siddle, India lost the momentum and Australia stopped the hosts four runs short of their total. For Australia, Johnson led the bowling with two for 59, while Watson secured 2 for 70.

It was a classic game of 50-over cricket where the fortunes fluctuated from one team to the other throughout the match. With T20 cricket threatening the existence of the 50-over format, we would need these kind of matches more often to show the relevance of the One-day format.

Brief Scores:

Australia 292 for 8 (Ponting 74, Hussey 73, White 51, Paine 50, Ishant 3-50) beat India 288 for 8 (Gambhir 68, Harbhajan 49) by 4 runs

Man of the Match: Michael Hussey

Tagged with: Ashish Nehra, Australia, Cameron White, Harbhajan Singh, India, Ishant Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Michael Hussey, Peter Siddle, Praveen Kumar, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Watson, Tim Paine, Vadodara, Virender Sehwag

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