The Knockout Punch

Australia came into the quarter-finals with their halo of being unbeaten broken. India came into the quarter-finals with their ego’s battered – not a single win in the group stages of a kind that will please the Indian audience . If Australia came into the match with not too many mistakes in the group stages , it was exactly the opposite for Team India , starting off with England in a match they should have won easily but ended up with honors even and against South Africa where hara-kiri was at its supreme best losing 9 wickets for 29 runs.

But the major difference between the two sides coming into the quarter-finals was the big match exposure. Australia started off with an easy win against the Kiwis who were yet to get into the groove (as I write this , they have pulled off a stunning victory against South Africa) , then against Sri Lanka which was a washout and against Pakistan where the Australian batsman could hardly get the ball off the square when up against a terrific spin trio of Shahid Afridi , Abdur Rehman and Mohammad Hafeez and then Umar Akmal finishing off the match with a splendid innings to end the Aussie 34 match winning spree in the World Cup’s.

India on the other hand had to battle hard, be it against England or against Ireland. They edged, scratched, messed around, were miserable in the fielding department and the bowling only seemed to start and end with Zaheer Khan, but managed to get two points out of four games and one against England. Against South Africa, they deserved to win, but that was till Sachin Tendulkar was at the crease. They had committed all sorts of mistakes that one could have asked for to be corrected before entering the knock out stages. At Motera, all these mistakes were rectified.

Right from the beginning of the tournament, India’s batting has been at its supreme best, but their bowling has never complimented the batting and their fielders have never complimented the bowlers. All in all it even the hardest of optimist would have relented to the fact that if India had to win the quarter finals, the batsman had to do it and somehow hope and pray that the bowlers concede at least one run less than their opposition, meaning which it was always going to be a win the toss and bat first situation. And this did not happen. Ponting won the toss and as expected, opted to bat first.


This is where the bowlers had different ideas. R.Ashwin probably the most talked about person in the country after the World Cup has started over his non inclusion in most of the group matches was in the side and was given the new ball. It only helped that he is Dhoni’s teammate at the Chennai SuperKings and his temperament was something that Dhoni was very well versed with. And indeed he bowled like a king making Watson look like a pauper asking as if can I hit you for few runs. The answer was Watson’s stumps being castled. At the other end it was Zaheer Khan, the second highest wicket taker in the tournament who seems to be in the form of his life. Harbhajan Singh, although not amongst the wickets kept the pressure on the batsman and although Munaf Patel was clobbered around a bit by Brad Haddin, the bowlers always seemed to have in control.

And finally, the magical Yuvraj Singh, who seems to turn things into gold, whatever he touches this World Cup. His spell of 44 runs of 10 overs with 2 wickets was decisive since his first wicket was of Brad Haddin, at a time in the game when the momentum was swinging in the favor of the Aussies and then getting the better off pup: Michal Clarke who was totally beaten by the flight and ended up holing at long on.

Australia ultimately set India a target of 261, probably 20 runs less than what they would have liked thanks to some superb fielding in the outfield by Ashwin, Raina and Yuvraj. A score very much competitive in a big game and which meant the top 5 for India had to fire. Sachin set up the game beautifully for India but was out in a slightly controversial manner, Gambhir batted in a superb manner till he decided that somehow or the other he needed to find a way to get run out, Sehwag had gone early and so was Virat Kohli, but while they lasted had decent partnerships. At the other end though there was a sedate Yuvraj Singh going about doing his job , not getting affected by the things happening around him : Gambhir’s run out or Dhoni’s dismissal. And with 70 odd runs to get in about 11 overs and having Raina as his partner , Yuvraj decided to break loose and in a span of 10 minutes things changed . Pressure was eased as both Yuvraj and Raina slaughtered Bret Lee and Shaun Tait and from there on there was no looking back. Yuvraj exploded and Raina came up with a six of his own to make sure that there were no further hiccups.


The top 5 did play their part and it was the 7th batsman which is another most talked about topic in Indian Cricket came good in the form of Raina. Ashwin was in his elements and got rid of Ricky Ponting who in all probabilities has played his last World Cup game and probably his last as the captain of the Australian ODI team. It’s almost certain that the selectors will now start looking beyond Ponting to lead the side.
Ponting himself came good at a time when nothing seemed to go in his favor this World Cup by hitting a brilliant century and reminding everyone that the scratcher in him still remains. But unfortunately for the two time World Cup winning captain, his century was in a losing cause and ending the era of Australian Supremacy.

There is no road to success without any punctures. India has had its share of punctures in the group stage. It’s now time to step up the gas and hit top gear. And what better when the opposition is Pakistan in a World Cup semi-final. Mouth watering encounter in the offering irrespective of whether you love cricket or not and a Money Flowing encounter for the organizers!!