So remarkable is the ability of Australian teams these days that the
task of successfully standing in the path between them and victory
borders on the verge of impossibility
John Polack30-Dec-1999So remarkable is the ability of Australian teams these days that the
task of successfully standing in the path between them and victory
borders on the verge of impossibility. Or so it seems at least after
the locals today completed another resounding triumph, this time over
India by the margin of 180 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.To win a Test match is an exacting exercise in itself; it is another
thing again to win a series (as Australia has now done in this three
match battle by virtue of its 2-0 lead); but to win six contests in a
row at this level is a feat of rare accomplishment. Indeed, only one
Australian team in the history of Test cricket has a more coveted
record of consecutive triumphs – Warwick Armstrong’s 1920/21 outfit
and its eight consecutive successes the only combination this current
side has still to equal. Yet the Australians achieved their win today
with a minimum of fuss, a minimum of angst, and even a relative
minimum of wickets from principal strike bowlers Glenn McGrath (0/22)
and Shane Warne (1/63). While Sachin Tendulkar (52) again devoted
himself admirably to the cause of reviving India’s fortunes, and
although he was offered more support today with the bat than he has
been for much of this series, the result was rarely in doubt. Under
the leadership of Steve Waugh, the purposeful Australians duly
achieved this win with the same emphatic force that has accompanied
most of the previous five.Waugh’s midas touch as a captain in fact continued to glitter in many
ways today. Indeed, somehow he found a way to conjure two completely
unexpected, yet spectacularly successful, bowling changes in the midst
of the innings that went a long distance to securing the win.The first came in the shadows of lunch (the penultimate ball of the
morning session no less) when part time medium pacer Greg Blewett
turned an uncertain Sourav Ganguly (17) drive at an innocuous, wide
delivery into a fatal one by attracting an inside edge which directed
the ball into the visibly shattered left hander’s stumps.In terms of productivity, the second (which came in the over following
drinks in the middle session) was even better. This arrived in the
form of the introduction into the attack of occasional off spinner
Mark Waugh and resulted in two wickets in successive deliveries. At
the time, it appeared a strange move given that both Hrishikesh
Kanitkar (45) and Mannava Prasad (13) had been pinned on to the back
foot by speedster Brett Lee (2/31) and by Warne until that point. But
it was one that could hardly be questioned when a flighted off break
three balls into the over had Prasad lunging forward defensively and
edging a low, beautifully taken catch to Warne himself at slip.More pyrotechnics then followed as Ajit Agarkar (0) exited for an
almost inconceivable third successive first ball duck when he flashed
hard at a short wide long hop and crashed the delivery straight into
the waiting hands of Blewett at a deep-set position at point.Although the third hat-trick ball of the series (this time a full toss
wide outside off stump) was then crashed for four through the covers
by Anil Kumble, the skipper suddenly assumed the mantle of a
strategist of some sophistication as a result. That Damien Fleming was
also able to claim the scalp of the cheekily defiant Kanitkar with the
very first ball of a new spell of his own in the death throes of the
innings only added to the extent of the Australian captain’s gleam.As his leadership was inspired, so his bowlers and fieldsmen were
admirably purposeful. On a pitch that remained true in pace and bounce
to provide some of the best batting conditions of the match, the pace
bowlers to a man adhered to the disciplined principle of bowling in
the narrow corridor outside off stump for most of the day. Warne also
refused to be bowed when his time-honoured strategy of pitching into
footmarks outside the leg stump of the Indian right handers did not
gain him success initially and his ability to ultimately claim
Tendulkar told its own story about the quality of his effort.For the Indians, on the other hand, this was always likely to be an
arduous day’s cricket. But it took a cruel turn for the worse when
opener Sadagoppan Ramesh (26*) was forced to retire hurt just five
minutes into proceedings after playing out a maiden from Fleming.
Wincing as a result of pain in the knuckle of his right thumb (the
legacy of being struck a debilitating blow to it yesterday evening by
Lee), Ramesh left the field never to return and he will not be back
for the Sydney Test either. Unfortunately for the tourists, the
situation could never really be rescued – not even by the masterful
Tendulkar.Nevertheless, the full story of the day’s play could not be recounted
without at least some reference to another excellent exhibition from
the deservedly named man of the match. Indeed, through a little under
three hours at the crease, his was another sumptuous hand. He strode
gracefully to the wicket against the backdrop of a reception which
told of due reverence and maybe even of a sense of supplication (from
a large Indian contingent here at least) too. A superb off drive off
the back foot formally announced his presence at the crease, before
several delectable cuts, cover drives and pull strokes were unleashed
in an innings in which almost every ball was played perfectly on its
merits. He was caused two moments of early anxiety (with his score at
16 and then at 20) when he twice offered no stroke to Warne but they
were the only signs of mortality that emerged in the lead up to lunch.It was in the 22 minutes following the adjournment that the result of
the Test was essentially settled. For it was not only during that
phase of that day that a series of mackerel-coloured clouds rolling in
from the south-east chose to bypass the stadium, but also that even
Tendulkar’s defences and reserves of concentration began to weaken.Ultimate crisis for the Indians came when he unwisely chose to pad
away a Warne delivery which pitched on middle and off and spun only
fractionally before striking him and giving umpire David Shepherd no
choice but to adjudge him lbw. This capped the end of a short burst of
play during which the masterful right hander had been troubled a
number of times by Warne’s habit of pitching in and around footmarks
outside the line of leg stump and ripping prodigious leg breaks across
him from the Southern Stand End. To the jeering of the mass of
patriotic Indian fans pocketed at the bottom of the Southern Stand
itself, the champion leg spinner had beaten a defending Tendulkar’s
bat at least twice and also launched a number of lbw enquiries in the
middle of the teasing, probing spell.After Tendulkar had fallen, the match then progressed steadily to its
conclusion before a crowd growing in size on account of the near
inevitability of the Australian success. And it certainly became
difficult to ignore the symbolism inherent in the fact that the sun
(so rarely seen in Melbourne’s skies this week) made its most lengthy
appearance of the match as Javagal Srinath (1) fended Lee straight to
first slip and Kumble (13) was then run out at 4:18 pm in the final
act of this battle of attrition.
