India clinch historic clean sweep against Aus with easy win

March 24, 2013
India_clinch_historic_win
New Delhi, Mar 24: India today completed a historic 4-0 clean sweep against Australia by recording an emphatic six-wicket victory in the fourth and final cricket Test here today.

On a Feroze Shah Kotla track which is not conducive for good batting, India chased down a tricky target of 155, largely due to Cheteshwar Pujara's dazzling strokeplay as the home team recorded their biggest ever series win in the 81-year history inside three days.

Pujara, who was battling pain as he was playing with a swollen hand, enthralled one and all with his perfect technique on a rank turner, scoring a brilliant unbeaten 82 off 92 balls with 11 boundaries.

For Australia, it was the first time in 43 years to suffer a 0-4 series whitewash after Bill Lawry's side did the same in South Africa in 1969-70.

There were a few jitters when India lost Virat Kohli (41), Sachin Tendulkar (1)and Ajinkya Rahane (1) in quick succession but Pujara kept his cool in company of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (8 not out) to successfully complete the run chase.

Pujara hit three boundaries off Glenn Maxwell to level the scores and then Dhoni hit the winning boundary to send the 25,000-odd crowd at the stadium into a frenzy.

The on-field celebrations were muted but the dressing room was delirious with joy as the players engaged in bear hugs.

The target of 155 might have looked quite a task but both Pujara and Kohli made batting look easy on a difficult track, adding 104 runs for the second wicket to pave the way for victory.

Starting the run chase, Murali Vijay (11) was bowled trying to play an unnecessary reverse sweep but Pujara played some unorthodox shots to set the tone.

Pujara showed positive intent as he and Kohli scored at a brisk pace. The Saurashtra lad showed his stroke-making prowess as India reached their 50 in the ninth over.

Pujara played the sweep shot to good effect but his two best shots were played of Mitchell Johnson. First, he deliberately lobbed a Johnson bouncer over wicketkeeper Matthew Wade's head and then hit a fierce square-cut on the rise. The third boundary of the over was hit through the cover.

As if he was getting into the IPL mode, Pujara scored his second 50 of the match from just 54 balls and India's 100 was reached in 19 overs at a rate of more than five runs per over.

While Pujara stepped up the ante, Kohli was happy playing the second fiddle.

Inexplicably, Australian captain Shane Watson did not use leggie Steven Smith, who could have effectively used the rough, nor did he call James Pattinson or Peter Siddle to bowl to exploit some of the spots created at the Delhi Gate End.

Earlier, on the pitch prepared by Venkat Sundaram which resembled a minefield, Ravindra Jadeja (5/58) created terror in the minds of the Australian batsmen as he extracted vicious turn and bounce as they were all-out for 164 in their second innings.

Siddle produced another gutsy performance with the willow as he took the Indian attack by the scruff of its neck, scoring a 45-ball 50 with seven boundaries. His innings was a lesson for Australian top-order batsmen about the technique needed to survive on a treacherous track.

Incidentally, Siddle was the best Aussie batsman in both their innings as his effort meant that the visitors put up a score which could be considered decent enough on this kind of track. Jadeja first removed Glenn Maxwell, who was sent up the order to open the innings. Maxwell (8) did not come fully forward to a delivery from Jadeja that pitched on the middle stump and turned a shade to hit the off-stump.

David Warner (8) was then trapped leg before in Jadeja's very next over as the batsmen played a length ball on the backfoot. He was caught plumbed in-front as the delivery would have hit the leg-stump.

The tension brewing between Jadeja and Warner came into the forefront once again as the Indian left-arm spinner gave the batsman a rude 'send-off' which could earn him a sanction from the match referee.

Phillip Hughes, who had two decent knocks under his belt, got a questionable decision when R Ashwin, coming round the wicket, trapped him on his back-pad. The television replays showed that the ball would have probably missed the off-stump. Hughes managed only six.

The normally dogged Ed Cowan (24, 5x4) employed a positive approach as defending on this track looked impossible. Most of the times, the tactic he used to counter Jadeja was to take a big stride forward to stop the ball from doing unusual tricks. He got a few boundaries in the process.

Stand-in captain captain Shane Watson hit a lovely on-drive but then played a rash shot off an innocuous delivery from Pragyan Ojha. Watson rocked on the backfoot to pull a short delivery and missed the line to get bowled.

The score was 51 for four at that stage but within two runs, Cowan was gone as Jadeja pitched one on the good length and turned enough to catch the left-hander on the backfoot. Within first 20 overs of the Australian second innings, the top five were back in the hut.

The post-lunch session saw Steven Smith and Johnson being removed by Jadeja off successive deliveries but two crucial stands of 28 and 35 for eighth and ninth wickets respectively -– both involving Siddle -- helped the visitors cross 150.

In the morning, it took only eight minutes and 13 deliveries to polish off the Indian tail as Nathan Lyon got his career-best figures of 7 for 94 as the home side managed a slender lead of 10 runs.

India_clinch_historic_win3

India_clinch_historic_win2

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 13,2020

Mumbai, Jun 13: Vasant Raiji, who was India's oldest first-class cricketer at 100, died in Mumbai in the wee hours of Saturday.

Raiji was 100 years old and is survived by his wife and two daughters.

"He (Raiji) passed away at 2.20 am in his sleep at his residence in Walkeshwar in South Mumbai due to old-age," his son-in-law Sudarshan Nanavati told PTI.

Raiji, a right-handed batsman, played nine first-class matches in the 1940s, scoring 277 runs with 68 being his highest score.

He made his debut for a Cricket Club of India team that played Central Provinces and Berar in Nagpur in 1939.

His Mumbai debut happened in 1941 when the team played Western India under the leadership of Vijay Merchant.

Raiji, also a cricket historian and chartered accountant, was 13 when India played its first Test match at the Bombay Gymkhana in South Mumbai.

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and former Australian skipper Steve Waugh had paid a courtesy visit to Raiji at his residence in January when he had turned 100.

It has been learnt that the cremation will take place at the Chandanwadi crematorium in South Mumbai on Saturday afternoon.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
March 26,2020

Karachi, Mar 26: Pakistan's centrally-contracted cricketers will contribute Rs 5 million to the national government's emergency fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ehsan Mani on Wednesday said apart from centrally-contracted players contributing Rs 5 million, the employees in the board, up to the senior manager level, will contribute their one day's salary.

Those employed as general managers or on higher posts will give two days' salary to the fund.

"The PCB will collect all these funds and deposit it to the government's coronavirus fund," he said.

Pakistan has recorded more than 1,000 positive cases of the deadly virus, which has claimed more than 19,000 lives all over the world.

"It is the history of the cricket board that we always stand by the government in difficult times," Mani said.

The PCB has already given its high performances centre in Karachi at the national stadium to be used by paramedical staff working at the special coronavirus hospital set up at the expo centre in the in the city.

Mani said though cricket has been disrupted by the virus outbreak but it was far more important for the nation to stand by the government and also take all precautionary steps during the pandemic.

Pakistan's centrally-contracted players are entitled to monthly salaries ranging from Rs 5 to 12 lakh besides match fee and other earnings.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 13,2020

Mumbai, Jan 13: India captain Virat Kohli indicated at dropping himself down the batting order to accommodate both Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul in the playing XI against Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series starting Tuesday.

With vice-captain Rohit Sharma an automatic pick, the team management is left with tough choice of selecting either Dhawan or Rahul in the XI. But the skipper sees no reason why both can't play together.

"Look, a guy in form is always good for the team. ...You obviously want to have the best players available and then chose from what the combination should be for the team. There might be a possibility that all three (Rohit, Shikhar and Rahul) might play. It will be interesting to see what balance we want to take in on the field," Kohli said on the eve of the match.

Asked if he would he be happy to bat lower down the order, Virat said,"Yeah, big possibility. I would be very happy to do so. Look I am not possessive about where I play. I am not insecure about where I bat," said the skipper.

For Kohli, it is more important as to what kind of leadership legacy he leaves behind rather than chase personal glory.

"Being the captain of the team, it is my job to make sure that the next lot is also ready. A lot of the other people might not look at it that way, but your job as a captain is not only to look after the team right now, but also to prepare a team that you leave behind when you eventually pass it onto someone else," he added.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.