Sachin misses milestone as Kangaroos claw back in Mohali

Page rank	5

Nathan Hauritz gave a major breakthrough to the Australian team after he caught star Indian opener Sachin Tendulkar plumb in front of the wickets, to dismiss him for 40 runs.

The decision may put serious credibility of on Umpire Amiesh Saheba’s judgment as it seemed like the ball would have comfortably missed the 5th stump.

India’s 251-run chase received yet another major jolt after Virat Kohli too departed cheaply, leaving India’s score at 78/2.

Bollinger collected his second wicket of the match as he got Kohli caught by Graham Manou, thus dismissing him for mere 10 runs.

A spectacular innings by Virender Sehwag came to an end after Doug Bollinger got him caught by Shane Watson in the mid-off for 30 runs.

Collecting his maiden wicket of the series, Bollinger pitched the ball up outside off, as Sehwag went under it too much to lofts it high enough for Watson to get a well-calculated catch at the mid-off.

Sehwag played a scintillating innings as he scored 30 runs from mere 19 balls, that also included 4 boundaries.

Run-outs cast a shadow over Australia’s batting campaign as the visitors posted a score of 250 all out against India in the fourth ODI of the 7-match Hero Honda Cup here on Monday.

Aussies lost four of its wickets through run-outs in their innings, courtesy spectacular fielding by and the presence of mind by the Indian players. Ashish Nehra could easily be declared the star in the first innings as claimed three crucial wickets.

Earlier, after winning the toss, skipper MS Dhoni opted to field first, a decision that was contrary to what most had thought, given the fact that the condition of the pitch was more batting friendly.

Nonetheless, opponent skipper Ricky Ponting considered himself to be very lucky to have been given the opportunity to bat first.

However, his celebration did not last long as Nehra gave an early breakthrough to India as he caught Shaun Marsh (5) plumb into front of the wickets leaving the Australian scoreaboard reading 24/1.

Later, Shane Watson and Ponting took control of the regime. After building a partnership of 64 runs, Harbhajan Singh played the spoilsport for the guests as he dismissed Watson for 49 runs, depriving the Aussie of what could have been his 10th ODI half-century.

Ponting then took the onus on his shoulders has took his team’s score above the 100 run mark, thus, also claiming his 72nd ODI fifty in the process. But his celebrations were again cut-short after he had to face an absolutely opposite fate when a splendid bull-eye hit by Ravindra Jadeja from deep mid wicket departed him for 52 runs.

The Australian captain attempted to take a quick single of a Harbhajan Singh delivery. However, he fell short of time as Jadeja swiftly picked the ball from Deep mid-wicket to cleanly hit the mid-stumps; here came the first run out for Australia.

Amazed by the skill and accuracy, Ponting stood for a moment on the field, trying to absorb the shock, but later shyly walked out of the field leaving the Australian scorecard at 123/3.

Ponting’s dismissal left Michael Hussey to further take care of the team’s total. However, after a well made 40 runs, he was caught by Ishant Sharma at the deep mid-wicket off a Yuvraj Singh delivery, thus leaving the Aussie scorecard reading 196/4.

Moments later, Bhajji struck again to bowl out Moises Henriques for mere 6 runs.

Wickets started coming in plenty after that as Nehra struck thrice in quick succession to take two important wickets, Cameron White (62) and Mitchell Johnson (8).

White’s dismissal became the second run-out dismissal for Australia. Nehra bowled tight line on the stumps, while Johnson hoped to defend it. White, however, did not pay much attention and took off to grab a quick single. Nehra then showed immense presence of mind and fielded the ball quickly to knock back middle stump with a fierce direct hit.

Later, Johnson fell prey to Nehra’s bowling attack as the pacer knocked off the middle stump to send the birthday boy back to pavilion. Johnson’s dismissal was soon followed by Peter Siddle’s farewell as he was caught by Jadeja caught a simple catch to send him back packing for mere 1 run.

Then came Australia’s third run-out wicket! Graham Manou (7) met a fate similar to White, and was run out by Praveen Kumar.

In the end, Yuvraj Singh, after missing Nathan Hauritz’s a simple catch of Praveen Kumar’s delivery, made sure to a sharp throw to finally dismiss Australia’s last wicket.

Australia, thus, posted a total of 250 to India.

Squads:

Australia: Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting(c), Cameron White, Mike Hussey, Moises Henriques, Graham Manou(w), Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger

India: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni(w/c), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma