Ind v Australia ICC World Twenty20: Dr. Nilesh D. Mehta

India vs. Australia ICC World Twenty20: Dr. Nilesh D. Mehta

After having suffered twin defeats to Pakistan and West Indies, Australia played India in ICC World Twenty20 at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur. India already qualified for the Semis with their sterling performances with a hat-trick of vic­to­ries against Pakistan, West Indies and Bangladesh and losing just eight wickets in their first three games.

Earlier in the first match of the day, with Bangladesh losing their match against Pakistan, Australia played this match only for academic reasons, realizing that they were out of the tournament.

Australia has never won the Twenty 20 ICC World Cup and they won’t this year either.  This clash between Australia and India was supposed to have been a marquee event towards the end of the Super 10 phase of the tournament.

Dhoni’s usual “keep the same winning combination” was altered for this match. Shikhar Dhawan was dropped  and Ajinkya Rahane opened with Rohit Sharma. Another surprise was the inclusion of Mohit Sharma, who had not played a single match in this competition. He replaced Mohammad Shami.

The Indian innings was reduced to 66-4 in the middle of 12^th over with in-form Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina back in the pavilion. Yuvraj Singh has been overdue for a good knock and he did not disappoint a boisterous Bangladeshi crowd in Mirpur.  Dhoni’s brief cameo ended at 24 when he was bowled by Starc . Yuvraj reached his 50 in 37 balls with a towering six to midwicket off Shane Watson with his final score of 60 that helped India reach 159-7. Yuvraj went after rookie spinner James Muirhead and crushed two back-to-back sixes over midwicket to propel his innings. It was refreshing to see this swashbuckling southpaw click in this format of the game.

Aussies were reduced to 55-5 as R. Ashwin weaved his magic scalping three important wickets of Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, and David Warner.  Dangerous Glenn Maxwell was bowled while attempting to reverse sweep and with that wicket, Aussies were reduced to 55-5 as R. Ashwin foxed the Aussies with his accurate spin. For his superb bowling performance, Ashwin won the man of the match award.

The Australian procession continued when Amit Mishra was introduced in the 12^th over and was able to dismiss Brad Haddin that made the Aussies even more susceptible at 75-7.  On the sub-continent tracks, spinners have remained in control throughout the tournament for India with Amit Mishra clearly capitalizing on his opportunity. Sunil Gavaskar once described Amit Mishra – a googly bowler who occasionally bowls leg spin variety.  Mishra has clearly done a lot of hard work which has paid him big dividends in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20.  Australia’s task continued to become increasingly insurmountable as they kept losing wickets without putting runs on the board. Ultimately, the pressure of scoring runs at a rapid pace was too tough to handle with Aussies succumbing with a final score of 86.

India won this inconsequential match by 73 runs thus further stamping their authority on this tournament. India will now patiently wait for their semi-final opponent that will be the Group B second placed team. Indian skipper Dhoni, while addressing the media, recognized his bowling unit and had kind words for a resurgent Yuvraj Singh.