The second warm up match for the touring Australian Team against Board President’s XI ended in a draw in Hyderabad on Sunday. The Indian side is high after this draw seeing Australian inability to score runs on Indian slow pitches and failure against spin attack. Some spectacular batting performances have filled the Indian cup of confidence to the brim. It was a comedy of ironies to see test squad rejects giving superb performances while those in the squad who played for warm-up stumbling and fumbling so poorly.

The Australian bowlers bore the brunt of Yuvi’s and Jaffer’s fury at non-selection. The suave southpaw played a knock of 113 which included seven sixes and seven boundaries. Jaffer’s 93 assisted him in impaling the visiting bowlers to set a target of 434 for the Aussies. After smashing 105 each from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the first innings and putting up 371 on board, India had already attained the psychological edge over their opponents. Achieving 434 in whatever time was left after the lunch was an improbable task, hence the tourists utilized the overs to gain valuable practice.

 Australian Captain Ricky Ponting seemed intent to set his poor record of average 12 runs in 8 matches on Indian turf straight. He scored 41 and 58* which must have lifted his spirits before entering the test series.  

The match must have given some pointers to the Indian selectors for the last two matches of the four-match test series. Rohit Sharma, Wasim Jaffer and Yuvraj Singh who have been kept out from the first two matches have fluttered their feathers to catch the selector’s attention and should keep their fingers crossed. The Australians are sorely missing out on a specialist spinner. Shane Warne is not around anymore and Bryce McGain is back home after a shoulder injury. Jason Krejza, the lone standing spinner was broken, beaten and scarred as Indians extracted 123 and 76 runs from him in two innings.

Despite the match ending in a draw, the Indians have managed to put a dent in the Aussie armor. Indian skipper Anil Kumble has gone further to remark that the Australians are not an invincible side anymore. However, Kumble must remember that it is too early to make such claims and a drawn practice match is nothing to write home about. Cricket360 wishes good luck to the Indian team for the upcoming series!

Comments

Add New RSS

3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

Newer news items:

Older news items: