 |
| shane watson |
(TOI)
AHMEDABAD: Zimbabwe looked good to chase Australia's total when Charles Coventry drove Brett Lee handsomely through the covers for four in the second over and then sent one soaring over the point fence for a flat six in the fourth. But once Lee caught a skier to dismiss Coventry off his own bowling in the sixth over of the match and Shaun Tait sent Brendan Taylor's middle stump for a walk in the 11th, it was curtains for Zimbabwe.
Chasing Australia's hard-earned 262-6, Zimbabwe were bundled out for 171 in the 47th over as Ponting's men recorded an easy 91-run win in their World Cup opener at Motera here on Monday. And like all the three top teams in the first two days of the World Cup, Australia too showed that teams like Kenya, Canada, Zimbabwe and even Bangladesh would be better off playing in a league of their own and not in the premier tournament in ICC's cricket calendar.
It was a good warm-up for the defending champions before their crucial Group-A game against arch-rivals New Zealand in Nagpur on February 25. They still have some work to do as far as their batting against spinners is concerned but this might be the attack Australia would like to stick to after all their experimentation in the ODI series against England post Ashes. Lee and Tait opening the bowling with Mitchell Johnson coming first change followed by Shane Watson and Jason Krejza looks more than a formidable attack. With spin likely to play a crucial part as the tournament progresses, the Aussies will still have Michael Clarke and the young Steven Smith waiting in the wings.
But the same can't be said about their batting, especially against the spinners. Their weakness against spin is one thing other teams would like to exploit as Zimbabwe did here. Starting with Ray Price's left-arm orthodox spin from one end, the Zimbabwe slow bowlers shared 41 overs, restricting the mighty Aussies to a little over 250.
It was a David vs Goliath contest alright but Zimbabwe did everything right on the field to give the defending champions a wake-up call after Ponting elected to bat, ignoring the dew factor. One could understand Watson and Brad Haddin's cautious approach in their first match of the mega event, but slowly they found themselves caught in the Zimbabwean spin web from which breaking free became an uphill task.
That the Aussies managed to score just 32 runs losing one wicket in their batting powerplay—from the 41st over when spin was on from either end—showed the kind of stranglehold the Zimbabwe spinners had on the Aussie batsmen.
The hallmark of the spinning operation was the length as the Zimbabwe bowlers kept the ball up inviting the drive against the slight hint of spin. The Australians batsman's reluctance to play the sweep shot meant that playing straight in the V would be a dangerous proposition. Haddin and Watson both found that out—caught plumb in front playing straight and forward.
Interestingly, both these dismissals were referred after they were turned down by Ashoka de Silva and Richard Kettleborough respectively.
----------------------
score card
| Australia innings (50 overs maximum) | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
| SR Watson | lbw b Cremer | 79 | 113 | 92 | 8 | 1 | 85.86 |
| 31.2 huge appeal for lbw, turned down. Will they refer it? Yes, they will. Tossed up on middle and off and fizzing along straight, off the track. Watto was well forward, but the replays suggest that was crashing into middle and off, three-fourths of the way up. No evidence that it hit bat before pad either. Yep, the third umpire helps Umpire Kettleborough overturn it and Zim have got two in two right today. 140/2
|
| BJ Haddin† | lbw b Utseya | 29 | 68 | 66 | 3 | 0 | 43.93 |
| 18.5 Zimbabwe's first ever referral now. Utseya lands this back of a length outside off and it comes in gently with the angle, and then sharply with the spin. Haddin looks to work it through square leg, casually off the back foot, and is hit in front of middle. It was hitting middle and leg. Not sure why Asoka de Silva said not out. The third umpire overturns the verdict. Zimbabwe have struck. 61/1
|
| RT Ponting* | run out (Mpofu) | 28 | 50 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 77.77 |
| 32.5 Williams to Clarke, Ponting's run out by a splendid direct hit from deep midwicket. Clarke came forward to take the ball on the full and flicked it to deep midwicket. The batsmen wanted the second and had Mpofu's throw from the deep not hit the stumps directly at the non-striker's end, they would have got the second. But it did and Zimbabwe's players are delighted. 144/3
|
| MJ Clarke | not out | 58 | 77 | 55 | 4 | 0 | 105.45 |
| |
| CL White | b Mpofu | 22 | 44 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 61.11 |
| 44.6 bowled him! White needed to go for it, and he picked a slower ball to try and hit through midwicket. He was early on the shot and the ball cannoned into middle and leg stump off the bottom edge. 207/4
|
| DJ Hussey | b Price | 14 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 175.00 |
| 48.1 and that's why! Bowled him! Hussey charges down the track and aims for the heave down the ground. Price drags it shorter, bowls it quicker and keeps it dead straight. Hussey misses by a long way, and Price hits the stumps. 241/5
|
| SPD Smith | c Chakabva b Mpofu | 11 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 275.00 |
| 49.1 Mpofu is very, very lucky. He bowled a rubbish ball, a full toss on leg stump. Smith could have smashed it, anywhere. Instead he sort of chipped it off his pads and straight to the fielder on the deep square leg boundary. 254/6
|
| MG Johnson | not out | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 233.33 |
| |
| Extras | (lb 7, w 7) | 14 |
|
|
|
|
|
|  |
|
|
|
|
|
| Total | (6 wickets; 50 overs; 191 mins) | 262 | (5.24 runs per over) |
| Did not bat SW Tait, JJ Krejza, B Lee |
| Fall of wickets1-61 (Haddin, 18.5 ov), 2-140 (Watson, 31.2 ov), 3-144 (Ponting, 32.5 ov), 4-207 (White, 44.6 ov), 5-241 (Hussey, 48.1 ov), 6-254 (Smith, 49.1 ov) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
|
|
| CB Mpofu | 9 | 0 | 58 | 2 | 6.44 | (2w) |
|
| 44.6 to White, bowled him! White needed to go for it, and he picked a slower ball to try and hit through midwicket. He was early on the shot and the ball cannoned into middle and leg stump off the bottom edge. 207/4
49.1 to Smith, Mpofu is very, very lucky. He bowled a rubbish ball, a full toss on leg stump. Smith could have smashed it, anywhere. Instead he sort of chipped it off his pads and straight to the fielder on the deep square leg boundary. 254/6
|
| RW Price | 10 | 0 | 43 | 1 | 4.30 | (1w) |
|
| 48.1 to Hussey, and that's why! Bowled him! Hussey charges down the track and aims for the heave down the ground. Price drags it shorter, bowls it quicker and keeps it dead straight. Hussey misses by a long way, and Price hits the stumps. 241/5
|
| P Utseya | 10 | 2 | 43 | 1 | 4.30 | (2w) |
|
| 18.5 to Haddin, Zimbabwe's first ever referral now. Utseya lands this back of a length outside off and it comes in gently with the angle, and then sharply with the spin. Haddin looks to work it through square leg, casually off the back foot, and is hit in front of middle. It was hitting middle and leg. Not sure why Asoka de Silva said not out. The third umpire overturns the verdict. Zimbabwe have struck. 61/1
|
| AG Cremer | 10 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 4.10 | (1w) |
|
| 31.2 to Watson, huge appeal for lbw, turned down. Will they refer it? Yes, they will. Tossed up on middle and off and fizzing along straight, off the track. Watto was well forward, but the replays suggest that was crashing into middle and off, three-fourths of the way up. No evidence that it hit bat before pad either. Yep, the third umpire helps Umpire Kettleborough overturn it and Zim have got two in two right today. 140/2
|
| BRM Taylor | 3 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 7.66 |
|
|
| |
| E Chigumbura | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 9.00 | (1w) |
|
| |
| SC Williams | 6 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 4.83 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Zimbabwe innings (target: 263 runs from 50 overs) | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
| BRM Taylor | b Tait | 16 | 53 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 66.66 |
| 11.2 137.4 kph, bowled him! Taylor tried to work the ball on the leg side from his crease and closed the face of the bat. He missed and Tait sped the ball through and grazed the pad before uprooting middle stump. Nothing special, just straight, fast and very effective. 40/3
|
| CK Coventry | c & b Lee | 14 | 24 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 58.33 |
| 5.4 138.4 kph, this was a likely dismissal. Coventry was edgy against the short ball and tried to pull this one from outside off stump. The top edge swirled high in the air and the ball descended in the region of silly mid-off, where Lee was waiting to take the caught and bowled 22/1
|
| T Taibu† | c Watson b Johnson | 7 | 23 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 41.17 |
| 10.3 136.1 kph, he's given Watson some catching practice at first slip. Taibu tried to guide the ball towards third man by opening the face but the line of the short of a length ball was far too close to the body. He ended up steering it off the face towards Watson's right. He bent swiftly to take a low catch 40/2
|
| CR Ervine | lbw b Johnson | 0 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 12.3 137.4 kph, Johnson bowls a full, fast and straight ball that thuds into Ervine's pads as he tries to play across the line and falls over a touch. Johnson roars an appeal but Asoka de Silva is unmoved, again. Haddin is adamant that it should be reviewed. Replays show that it's pretty plumb. Thank goodness for the UDRS today. Asoka's had a shocker. 44/4
|
| E Chigumbura* | c †Haddin b Krejza | 14 | 44 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 56.00 |
| 21.2 86.9 kph, Elton's gone. Krejza throws this up well outside off and he goes for the lap-sweep. Too ambitious, he had to bring that around from a long way off, and ended up getting gloving a top edge that popped up on the off side. Haddin runs across and pouches it, then hurries back to effect a stumping, just in case. Elton was already walking away though. 88/5
|
| SC Williams | c Watson b Tait | 28 | 40 | 40 | 1 | 1 | 70.00 |
| 24.6 144.7 kph, Tait's blown Williams away with 144.7 kph of unplayable pace. Almost a yorker again, from wide of the crease from round the wicket, homes the guided missile in on the line of off stump. Williams has played back to everything, think he'd make a good playback singer. He hangs deep in the crease again and hangs the bat out feebly. It took the edge and flew away at inexplicable pace towards the right of Watto at slip and he does real well to bend down and pluck it low. On second view, it was more a full length ball than a yorker. Still, unplayable. 96/6
|
| RW Chakabva | lbw b Krejza | 6 | 21 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| 27.2 Regis perishes to a strange shot, trying to pull a length ball tossed up around middle and leg. He may have played forward to it, he should have played with a straight bat. Instead, he stayed back and looked to pull. It gripped and straightened, whizzed past the bat and thudded into the area above his bent back knee. Plumb. 104/7
|
| P Utseya | c Ponting b Hussey | 24 | 52 | 45 | 1 | 0 | 53.33 |
| 39.2 caught at midwicket. Utseya leans forward to play the ball on the leg side and ends up lobbing it nice and slowly towards Ponting at midwicket. He has a hurt pinky but that was a ridiculously easy catch 153/8
|
| AG Cremer | c †Haddin b Johnson | 37 | 51 | 51 | 4 | 0 | 72.54 |
| 42.4 132.5 kph, caught behind! Johnson slants a good length ball across Cremer, giving him some width. Cremer chases it, playing away from his body, and gets an edge which Haddin catches by diving low and to his right 167/9
|
| RW Price | not out | 5 | 25 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 26.31 |
| |
| CB Mpofu | c †Haddin b Johnson | 2 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 18.18 |
| 46.2 138.8 kph, caught! And that's the end of the game. Johnson pitches one closer to the batsman around off stump and gets it to straighten ever so slightly. Mpofu pushes forward at it and gets an edge which Haddin takes pretty easily. 171/10
|
| Extras | (b 4, lb 9, w 3, nb 2) | 18 |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| Total | (all out; 46.2 overs; 190 mins) | 171 | (3.69 runs per over) |
| Fall of wickets1-22 (Coventry, 5.4 ov), 2-40 (Taibu, 10.3 ov), 3-40 (Taylor, 11.2 ov), 4-44 (Ervine, 12.3 ov), 5-88 (Chigumbura, 21.2 ov), 6-96 (Williams, 24.6 ov), 7-104 (Chakabva, 27.2 ov), 8-153 (Utseya, 39.2 ov), 9-167 (Cremer, 42.4 ov), 10-171 (Mpofu, 46.2 ov) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
|
|
| SW Tait | 9 | 1 | 34 | 2 | 3.77 | (1nb, 2w) |
|
| 11.2 to Taylor, 137.4 kph, bowled him! Taylor tried to work the ball on the leg side from his crease and closed the face of the bat. He missed and Tait sped the ball through and grazed the pad before uprooting middle stump. Nothing special, just straight, fast and very effective. 40/3
24.6 to Williams, 144.7 kph, Tait's blown Williams away with 144.7 kph of unplayable pace. Almost a yorker again, from wide of the crease from round the wicket, homes the guided missile in on the line of off stump. Williams has played back to everything, think he'd make a good playback singer. He hangs deep in the crease again and hangs the bat out feebly. It took the edge and flew away at inexplicable pace towards the right of Watto at slip and he does real well to bend down and pluck it low. On second view, it was more a full length ball than a yorker. Still, unplayable. 96/6
|
| B Lee | 8 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 4.25 | (1nb, 1w) |
|
| 5.4 to Coventry, 138.4 kph, this was a likely dismissal. Coventry was edgy against the short ball and tried to pull this one from outside off stump. The top edge swirled high in the air and the ball descended in the region of silly mid-off, where Lee was waiting to take the caught and bowled 22/1
|
| MG Johnson | 9.2 | 2 | 19 | 4 | 2.03 |
|
|
| 10.3 to Taibu, 136.1 kph, he's given Watson some catching practice at first slip. Taibu tried to guide the ball towards third man by opening the face but the line of the short of a length ball was far too close to the body. He ended up steering it off the face towards Watson's right. He bent swiftly to take a low catch 40/2
12.3 to Ervine, 137.4 kph, Johnson bowls a full, fast and straight ball that thuds into Ervine's pads as he tries to play across the line and falls over a touch. Johnson roars an appeal but Asoka de Silva is unmoved, again. Haddin is adamant that it should be reviewed. Replays show that it's pretty plumb. Thank goodness for the UDRS today. Asoka's had a shocker. 44/4
42.4 to Cremer, 132.5 kph, caught behind! Johnson slants a good length ball across Cremer, giving him some width. Cremer chases it, playing away from his body, and gets an edge which Haddin catches by diving low and to his right 167/9
46.2 to Mpofu, 138.8 kph, caught! And that's the end of the game. Johnson pitches one closer to the batsman around off stump and gets it to straighten ever so slightly. Mpofu pushes forward at it and gets an edge which Haddin takes pretty easily. 171/10
|
| JJ Krejza | 8 | 0 | 28 | 2 | 3.50 |
|
|
| 21.2 to Chigumbura, 86.9 kph, Elton's gone. Krejza throws this up well outside off and he goes for the lap-sweep. Too ambitious, he had to bring that around from a long way off, and ended up getting gloving a top edge that popped up on the off side. Haddin runs across and pouches it, then hurries back to effect a stumping, just in case. Elton was already walking away though. 88/5
27.2 to Chakabva, Regis perishes to a strange shot, trying to pull a length ball tossed up around middle and leg. He may have played forward to it, he should have played with a straight bat. Instead, he stayed back and looked to pull. It gripped and straightened, whizzed past the bat and thudded into the area above his bent back knee. Plumb. 104/7
|
| SR Watson | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2.33 |
|
|
| |
| SPD Smith | 5 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 4.80 |
|
|
| |
| DJ Hussey | 4 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 3.00 |
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment