Australia beat India by 24 runs

Tue, Nov 3 12:50 PM

Mohali, Nov. 2 -- The sight of Ravindra Jadeja celebrating like Cristiano Ronaldo after running out Ricky Ponting with a direct hit from the deep would in all probability be the defining moment of the Australia innings.

The beleaguered visitors were depending heavily on their skipper, who was playing fluently, and his dismissal gave India a chance to press on. India were sniffing at a chance to mop things up or at least tighten the screws on a batting order that was thin on resources because of a spate of injuries.

At three down for 123 in the 27th over, Australia had just one chance to put up a decent total after being sent in. For that, the fourth-wicket stand had to come good.

The partnership between Cameron White and Michael Hussey didn't exactly flourish but gave the team a chance to stay in the match. India did well to separate them when they were looking dangerous, just like they did when Ponting was prospering in the company of Shane Watson.

Despite that, Australia managed a total worth fighting for. And they owed it to White.

Not convincing at the best of times and awkward when it came to handling the spinners, the industrious Victorian survived, primarily because of his determination to battle it out. Like most of his teammates, he was dismissed after having got a feel of everything.

This was one of the reasons why India succeeded in restricting Australia to 250 in 49.2 overs. Relying heavily on the top-five, Australia did well in the sense that four of them came up with noteworthy contributions.

Ponting scored his third half-century of the series, Hussey missed his fourth by 10 runs and Watson and White both looked set to get more than they eventually did. The problem was, all four got out when their team needed at least two of them to stay there for a longer period.

Watson was a touch careless in dealing with Harbhajan Singh, Hussey gifted Yuvraj Singh a wicket off a long hop and two direct hits took care of Ponting and White with Jadeja's effort from deep square-leg to send back the skipper standing out. The utter dejection on the batsman's face was a reflection of the team's state.

To India's credit, they kept striking at opportune moments. Australia got off to a slow start, scoring just 37 in the first 10 overs.

Even in the days of powerplay, it was understandable because they had to preserve wickets. The plan seemed to work with the next five overs fetching 36 runs.

Ponting was the principal aggressor and tormented Ishant Sharma with some clean aerial hits.

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