Cricket: India Win A Thriller In Nagpur, Draw Level With Australia!

By -
George Bailey Ecstatic
India beat Australia by 6 wickets in a high scoring thriller in Nagpur today and drew level in the ODI Series. India’s much talked about batting strength clicked in the right time and with tremendous contributions from Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni prevented Australia from running away with a straight Series win. This was despite a record-breaking 156 by Australian captain George Bailey earlier. 

Team India’s persistently indifferent bowling and fielding notwithstanding, in the first 22 overs of the sixth one day international in Nagpur today India did manage to put Australia in some spot of trouble. Australia could score just 89 runs in those overs losing two wickets. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar coming in again replacing Vinay Kumar struck for the first time capturing Hughes for 13 in the 7th over. Spinner Amit Mishra coming in replacing Unadkat combined well with Ashwin and kept Australia on a tight leash. Finch fell in the 12th over to Ashwin making it 45/2. Jadeja had dangerous Watson caught, but a no-ball spoiled it all and Watson went on to complete a magnificent century (102 off 94). Australia captain Bailey then took charge and hit Ashwin for a four and a six. After that momentous over there was no looking back for Australia and they scored a mammoth 261 runs in the next 28 overs setting a target of 351 for India in fifty overs. All the bowlers, Amit Mishra and R Ashwin prominently, got hit at will and why they did not bother bowling to their field is something maybe the Indian captain himself did not have a clue about.

Aussie skipper George Bailey broke records during his brilliant 156 runs off just 114 balls. He became the only Australian batsman or captain to score the highest total runs in a bilateral series. Imagine, Bailey was selected to lead Australia just because Michael Clarke was preserved for the Ashes Series. With Watson he gave the momentum to the innings and Australia were just unstoppable. Desperate for a win to stay alive in the series India were facing an uphill task with Australian fast bowlers ready to take the opportunity to do India in and win the series straight.

Shikhar Dhawan Firing All Cylinders
Thanks to the Indian batting marvel, openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan started steadily and then crafted a brilliant partnership of 178 runs in the 30th over giving a fitting reply to the mammoth challenge. Johnson and McKay went for lot of runs with Finch taking the surprise wicket in the form of Rohit Sharma (79 off 89). Going great guns Dhawan notched up a breathtaking century, but fell exactly at 100 off 101 balls to Faulkner making it 234/2 in the 36th over. The game was still wide open as Virat Kohli who raced to his half century and Suresh Raina went about their job. They carried on in full glory adding 50 runs in less than six overs and kept the asking rate under control. At 289/2 in 42 overs India needed 61 runs in 48 balls which was quite manageable with eight wickets remaining. But in the 43rd over Suresh Raina (16 off 15) fell to Mitchell Johnson bringing the question as to why he should come before captain Dhoni in the batting order to the fore again. More trouble for India in that same over as Yuvraj Singh was bowled by a fired-up Johnson for a duck making it 290/4 still needing 61 runs in 7 overs. The game was heading for an exciting finish.
 
Man of the Match Virat Kohli
The Indian captain and vice-captain took full charge confronting an asking rate almost going beyond control. Virat Kohli, arguably a Tendulkar in the making, brought up his 17th ODI hundred off just 61 balls and finally made it 20 runs in 12 balls for a victory for India. From that position India could not possibly lose. They made it run-a-ball in the last over and achieved a magnificent and thrilling victory over Australia by 6 wickets with 3 balls to spare. Virat Kohli, match winner along with Shikhar Dhawan, remained unbeaten with 115 runs in 66 balls and MS Dhoni at 25 not out off 23 balls. Now with both teams at 2-2 the last match on November 2 in Bangalore is going to be a not-to-miss blockbuster. The Scorecard: 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Darbari Politics: Do Not Go Overboard, Mr. Kejriwal!

By -
Image
Emperors or Kings of ancient and medieval India used to have their ‘ darbar ’ or ‘courts’ to hear and address the subjects’ problems. These autocratic monarchs had full authority to decide action or punishment on the spot and nobody dared question the verdicts. However, modern Indian democracy is much more different, and Arvind Kejriwal’s brand of ‘common man rule’ is the extreme contrast with everybody having the right to ask, question or contest. Besides, Indian mob behavior is only too predictably well known. In an almost unmanageably overpopulated country plagued by unemployment and inflation the huge crowds at the employment exchanges, freebie events and public transport stations are only to be seen to be believed. And then the ‘me first’ mentality has been a constant witness to innumerable stampedes at religious places, fatal road accidents and huge traffic snarls. Having a Chief Minister within a touching distance you can lucidly imagine how desperately the crowd would b
Read more

Why No Lockdown In West Bengal Or Still No National Lockdown?

By -
Image
A stupendous election victory against the might of the national ruling party; Didi Mamata Bannerjee installed for the third term as Chief Minister of  West Bengal; and the immediate promise to take the fight against the COVID-19 virus in its deadly second wave head on. But, in the days that followed the state government had not shown any real intent to take on the promised fight, deciding only to augment a little the earlier state administration order that was announced a day prior to the counting of votes on 2 nd May 2021, to shut down restaurants, cinema halls, malls, gyms, sport complexes and so on, and to schedule the business hours of the general markets.   The order came the very day of the oath-taking ceremony, no doubt a very subdued affair due to the situation, of Mamata Bannerjee as the new Chief Minister; but, unfortunately, the new order yields precious little in terms of strict curbs or a most-preferred complete lockdown. The order follows largely the same format of the p
Read more

Indian Politics: More Cartoons Out Of The Cupboard!

By -
Image
The cartoon was first published in 1949. It was aesthetically done and genuinely humorous. Therefore, it was included in Indian textbooks meant for eleventh standard school students in 2006 to make education informative as well as enjoyable. After 63 years from first publication and 6 years from inclusion in textbooks the ‘issue’ of the cartoon rocked and disrupted the Indian Parliament on May 11, 2012. The reason or motivation seemed to be obvious—to embarrass the tottering ruling coalition further in light of impending General Elections of 2014. The cartoon involved two all-time greats in Indian history. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , popularly known as Babasaheb , donned the role of a real father of the Indian Constitution and fought tirelessly for the Dalits or the Untouchables or the oppressed all his life. Belonging to a backward caste of Maharashtra he struggled at every stage of his life to rise to eminence as a sociopolitical reformer, scholar-philosopher, writer-
Read more

"Bura Mat Suno...Bura Mat Dekho..."!

By -
Image
Long back Mahatma Gandhi advised us ‘Do not listen to bad, do not see bad and do not speak bad’ ( "Bura Mat Suno..Bura Mat Dekho...Bura Mat Kaho" !). Now in modern hyper competitive times we are helpless about the first two don’ts. And persistent exposure to the first two makes us lose the third too! We cannot help but listen to or watch an endless stream of ‘bad’—all around us from home to the streets, in the newspapers and news channels, in the television serials and in the movies and at every act we have to do like walking praying jogging or driving—everyday and every step of our existence. Such continuous barrage of ‘bad’ is fast making us speak and utter a lot of ‘bad’ too. We are becoming doubtful and suspicious of everything around us and we are learning to blurt it out freely and openly. The main ‘bad’ drive comes from politics. We are hounded constantly by all sorts of stories being hammered into us forcing us to form our opinions or go on changing t
Read more

Rajesh Khanna: The First Indian Superstar Passes Away!

By -
Image
A small town of Assam—long time ago. The town had only one movie theatre and every Friday there was a change of movies. As small kids we were always focused on the movies being screened there. On Fridays, a cycle-rickshaw covered with huge posters and fitted with a loud speaker used to roam the town streets announcing the new movie. It came to our area too and we used to wait eagerly for the spectacle.                      On a particular Friday the spectacle arrived and it announced the release of a new film called ‘ Aradhana ’ ( Worship -1969) with a brand new hero named Rajesh Khanna. We never heard about him before. Songs of the movie were also being played and we got instantly attracted. We decided to watch the movie pretty soon. But rumors of a particular song (we came to know much later that the sexy song was captured in one camera take) prevented our parents giving the green signal. They watched it first and then fortunately for us thought it prudent to allow us to go f
Read more

Cat O' Nine Tails!

By -
Image
                                                                                                                                                                                                            Neighbors'  Woe!   Non-Owners'  Cat  Vow!   
Read more

Euro Cup-2012: World Champions Spain Creates History! Italy Demolished!

By -
Image
World Champions Spain dominated the Euro Cup-2012 football Final right from the start of the match and produced a result that beat the most one-sided Final in the history of Euro Cup football when Germany beat the Soviet Union 3-0 in 1972. On Sunday the 1 st of July, 2012 Spain trounced Italy 4-0 perfectly dividing the match scoring two goals each half. Spain created history by winning the Euro Cup consecutively in 2008 and in 2012 and equaled Germany’s record of three Euro Cup wins. Spain also maintained its record of not conceding a single goal in a knockout match since 2006.  Much was expected of Italy after their terrific 2-1 victory over Germany in the second Semi Final with Mario Balotelli emerging as the new Italian hero. But yesterday Italy failed to cope with Spain’s perfectly coordinated passes, pace and persistent attack from the very first minute. In the first half David Silva and Jordi Alba scored in the 14 th and the 41 st minute while in the second half Fernand
Read more

The Auto-rickshaw Song of Bhupen Hazarika!

By -
Image
We have said earlier about Dr. Bhupen Hazarika’s songs have a strong social commitment reflecting the joyful or sorrowful times of not only Assam, but the whole of the North East India. Here is one song that aims at the total common man—the unemployed youths. After auto-rickshaws  were introduced in the streets of Assam Bhupen Hazarika wrote, composed and sang this song with his younger brother late Jayanta Hazarika in probably the late sixties to inspire the unemployed local youths not to hesitate but to go for it. The lyrics of the evergreen song go like this in English:                                                             “Driving our auto-rickshaw, we two brothers…                               Storming through the streets of Guwahati…      Me the elder brother having a doctorate…my younger brother a post graduate…                               Having to repay a big bank loan….                         From the refinery in the fat east to the University in the far west…  
Read more

Fish In Water!

By -
Image
Man wanted to know about a crucial difference. Wanted to know for a long long time. So Man asked God, 'Oh Lord! Can you please tell me the difference between your love and my love?" God smiled and replied sweetly, "My dear Son! If you insist I must tell you! My love is fish in water and your love is fish in your plate!"                                                   (Courtesy: Based on a short text message from a friend!) 
Read more

Cricket: India Beat West Indies, Tendulkar Misses Century of Centuries Again!

By -
Image
Coming good after the drubbing in England Team India managed to win the first Test at Firoz Shah Kotla ground, Delhi beating West Indies by five wickets just after lunch on the fourth day today. Incidentally this was the second highest run chase in the last innings in Indian soil. The highest successful chase of 387 runs was by India only in Chennai against England in 2008-09. No wonder, Indian slow spinning tracks always make the last innings a most difficult one for any team, particularly if Indian spinners are in action. But the win was not without a lot of drama and suspense. The Indian batting collapse in the first innings (209 runs) created a lot of uncertainties and the match was delicate balance depending heavily on a powerful batting performance by West Indies in the second innings with a useful lead of 95 runs. But thanks to the total nine wicket haul of the man of the match R Ashwin (six wickets in the second innings) the match finally turned in favor of India. The West
Read more