Power Cricket

Written by HW SquadStats

Sunday, 14 October 2007

When they really put their minds down to it, dig their heels in and gather together all their reserves of bullheadedness, playing Australia can be a bit like trying to knock a concrete wall down. You can try hitting it from various angles, you can try hitting it with your arms, legs, head, but it simply won't crack, and you will be left with an aching body and an aching mind. To bring this wall down you need immense power, the kind of power India does possess, but for these reasons and that, they just haven't been able to bring it to the table.

When Australia chose to bat first it was expected that there would be a shower of runs. Gilchrist chose to come to the party late, but when he turned up, he made good for the time lost. Australia's scores so far have been built on the strong platforms given by impregnable opening starts. This time around, Gilchrist (51 off 74) ensured that they got that start despite Hayden's absence. Ponting (49 off 44) and Gilkchrist's partnership was key because it made sure that despite the early loss of Clarke's wicket, Australia avoided the dangerous situation of having to rebuild after losing early wickets.

The second pillar that helped build Australia's mountainous score of 317 was the runs taken off Pathan and Harbhajan. In four out of the six games in the series, India had managed to lay Australia off a 300+ score thanks mainly due to tight, containing and wicket-taking spells from Pathan and Harbhajan. Today, they together conceded 116 runs off their 17 overs at an economy rate of nearly 7, as against their average economy rate of 4.5. This was the difference between a chaseable 290, and a just-beyond-India's-reach 317.

While Karthik tried to plug the leaks with a fine spell of 37 runs off 9 overs for a wicket, Sreesanth ensured that the outflow of runs continued at the other end, conceding 8 per over.

The strategy teams generally follow these days when it comes to chasing big 300+ totals is to set up a platform with a good 5.5-6 per over start with losing wickets, and then going for blazes at the end. The first part of the plan was well set up, with Tendulkar (72 off 72) and Ganguly (86 off 111) putting up a fine 140-run opening stand. The latter end of the plan was also pretty much in place, pulled off by Uthappa (44 off 28). Where they lost the plot was somewhere down the middle, slowing down a little too much around the 30th and 38th over mark, and leaving Uthappa and Dhoni with too much to do.

With defeat after defeat piling on, what India will need more than any on-field strategy on Wednesday is a serious dose of enthusiasm and inspiration from somewhere. What they will need now is strip of aspirin.

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