After the humiliations of the Test series and the embarrassments of the T20s where Australia literally fielded a second XI, it was time for ODIs and the World Champions were raring to exact revenge. India chose to go in with PK and RVK, keeping Zak and Pathan on bench for reason known only to them. Surprisingly even Sehwag wasn’t in the playing eleven. Bowling first in overcast conditions, both PK and RVK generate movement and in general stuck to bowling the right line and length and Australians struggled to score. This pressure led to Warner and Ponting gifting their wickets to RVK and by the time rains came down, Australia was 35/2 after 11 with 40% COW. Post the delay the match was reduced to 32 overs. Wade and the Husseys made up for the lost time with some blistering innings as Indian bowlers, especially the spinners failed to maintain the pressure as Australia amassed 216/5 in 32, increasing their COW to 63%. RVK ended with 3/21 off his 7 overs. India started off disastrously as Starc picked up Sachin and Gambhir to reduce India to 15/2 after 4 with 27% COW. When McKay struck a double blow getting Kohli and Sharma out in 12th over, the writing was on the wall as India slid from 64/2 to 151 all out to lose by 65 runs.

Smarting from the bug loss in the first T20, India were bound to change something and they didn’t exactly that. Not. India went in with the same team while Australia used the game to give practice to fringe players. Their plan to change the successful opening pair didn’t work out well when PK got rid of Warner and Marsh in the 3rd over as their COW dropped from 55% to 47%. Finch and Hussey out together some partnership of sorts before another double blow rocked their innings. Hussey continued with Wade as Australia reached 91/4 after 13 with 48% COW. However their innings unraveled from there on as they lost last 6 wickets for 40 runs to be bowled out for 131 in 19.4 with 40% COW. India got off to steady start before Viru hit a full toss to cover on 23 (16). Kohli and Gambhir then diffused any hopes the Aussies had of winning with a fifty stand as India closed in on 100 runs at 93/1 after 13 with 89% COW. Kohli fell for 31 but Gambhir went on to score a century and fittingly scored the winning runs as India tasted their first win by 8 wickets with 2 balls to spare.

On a slow pitch and in heavily overcast conditions, MSD did something right. He won the toss and chose to bowl. That turned out to be the only thing the Indians did right the whole day. Wade and Warner tore in to the bowling and by the time Warner mishit one to cover, Australia had raced away to 39/1 after 4 with 55% COW. Raina, Sharma, and RVK put some check on scoring to keep Aussies at 79/2 after 10 with 51% COW. But Wade and Hussey picked up the scoring in a blistering 56 run stand as Wade notched up a fifty. Wade finally fell for 70 and Hussey for 42 as Australia posted 171/4 with 54% COW. India needed a good start but Sehwag was out for 4. Kohli and Gambhir put together a partnership and just when India looked like making a match of this they slipped from 47/1 to 53/4. Dhoni and Raina struggled to score and the pressure soon had Raina edging on to the stumps and when Jaddu holed out it was all but over. MSD’s late surge was never going to be enough as India ended with 140/6 to lose by 31 runs.

Perera’s heroics in the last match must have given Sri Lankans some hope to reclaim some of the pride. Their decision to bowl first seemed to be right as Petersen was out early. Faf, promoted up the order, batted with Smith but they struggled to score freely as the run rate remained under 5. When Faf got out they were 70/2 in 17.1 with 43% COW. But everything changed as AbD came out to bat and simply batted as if on a different pitch. Suddenly the run rate picked up and Smith also found freedom to bat freely. They brought up South Africa’s 250 in 45th over. Smith fell for 125 but AbD remained unbeaten on 125 as SA amassed 312/4 with 62% COW. Sri Lanka needed a good start and they got just that as Tharanga and Dilshan put on a fifty stand and once Tharanga fell with score on 72, Sangakkara joined Dilshan and they took the score past 100. When Dilshan was out at 119/2, the run rate was still over 6. However it did slow down as Chandimal couldn’t keep up the momentum in his knock of 20. Thirimanne and Sangakkara picked up the scoring and even though Sangakkara fell after scoring a century Sri Lanka were in a good position. A late collapse gave a twist to the game but needing 5o ff 2, Senanayake smote one for six to win it by 2 wickets.

Having lost the series, this was Sri Lanka’s chance to save some face. South Africa chose to bat first and got off to a good start as Smith and Petersen put up a fifty partnership. Once Petersen was out AbD walked out and played brilliantly along with Smith who was finally looking to regain his confidence. They took the score past 150 and just when Smith was looking dangerous he was out for 68. Ingram followed right away but Duminy and AbD kept up the pressure as SA looked set to post a 330+ score. However once these two were out Saffers were just weren’t able to accelerate as they ended at 299/7 with 57% COW. SL lost Tharanga early but Dilshan and Sangakkara kept up with the pressure with a rapid fifty stand before Sangakkara was out. Chandimal and Dilshan took the score to past 150 when Dilshan fell. Thirimane didn’t stick around too long but when Perera walked in and started laying his shots, the momentum shifted. He took apart the South African bowling attack to smash a fifty and fittingly closed the match with a huge six.

This was Sri Lanka’s last chance to keep the series alive after the first two defeats. They chose to bat first again and the openers didn’t let them down. Tharanga and Dilshan scored runs without taking too many risks and surprisingly it was Tharange who brought up his fifty while Dilshan was still reaching 30. But the stand was broken on 94 when Tharanga was out for 58. Dishan, Sangakkara and Chandimal continued the trend of getting starts but not converting them as they fell for 33, 38, and 36 respectively. A spate of run outs meant the innings never gained a momentum and it took a cameo by Kulasekara to drag them to a handy total of 266/9. Malinga had them down to 29/2 before Dilshan made it 52/3. Faf and Duminy took them past 100 before Duminy was run out with the score at 113. Faf raced past his fifty and looked like taking the match before another run out caught him short for 74. With the clouds looming on the horizon, AbD and Morkel picked up the scoring and that turned out to be the deciding factor as when the rains came pouring, SA were ahead by 4 runs by D/L calculations and hence the winners.

This was a chance for Sri Lankan team to save some face after the Paarl debacle. Put in to bat first, things didn’t look too good at 21/2 with Dilshan and Sangakkara back in hut. But Tharanga and Chandimal put together a partnership as the wicket didn’t offer much help to the bowlers. As Sri Lanka went past 100 there were hopes of them putting up a good score but Tharanga fell for 66. Chandimal continued on but middle order failed to convert their starts in to something substantial. They lacked the momentum in the final stretch as Sri Lanka ended at 236/6 with Chandimal at 92*. Smith and Amla gave South Africa a steady start but Smith again failed to make a good score as he perished for 28. Amla fell soon after his fifty but Kallis and Duminy took South Africa past 150 mark in the 35thover. With 87 runs needed in 15 overs the result seemed inevitable but Kallis fell for 37. Duminy continued to bat and the cameos from AbD and du Plessis kept the RRR in check as South Africa won by 5 wickets with 8 balls to spare.

Batting first on a good batting wicket, South Africa lost Smith early as Malinga had him pouched by Sangakkara for 6. But Amla and Kallis made the most of the flat track and pretty insipid bowling, Malinga apart, as they slowly built a steady platform as SA reached 106/1 after 20 with 52% COW. Kallis looked good for a century before he fell for 72 going for a suicidal single. This brought AbD to the crease and started the best partnership of the match as AbD and Amla batted brilliantly notching up their fifty and century respectively as South Africa was in command at 241/2 after 40 with 56% COW. 320+ seemed on the cards but once AbD fell for 52 and Morkel’s cameo was cut short, Malinga picked up a fifer to keep them down to 301/8 with 56% COW. Sri Lanka needed a steady start to chase it down but instead they found themselves at 9/5 and then at 13/6 after 8 as their COW crashed by 29% to 15%. Morkel and Tsotsobe finished with 4 and 3 wickets each as Kulasekara’s 19 ensured that Sri Lanka managed to cross the lowest ever score before collapsing to 43 all out, a humiliating defeat by 258 runs.

This time it was Hafeez’s turn as Pakistan lost first wicket early. Next two didn’t take too long and they were in a bother at 40/3 after 12 with 51% COW. Misbah and Umar once again took control and guided Pakistan to 132/3 after 35 with 57% COW before the Bangladeshi slow bowlers turned the match around ripping out the entire middle order as Pakistan were bowled out for 177 with 53% COW. Bangladesh returned the favour as Tamim fell for a golden duck before Nafees and Mahmadullah put together a stand giving Bangladesh a great chance of pulling off an upset. But once Nafees fell in the 20th, Bangladesh quickly stuttered to 72/4 and then to 85/6 after 27 with 20% COW as spinners ran riot. Kapali and Reza kept the hopes alive with a short stand but it was too good to last as Pakistan wiped the out for 119 in 38 overs to win by 58 runs.

Batting first, Pakistan’s poor starts continued as Farhat was out early. Hafeez and Younis got together and slowly but steadily gave their middle order a base as they took Pakistan to 64/1 after 18 with 54% COW before Hafeez fell for 32. Misbah, Younis and malik all got starts but like Hafeez failed to convert them in to a bigger scores as Pakistan struggled to reach 228/6 after 46 with 70% COW. In the end it took a cameo from Afridi and late charge by Umar, who scored 59, to take Pakistan to 262/7 with 75% COW. It was going to be a tough ask for Bangladesh and it got even tougher as they floundered at start to reach 19/4 after 10 with their COW down to 13%. Shakib and Nasir delayed the inevitable with a defiant stand before Shakib fell for 34 with Bangladesh at 127/5 after 42. Nasir went to score a wonderful 100 but could do nothing about Bangladesh falling short by 76 runs.

Despite the 3 changes India were firm favourites at MCA. But things couldn’t have started any more differently as they slumped to ‘1/2’. Gambhir and the perennial dead matches specialist, Tiwary, set about repair work that seemed to have bailed India out till Gambhir fell. India reached 90/3 after 20 with 51% COW. Tiwary and Kohli batted with great maturity with a century stand before Tiwary retired hurt right after his maiden century. Kohli’s innings of 80 helped India push the total to 267/6 with 60% COW. West Indies were rocked right from the start by Indian bowlers and Umpire Asnani as they crumbled to 36/4 after 10 with 30% COW. Ramdin and Pollard fought back by laying a solid platform till Asnani struck again. This turned out to be a blessing as Pollard and Russell started smashing Indian bowlers all over the park and they raced away to fifties before a run out undid it all. Pollard went to smash a century but it wasn’t going to be enough as West Indies folded up for 233 in 44.1 overs to lose the series 4-1.

COW Analysis: After the unexpected defeat in the previous match, India was expected to come back strongly. But the top order batting was a worry. On a flat pitch and small ground when Sehwag won the toss India had the chance to make up for it. It started with the decision to open with Gambhir and Viru again. 17 runs after 4 quickly changed to 63/0 off 10 and then to 149/0 after 20 as India’s COW jumped to 60%. Gambhir was soon run out for 67 as expected but Viru continued with Raina as all Indian batsmen made most of the chance to regain form. Raina fell for 55 but it didn’t stop India as Sehwag blasted his way past 150 and eventually even breaking Sachin’s record of 200 with plenty to go. Just when it seemed he would smash 250, he fell for 219 but misery continued for West Indies as India piled up 418/5 with COW of 82%. West Indies weren’t expected to make a fight of this and 59/1 after 9 quickly turned to 100/5 after 16 as West Indies’ COW dropped to 26%. Indian spinners took advantage of the pressure to pick off the batsmen as they struggled to put up a fight. Ramdin was the sole saving grace as he defied the Indian with a fighting 96 and was the last man out as West Indies were all out of 265 to lose by 153 runs.

West Indies had to win this one to keep the series alive and batting first their fate was in their hands. As has been the case, India got an early breakthrough and some tight bowling meant that West Indies were just 10/1 after 7 with 41% COW. Bravo and Samuels were going well till Bravo got injured. Samules fell after his fifty and when well set Ramdin also perished West Indies were 181/4 after 44 with 37% COW but Sammy and Russell blasted the Indian attack to take them to 260/5 with 53% COW. India started off with a horror as Sehwag and Gambhir registered golden ducks. Things went from bad to worse as India slipped to 105/6 after 21 with 42% COW. Rohit and Ashwin batted sensibly and India looked to be in control till 3 quick wickets had India crashing to 216/9 after 44 with 16% COW. Mithun and Yadav fought bravely and nearly had India on even terms before Rampaul trapped Mithun to seal a 16 run win.

West Indies lost Barath early and their misery was compounded as they slumped from 46/1 to 52/3 after 10 with 50% COW. Bravo and Hyatt put up a fifty stand before Hyatt was run out. Any hopes West Indies had of recovering were dashed when Bravo got out with WI at 156/5 after 35 with 48% COW. India did well at the end and despite Russell’s late cameo West Indies ended at 211/9 with 45% COW. India’s start was no better as there were reeling at 59/5 after 12 with 57% COW. Sharma and Jadeja fought back with nearly a century stand before 2 quick wickets saw match swing in West Indies’ favour again. Rohit and Vinay Kumar took India to the brink before both fell leaving Yadav and Aaron to score 11 off 23 balls which they managed to do to win the match for India.