The use of feet is very important for batting. If a team has a batsman who can utilize the length and width of the crease and keep unsettling the bowlers, it’s even better. And if the top-order is speedy, firm and sturdy, it’s the best. The Australia team exhibited all of this. But the moment Steven Smith’s got out in the 35th over after scoring an outstanding century, India tried to come back strongly into the second semi-final match of the 2015 World Cup, in the packed Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
Within a span of another 25 deliveries, Indian bowlers took two more wickets to pull back Australia from a very strong position between 35th and 39th over of the match. Whenever Australia tried to drive home the advantage with some boundary shots, the Indian bowlers responded by taking a wicket. Ultimately, Australia made made 89 runs from last 10 overs to finish at a score of 328 for seven in 50 stipulated over.
After claiming 70 wickets from seven matches, Mohammed Shami and his men couldn’t repeat their previous performances on a flat SCG deck. But they did reasonably well to restrict Australia, who were looking set for a total close to 400. Towards the end of the Australian innings, Shane Watson, James Faulkner and Mitchell Johnson played some breath-taking shots to take the Australian to a commanding position. From here, India would have to bat aggressively to outplay the Aussies.
Earlier, Indian captain MS Dhoni lost the all-important toss and it was only the wicket of David Warner that gave some cheer to the Indian fans. Thereafter, it was Australia all the way till Smith and Finch were at the crease. Then, India took four wickets from 51 runs to turn the table. Thanks to Dhoni’s smart captaincy that saw those wickets coming. Even the Indian fielding was superb. There was only one dropped catch from Virat Kohli that too in the 50th over. Fast bowler Umesh Yadav was expensive, but he took the top three wickets of the Australian line-up – Warner, Finch and Smith – and his fourth scalp was Faulkner. Mohit Sharma took two wicket, but gave away 75 runs while R Ashwin was the most economical bowler for his team. Surprisingly, Shami went wicket-less in the match.
From the time Smith came to the crease, he meant business from the very first delivery he faced. His penchant for India bowlers was again at display after dominating them during the India-Australia tour. Smith completed hs hundred off just 89 balls. He also shared a very crucial second wicket partnership of 182 off 31 overs with a run-rate of 5.87 with Aaron Finch. This partnership also steadied the Australian innings and the stage was set perfectly for the rest of the batting to fire. He also kept the Australian legacy intact by standing up tall in big matches as the No.3 batsman of the team.
