By Abhishek Roy, IANS
Vadodara : World Champions Australia crushed India by nine wickets in the fifth one-day international here Thursday to take an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the seven-match Future Cup series.
Opting to bat first, India were all out for 148 runs in 39.4 overs and in reply, Australia achieved the target of 149 in 25.5 overs after losing just one wicket at the Reliance Stadium here.
The stadium has been a happy hunting ground for the Indians and the stage was set for master blaster Sachin Tendulkar to celebrate his 400th ODI appearance.
But the mood was soured by Australian left-arm tearaway Mitchell Johnson, who decimated the famed Indian batting with his 5/26 in his quota of 10 overs. Johnson’s figures were the best ever by an Australian in India and he was rightly adjudged the Man of the Match.
Brett Lee claimed two wickets while Brad Hogg and left-arm pacer Nathan Bracken picked up one wicket apiece.
Australian vice captain Adam Gilchrist later joined the party as he found form with an unbeaten 79 (77 balls, 7x4s, 4x6s) and safely guided the World Champions home.
Gilchrist was going through a very bad phase but his innings Thursday sounded a warning for the hosts as two matches still remain in the series. It was also a busy day for Gilchrist behind the stumps as he was involved in six dismissals.
As they came out to bat, Australian openers Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden (29) might have been surprised by Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s decision to open the bowling with off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
It was a ploy by Dhoni to slow down the pace of the game but it was just a matter of time as the Australians selected their shots well and spanked the Indian bowlers all over the ground.
The openers added 54 runs before medium pacer Rudra Pratap Singh finally broke the partnership when he rattled Hayden’s stumps.
Skipper Ricky Ponting joined Gilchrist and the duo had little difficulty in completing the formalities with 24.1 overs to spare.
Earlier, Dhoni had little hesitation in opting to bat after winning the toss because the average total at this ground by a team batting first has been 280.
The famed Indian line up, however, collapsed like a pack of cards in front of a packed stadium for a paltry 148 runs. This is the lowest total ever at this ground and erased the previous low of 181 by the West Indies earlier this year.
As the wickets kept falling, Tendulkar’s patient knock of 47 off 73 deliveries saw him emerge as the top scorer. It was a great delight for the some 15,000 spectators to watch the batting maestro time the ball sweetly.
Tendulkar’s innings was decorated with nine boundaries. He played a few sublime strokes and caressed a few boundaries through the covers.
It took a deadly delivery from Lee to get rid of Tendulkar in the 26th over. A good-length ball moved a bit and this was enough to beat Tendulkar, who edged a simple catch to Gilchrist behind the stumps.
Tendulkar was also involved in the highest partnership of the Indian innings as he and local hero Irfan Pathan (26) added 49 runs for the sixth wicket. Pathan joined Tendulkar in the middle when half the side was back in the pavilion for just 43 runs in the 10th over.
Towards the end, Zaheer Khan (28) and Rudra Pratap Singh (12 not out) put on 41 for the last wicket. These two partnerships, as also Tendulkar’s knock, ultimately helped India cross the three-figure mark.
The Indian collapse started from the first over itself after Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid failed to open their accounts and returned to the pavilion after the fourth and fifth balls respectively.
Ganguly was run out after Tendulkar failed to respond to a risky single and in the very next delivery, Dravid departed after Lee trapped him leg before.
India clearly had to pay a heavy price for indiscretion as the bastman failed to assess the surface. Yuvraj Singh (1), Robin Uthappa (5), Murali Kartik (0), and Dhoni (4) all failed to negotiate Johnson’s swing and went down tamely.
SCOREBOARD:
Fifth One-day International, India vs. Australia, Future Cup, Reliance Stadium, Vadodara, Oct 11
India:
Sourav Ganguly run out (Hodge/Gilchrist) Sachin Tendulkar c Gilchrist b Lee 47
Rahul Dravid lbw b Lee 0
Yuvraj Singh c Gilchrist b Johnson 1
Robin Uthappa lbw b Johnson 5
Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Gilchrist b Johnson 4
Irfan Pathan c Gilchrist b Johnson 26
Harbhajan Singh c Bracken b Hogg 5
Murali Kartik c Gilchrist b Johnson 0
Zaheer Khan c Gilchrist b Bracken 28
Rudra Pratap Singh not out 12
Extras (b 4, lb 6, w 9, nb 1) 20
Total (all out in 39.4 overs) 148
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Ganguly, 0.4 overs), 2-5 (Dravid, 0.5), 3-12 (Yuvraj, 3.5), 4-33 (Uthappa, 7.1), 5-43 (Dhoni, 9.2), 6-92 (Tendulkar, 25.3), 7-105 (Harbhajan, 26.6), 8-106 (Pathan, 27.4), 9-107 (Kartik, 29.1)
Bowling:
Brett Lee 9-0-42-2 (1nb, 4w)
Mitchell Johnson 10-0-26-5 (3w)
Brad Hogg 9-1-28-1
James Hopes 3-0-13-0
Nathan Bracken 8.4-0-29-1 (2w)
Australia:
Adam Gilchrist not out 79
Matthew Hayden b Singh 29
Ricky Ponting not out 39
Extras (lb 1, w 1) 2
Total (for one wicket in 25.5 overs) 149
Fall of wicket: 1-54 (Hayden, 12.5 overs)
Bowling:
Harbhajan Singh 9-0-36-0
Zaheer Khan 3-0-23-0
Murali Kartik 7.5-1-52-0
Rudra Pratap Singh 2-0-15-1 (1w)
Irfan Pathan 2-0-11-0
Sachin Tendulkar 2-0-11-0
Result: Australia won by nine wickets, take 3-1 lead
Man of the Match: Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Ameesh Saheba (India)
TV umpire: Suresh Shastri (India)
Match referee: Chris Broad (England)