By IANS,
Sydney : “India is a team of stellar batsmen carrying the expectations of an emerging nation of 1.2 billion people who feel their time has come.”
This is how The Australian Friday summed up India’s five-wicket rout of Australia in a quarterfinal clash that sent the champions crashing out of the World Cup a day earlier.
In a match analysis titled “India too good for plucky Aussies”, writer Amanda Hodge said Australian captain Rickey Ponting was despondent after the crushing loss.
The paper, however, said that Ponting gave a measured performance in the face of a middle order batting collapse.
“But the Australian captain’s first century in 39 international games was not enough to carry his team over the line.”
The paper quoted Ponting as saying later: “India deserved their win today. It was a good combined effort by the Indian team and I think they’re going to be pretty hard to beat as the tournament goes on.”