Another Bevan special sees Australia through

By Vijay Lokapally

MARGAO, APRIL 6. The Indians kept getting the breakthroughs but not the wicket they wanted most - Michael Bevan.

The master of close finishes created a grand composition which was so sweet to the ears of the Aussies, the players on the field, and the fans scattered inside the stadium here. They can listen to the tune of this joyous six-wicket victory, in the fifth and final one-day International of the Pepsi Series, as they embark on the long flight back home.

It was a tough series, fought hard and bitter by the two teams and Australia deserved the honour of winning it 3-2. Not for nothing is it the reigning World champion in this brand of cricket. No man was sadder than V.V.S. Laxman, who carved his maiden one-day century, only to end up on the losing side.

`Man of the match' Bevan and `Man of the series' Mathew Hayden had significant roles to play in a contest which may not have been a humdinger but had all that ingredients which make limited overs cricket such an exciting spectacle.

Hayden gave the chase the impetus with some daring strokes against the Indian seam attack and then Bevan took over in his inimitable style, playing on merit to start with and then tending his innings in a matured manner for it to flower into a fantastic matchwinning effort.

Australia dominated but India had its moments too. The Sourav Ganguly-Laxman partnership was the strength on which India built its fight and then the bowlers stifled the opposition by claiming six wickets with Australia a good 64 runs away from the target.

But the Aussies displayed greater mental resolve and the physical fitness to cope with the adverse playing conditions. The heat and humidity was as much a challenge as the bowlers but the Australians had the right man in the middle to play the guiding role.

India appeared to have posted a total which gave the bowlers some cushion, since run-making became an increasingly difficult task in the afternoon. Endurance was the need of the situation as Australia did not relent. The ball too turned appreciably to raise the spirits of the Indian bowlers but it was the home team which showed the first signs of succumbing to the weather conditions.

Too many loose balls kept easing the pressure on the Aussies and the Indian fielding too did not match their desire to win. Weary legs conceded too many easy runs and Bevan was just the man to exploit this weakness in the opposition ranks.

Sachin picks up 100th wicket

Adam Gilchrist had belted the Indian attack in the initial stages to keep the fight open as Ganguly gained, lost, and regained the control only to be left frustrated by his erratic bunch of bowlers, with the glorious exception of Sachin Tendulkar, who, with the dismissal of Steve Waugh, took his 100th wicket in limited overs cricket.

Hayden, with his robust hitting, exposed the Indian attack and trained his guns on the most senior campaigner - Javagal Srinath. The burly left-hander mauled Srinath before getting out to a pre- determined drive. The charge by Hayden left the Indians shattered and it took some time for the bowlers to recover.

Even though Srinath snared Hayden and Ricky Ponting in the same over, the Indians had no strategy to check the flow of runs as Gilchrist and Bevan scripted the revival. It was a crucial phase and Australia snatched the advantage from India. Gilchrist too played his role to perfection with a blazing knock. He spared none and treated Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar with utter disdain.

Zaheer and Agarkar invited regular glares from their skipper and the shoddy fielding did not help the cause of the team. Wayward throws created comical situations and Yuveraj Singh failed to hit when it mattered. There was no room for dropped catches because the Aussies offered none. Bevan's masterly innings was the highlight of the match in every aspect. It had the fighting character and the manner in which he paced the innings spoke of his batting skills. He is known to bat like this, but to have batted in such daunting weather conditions with such diligence enhanced the value of his performance.

The Australians knew the pitch was likely to pose greater challenge in the afternoon and had planned their chase accordingly. The batsmen went after the bowlers in the first 15 overs, did not miss out the scoring chance in the next 15 and then had Bevan and Ian Harvey in the middle to finish the job.

The Indians, in keeping with their spirit in this series, put up a stiff resistance but the bowlers ran out of energy to press hard in the closing stages. Zaheer, Agarkar and Srinath were cut and pulled regularly, making Ganguly's job of setting a field a nightmare. Bevan and Harvey, guided by instructions from the dressing room, exploded at the opportune time to race to the target.

Some of the strokes from the blades of the Australians stood out and nothing conveyed their spirit better than that lofted on- drive for a six that Hayden played off Srinath. The innings never struggled for direction after that dashing combination of arrogance and determination.

In contrast was the Indian effort. After standing in queue for hours, many spectators missed Tendulkar's batting completely as the master fell to an injudicious shot. Those who braved police lathicharge at various entry points, scrambled into the venue just in time to catch up with the splendid performance by Laxman and the pleasing strokeplay of Ganguly, who hit his first fifty of the series against Australia.

The Indian skipper began with an edge but gained in confidence to enable the team recover from the early loss of Tendulkar. He moved his feet well and ruined Shane Warne's day by clouting him for 30 runs, including two sixes, in his first spell. He fell to a McGrath-lifter and looked with shock at square-leg umpire Subroto Porel for not declaring it a no-ball.

Laxman played himself in and came up with a fruitful partnership with Rahul Dravid. The former ran splendidly after the spate of runs outs in the earlier matches and his rousing strokeplay on the onside created enough gaps to be exploited.

The drive remained Laxman's strong point and one particular straight drive off McGrath and an effortless punch off Warne would have made the day for the purists in the stand.

It was a tired swipe that cost Laxman his wicket but it was a flawless knock which reflected the amazing level of confidence that this Hyderabadi has attained in this series. The lower half of the Indian batting came up with some spirited shots even as Steve Waugh held the proceedings under his control.

The home season may have ended on a losing note for the Indians but the quality of cricket the teams produced in the Test and one-day series did leave a lasting impression. Warm handshakes at the end of the match attempted to bury the acrimony between the teams even as the two camps heaved a relief.

It was least surprising then that the captains were glad at having earned a well-deserved break from the game. And they made no attempt to hide their joy of returning to their homes.

Scoreboard

INDIA

Sourav Ganguly c Ponting                     74
b McGrath
(83b, 9x4, 2x6)
Sachin Tendulkar c Gilchrist                 12
b Bracken
(15b, 2x4)
V.V.S. Laxman c Gilchrist b Harvey          101
(107b, 10x4)
Rahul Dravid c S. Waugh                      31
b Symonds
(45b, 1x4) 

Hemang Badani b Harvey                        7
(14b, 1x4)
Yuveraj Singh (run out)                      19
(21b, 2x4)
Vijay Dahiya (not out)                       15
(15b, 1x4)
Zaheer Khan (not out)                         0
(0b)
Extras(lb-3, w-3)                             6
                                            ---
Total (for six wkts in 50 overs)            265
                                            ---

Fall  of  wickets:  1-16  (Tendulkar);  2-121  (Ganguly);   3-218 
(Dravid); 4-230 (Laxman); 5-230 (Badani); 6-262 (Yuveraj).

Australia   bowling:  Glenn  McGrath  8-0-37-1,  Nathan   Bracken 
10-1-37-1,  Ian  Harvey 10-0-49-2, Shane Warne  8-0-62-0,  Andrew 
Symonds 8-0-40-1, Darren Lehmann 6-0-37-0.

AUSTRALIA

Mathew Hayden c Ganguly                      36
b Srinath
(41b, 5x4, 1x6)
Adam Gilchrist b Tendulkar                   76
(60b, 10x4, 1x6)
Ricky Ponting c Dahiya b Srinath              4
(4b, 1x4)
Michael Bevan (not out)                      87
(115b, 5x4, 1x6)
Steve Waugh c Agarkar b Tendulkar            17
(30b)
Darren Lehmann c Yuveraj b Tendulkar          1
(6b)
Andrew Symonds c Badani b Srinath             7
(9b)
Ian Harvey (not out)                         25
(25b, 2x4)
Extras (b-4, lb-9, n-2, w-1)                 16
                                            ---
Total (for six wkts in 48 overs)            269
                                            ---

Fall   of   wickets:  1-70  (Hayden);   2-74   (Ponting);   3-142 
(Gilchrist), 4-187 (S. Waugh), 5-195 (Lehmann), 6-202 (Symonds).

India bowling: J. Srinath 10-1-62-3, Zaheer Khan 9-0- 43-0,  Ajit 
Agarkar 6-0-45-0, Harbhajan Singh 10-0-55-0, Sachin Tendulkar 10-
0-35-3, Yuveraj Singh 3-0-16-0.

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