India 205 for 5 (Rohit 92, Hazlewood 1-14) beat Australia 181 for 7 for 24 runs (Head 76, Arshdeep 3-37, Kuldeep 2-24)
Rohit’s mischief
catch it and get punished
However, Australia played straight into Rohit’s hands. For example, Stark kept moving forward all the way. This is one of his jobs. Try to find a swing. Try to break the stump. But at the Darren Sammy Stadium, it was the wrong length. Josh Hazlewood showed the way there. He bowled only twice in his entire spell and both were yorkers. Every other ball was on the length or slightly shorter and he finished with 1 for 14. Rohit was invited to play the front-foot shot 24 times and scored 71 runs, which included seven sixes and fives in his eight overs. His seven fours.
Rohit’s shots
Out of the 11 overs in which Rohit was out, six overs went in double digits. He was playing the way he plays when he is unbeaten on 200 runs in ODI cricket. Got down on one knee and hit a slog sweep off Pat Cummins, who had come into this game with back-to-back hat-tricks, for a six that echoed off the stadium roof. Coming down the track like water flowing off a cliff – so devastatingly smooth – to smack Marcus Stoinis over extra cover. Trying a version of Scoop but ending up with a version of Pull – new addition to the playlist. The bottom line was that whatever he was doing was working for him. Even the defensive effort to cover was such that Australia misfielded and gave away the second run.
stark’s recovery
While Rohit was at the crease, India hit 10 fours and 10 sixes. After his fall, they could only handle nine combined. Starc deserves credit for this. He came back in the 12th over, changed his angle around the wicket to deny Rohit the freedom of his arms, and although he still went full, this time he picked up the pace and it made a huge difference. . The bat could not touch the ball and the stumps remained broken. Starc’s slower ball also dismissed Suryakumar Yadav right in the middle of his masterclass, scoring runs in a way that doesn’t always make sense. Cummins, once again, was the unfortunate recipient as a ball that was close to the wide line ended up being a home run to the square-leg boundary.
India played 21 balls without a boundary between the 15th and 18th overs, but still managed to get a finishing kick as Hardik Pandya hit three sixes in the last two overs to take the total past 200.
early lead
David Warner fell in the very first over of the chase and now there is a risk that his 6 off 6 could be his last international innings. However, Australia still has batsmen who are capable of commanding their positions. Mitchell Marsh hit two fours and a six in an over off wicket-taker Arshdeep Singh and Head did an even better job of dismissing Jasprit Bumrah at the length he prefers to bowl with the new ball. This allowed India to plan the B-Yorker and under pressure, he missed one and bowled a full toss. Australia ended the powerplay at 65 for 1, five runs better than India. Marsh’s power game and incredible knack for clearing Head’s front leg and somehow opening up large areas on either side of the outfield had flipped the script.
Akshar’s sensational catch
India needed something special and it came in the form of Axar Patel. He was a few yards away from the fence at deep square leg, which looked like a mistake considering that Marsh was on strike. The slog sweep flew off his bat. even. difficult. Sure to go for six. One support staff member was even hiding for cover out of fear that he might hit Fielder. But Akshar did not allow this to happen. He jumped up, went for it with both hands, and got it with his right. This was one of those things that had to last and it did. Every one of his teammates ran towards him to celebrate that wicket. Contrary to the run of play, the partnership of 81 runs was broken in 48 runs.
Kuldeep’s intervention
Glenn Maxwell was busy denying the lead that India got due to the quality of his spinners. He saw that Ravindra Jadeja had nobody on the boundary at third man and that is why he reverse swept, which meant he was hitting with the turn, but against the wind, when it was so strong that basically Hardik could have been taken away. He was running to bowl, which created a big problem. Maxwell’s wrists somehow overpowered him. He looked dangerous. Probably enough to compete with Kuldeep Yadav. So he attacked India’s wrist spinner and was bowled. That googly should be framed on a wall somewhere. This messed with Maxwell on many levels. It was slower than he wanted. It was smaller than he needed. It changed in exactly the opposite direction. And this damaged his stumps. The dip on that ball was everything.
India suffered two setbacks in the next three overs, one of which was Bumrah hitting the head with his off-cutter. 53 runs were needed from the last 18, but the best Australia could do was reduce the margin of defeat.
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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