They failed to make it to the final of the first Twenty20 competition in 2007, and were knocked out in the first round of the second edition, yet the Aussies have come back strongly to stake their claim as the favorites to win the third Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies.
Champions of the one day arena since 1999, the Australians were expected to rule Twenty20 Internationals as well, but they took three years and several beatings to make it big. They, famously for Zimbabweans and surprisingly for Aussie supporters, lost a thrilling encounter in the first edition, but they seem to have knocked out the match from their memory. Their preparations for the mega event were dealt a huge blow when they lost Brett Lee ahead of the tourney, and also lost to Zimbabwe in the warm up match. But since then, under the tremendous leadership of Michael Clarke, the Aussies are as unstoppable in Twenty20 as they are in the other formats of the game.
They played India on Friday at Barbados, and were all geared up to avenge the defeat in the semi final of the first Twenty20 World Cup, which India won eventually. David Warner and Shane Watson were at their demolishing best, blasting sixes and fours at will, and taking the score to 100 in the 10th over. The Aussies faltered in the last 4 overs but managed to post as many as 184 runs on the board for the loss of 5 wickets. Three years earlier India had posted 188 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in that eventful final, thanks to 70 runs by Yuvraj Singh.
With No Adam Gilchrist, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Andrew Symonds, Brett Lee to support them like the champion team of 2007, Australia began their defense under Michael Clarke who was present in that match along side Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson. They got extra help from the new guys on the block, including Dirk Nannes and Shaun Tait, who took 3 wickets each, David Hussey who took two catches besides scoring a 22-ball 35, Craig White who took the catch to dismiss Murali Vijay, Steven Smith who accounted for the Indian skipper, David Warner and Shane Watson who besides blasting half centuries fared well during the chase as fielder and bowler respectively.
In that semi final of 2007, Australia fell short by 15 runs, and they had set their mind on dismissing India for a margin bigger than that, if they were to avenge that defeat. The revenge they took was better than expected, making the victory sweeter. Chasing 185 to win, they reduced India to 12 for 2 in the third over, dismissing both Murali Vijay and Gautam Gambhir. The in-form Suresh Raina, the first centurion in this format for India, and the explosive Yuvraj Singh then went in successive overs, leaving India at 23 for four by the end of the fifth over. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja were back in the pavilion by the 10th over, and all hopes were fixed on Rohit Sharma who batted with a cool head and scored an unbeaten 79. He got support from Harbhajan Singh, the only other batsmen who managed to reach the double figures, and India were bowled out for 135, losing the match by 49 runs which is three times more than the margin Australia lost their semi final in 2007.
India had the services of Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Joginder Sharma, Sreesanth and RP Singh in that match, people they badly missed today. Unlike the last time when India earned a victory, Gautam Gambhir ended on the losing side this time around, as did Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Harbhajan Singh.
So is this a turnaround hint of something bigger, more important? Does this mean that the Indian domination on the Twenty20 cricket is as good as over, and that the mighty Aussies are gearing up to conquer another dimension? Only time will tell, although the pundits believe that the Cup might go Down Under!
Tags: