Australia win tri-series

Australia beat India by 37 runs in the final to win the TVS Cup tri-series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.

Chasing a target of 236, the hosts were all out for 198 in 41.5 overs.

Ian Harvey was Australia's most successful bowler, picking four wickets for 21 runs.

Michael Clarke was adjudged the man of the match for his fine 44 runs, which lifted the Australian innings, and two wickets for 37 runs.

For India, Rahul Dravid, with 49 runs, and Sachin Tendulkar, with 45, emerged the top scorers.

Australia innings

There are few teams that can be rated as favourites while taking on the rampant Australians. India are not afforded the honour either. The convincing victories by the World champions in the previous two games against the hosts certainly gave the Aussies the edge in the tri-series final.

The signs were not too ominous for the Indians at the start off the match. Skipper Sourav Ganguly failed a fitness test just before the start of play and Hemang Badani was drafted into the starting eleven. The Indians also opted to include medium pacer Aavishkar Salvi for Mohammad Kaif, and Harbhajan Singh was back after missing two games. The Aussies gave Michael Kasprowicz a rest and drafted in Nathan Bracken.

The exclusion of Anil Kumble was baffling. The Eden Gardens wicket has been known to assist spin but the Indians decided to go into the match with three seamers.

Australia won the toss and elected to bat first on a pitch expected to take turn as the match wore on. Bowling to Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden is never an easy option and considering their form against India, it certainly is a matter of great trepidation to the quicker bowlers. After Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra tried their luck in the previous two games, the responsibility was entrusted to Ajit Agarkar.

The Mumbai medium-pacer, it must be said, fared a lot better than the two left-armers. He conceded nine runs in the first over but stuck to a good line and length. It was the batsmen who had to take undue risks to score runs.

The first four overs of the innings cost only 16 runs and, for once, the Aussies were not off to a flying start. The results showed almost immediately.

Keep Gilchrist in check and he will try something out of character. But before he could do anything, Agarkar deceived him with a brilliant slower ball, bowled right up in the block hole. It hit the Australia opener's pads and crashed into his off-stump. (16 for 1)

Australia could have lost another wicket on the same score if V V S Laxman had managed to hold on to a simple chance at first slip. Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting was in next and Agarkar bowled a beautiful out-swinger to take the edge of his bat, which went straight to Laxman.

The Indian fielding left a lot to be desired in this match and this was the first of seven chances the Aussies received. Chances were dropped left, right and center. Laxman was the main culprit.

In the next over, Laxman dropped Hayden (9) at gully off Zaheer. Hayden struck the ball with power but straight to Laxman, who should have held on.

It is often said that the only way to beat Australia is to play positively and take your chances. The latter certainly does not hold true for the Indians.

Zaheer and Laxman eventually got their man. The duo combined to send Hyaden back to the pavilion. Hayden tried to force the ball through the off-side on the up but directed it straight to Laxman, stationed at short-mid-wicket, who finally held on. (32 for 2)

The next few overs saw the Aussies looking to consolidate in the face of some controlled bowling by Agarkar and Zaheer. In the tenth over, the Aussies were 48/2 and by the 15th over, the score had advanced to 78 without further loss.

After Agarkar and Zaheer were through with their first spells, Dravid opted to bring in Salvi and Murali Kartik. Salvi, playing his first game of the series, had trouble finding his length even as Kartik bowled superbly. He bowled only three overs and conceded 23 runs. Dravid did not think it necessary to bring him back into the attack.

The introduction of Kartik into the attack proved to be the turning point of the match. The spinner bowled with amazing control, literally, and had the Aussies dancing to his tune. It was he who provided the breakthrough.

Ponting knew absolutely nothing about a ball that pitched in line with middle-stump and then left him. He pushed forward and the ball took the edge of his bat and flew straight to first slip, where Laxman took a good catch.

Watching Karthik bowl with such skill makes one wonder why is he not going to Australia. Here is a bowler with the ability to beat batsmen in flight and off the wicket and we don't pick him.

Kartik's success prompted Dravid to bring on Harbhajan at the other end. And the two bowled exceedingly well in tandem. Both bowled unchanged through their ten-over spells.

For once, Harbhajan flighted the ball and results were there to be seen. The batsmen, with the exception of Damien Martyn, all had trouble against the spinners.

Martyn, though, was in superb touch. Stroking the ball with ease, he was a picture of confidence even as his team-mates pushed and prodded at the ball.

Andrew Symonds was next to go. Trying to clear the fielder at mid-on, but laying too much emphasis on the bottom hand, he scooped the ball straight to Badani, who made no mistake. (129 for 4)

From this point on, it was clear that every run on this wicket was going to be very precious. The ball was not coming on to the bat and stroke-play was difficult.

A game of cat and mouse thus ensued.

Michael Bevan was in next. With him there is always the danger of conceding six an over without even realizing. But he was hampered by a hamstring injury and used a runner [Symonds] for most of his innings.

The Indians brought in Sehwag and Badani as their third and fourth spinners after Harbhajan and Kartik were through with their spells. The duo did not disappoint.

Martyn's innings was finally brought to an end by Sehwag, as he failed to keep an attempted flick on the ground and found Yuvraj instead. His invaluable 61 off 102 deliveries was the cornerstone of the Australian innings. (170 for 5)

Michael Clarke provided a much-needed spark for the Aussies and with Bevan made sure that his team had a respectable total on board.

Clarke's 44 off only 28 balls in the slog overs helped Australia reach 235 in their 50 overs. Bevan was unbeaten on 40 off 70 deliveries.

The Indians will need to bat very well given the fact that the average second innings score at the Eden Gardens is 188.

One thing you can be sure of is that the Aussies will give every Tom, Dick and Harry who can bowl spin an opportunity to turn his arm over.

India innings

Indian openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag looked increasingly out of sorts in the face of hostile opening spells by Nathan Bracken and Brad Williams. Sehwag was sorted out by Bracken once again. In the three matches that Bracken has played against India, he claimed Sehwag's wicket each time.

Sehwag played one smashing square-drive off Bracken, but then came down late on one ball and edged it on to his pad for Bracken to run and take a simple catch (8 for 1).

With Tendulkar struggling, things slowed down. The Indian opener scored only six runs off the first 34 deliveries faced and got his first boundary, a top-edged hook shot, after facing 38 balls.

Laxman came in at the fall off Sehwag's wicket and he too looked to be struggling. But two edged boundaries off Brad Williams got things moving. He appeared to be slowly but surely finding his touch.

Williams, in particular, faced the brunt of Laxman's attack. He slammed three fours off the first five balls of the over to leave the young Australian fast bowler fuming. But Williams had the final word. The last delivery of the over kept low and crashed into Laxman's off-stump and all the Indian could do was look up in disbelief.

Williams had had a word with Laxman earlier in the innings and thus had reason to celebrate at the fall of the wicket.

Dravid's 22-ball 50 in the Hyderabad ODI put him in a very attacking mode. He started off with a superb square-drive, one of the best shots of the match. It literally blazed a trail along the Eden Gardens turf.

After the initial struggle, the `real' Tendulkar finally arrived. His tremendous resolve had stood him in good stead and now he decided to take charge.

A straight-drive, and two flicked fours off Andrew Bichel, gave the Indian innings a note of urgency as Dravid played the perfect partner. Both Bichel and Ian Harvey were being picked off with ease, and the runs kept flowing at a good pace.

The Indians were 52 at the end of the 15th over and 89 in the 20th over. 47 runs were added in quick time as the Indians set about trying to set the record straight.

But Bichel got his own back. He got a delivery to cut in and Tendulkar played all around the delivery and was clean bowled.

The left-hander has always been a tentative starter against spin and it was proved once again. He made just four before attempting to flick off-sppiner Andrew Symonds against the turn. The leading edge was superbly caught by Matthew Hayden at slip (110 for 4).

After 26 overs, Australia were 122-3 and India were 124-4. There was virtually nothing to choose between the two sides.

Hemang Badani, overlooked for the tour of Australia, kept hope alive for the Indians. Attacking strokeplay from the left-hander's blade showed that the match was far from over.

Badani started off with two fours off Symonds. And fours followed off Bichel and India looked completely in charge. He and Dravid needed to keep their wickets intact with only the tail to follow. But they failed once again.

Badani compiled a stylish 36-ball 30 and gave it away when it mattered most. The match was completely in India's favour when he went for a sweep off the bowling of Clarke. The ball took the top edge and looped to Symonds at square leg (159 for 5).

Minutes later, Clarke dealt the death blow when Dravid played on (169 for 6).

The Aussies fielded like tigers. Diving with scant regard for personal safety and saving certain boundaries. In hindsight, the dropped catches were the biggest difference between the two sides.

It surprising how the Indians, regarded as the best players of spin in the world, were unable to counter Symonds and Clarke. The part-time spinners claimed the wickets of Yuvraj, Dravid and Badani, the heart of the Indian middle-order.

Only Agarkar and the tail were left. The Aussies were struggling under the lights and the dew was really starting to become a factor, and though the top batsmen were all back in the pavilion the going was always going to be tough.

The tale of the Indian tail has always been unbelievable. Agarkar, playing extremely well and for once true to his all-rounder status, needed support for the tail-enders.

And what do you get instead?

A collapse, not unexpected, though. Very much in sync with the reputation the Indian tail-enders have made for themselves. The lack of fight is almost embarrassing at time. The last four wickets fell for 12 runs in the face of good but not exceptional bowling from Harvey.

He kept the ball in line with the stumps and the Indian tail-enders helped dismiss themselves by playing shots when all they needed to do was stay at the wicket and give Agarkar all the support they could. If India had any hope of winning the match, it lay in the all-rounder.

If the Indian team would have batted out the fifty overs, it goes without saying, that they would have most probably over-hauled the Aussie total. But they were dismissed in 41.5 overs.

The selectors' decision to play Aavishkar Salvi was baffling. The pitch supported spin, he bowled three over for 23 runs and got out for a duck, playing a shot that more than anything else reminded us of his inexperience.

Kumble's exclusion shows that on form there is no better spinner in India than Kartik. But he is not going to Australia. So are we to assume that places in the Indian team are gained on reputation rather than on form?

Many questions were raised by this inexplicable defeat.

But the old adage of `catches win matches' was proved true once again.