Adventurous cricket belonged to the Australians during the Test Series against India this summer and as a result they have reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a 2 Tests to 1 victory.
The Fourth Test in Adelaide meandered into a boring draw on Day 5 after both sides wielded the willow with considerable authority on the opening four days but India’s lack of backbone and assertiveness saw them hand the series to the Australians (officially 2-1 rather than the 2-2 result that would’ve given the Indians a reason to believe they are on the verge of challenging Australia).
Anil Kumble (admittedly down on a bowler – RP Singh and after the first few overs a batsman – Rahul Dravid) had an opportunity this morning to throw the game wide open and put the pressure back on the Australians to make a game of it in the final half of the day. But he blinked in the headlights of glory and India pottered around for a few hours of cricket with no intent to win the Test. Virender Sehwag’s 150 was impressive but he had no support from his vaunted top order teammates and the game and the series suffered as a result.
This has been the Indian’s main failure during this series – assertiveness when the game opened up. They capitulated chasing a massive total in Melbourne, then dropped their bundle in Sydney playing the ‘world is against us’ card and went from possible Test victors to a terrible loss and although they won in Perth – Australia were hardly on the top of their game and India didn’t have to dislodge Matthew Hayden from the top of the order. India played some really good cricket at times during the series and Sachin Tendulkar reminded us all why he is a Little Master after all. Even young paceman Ishant Sharma lost the plot at times with his flagrant disrespect to batsmen he’d just dismissed for 118 runs – although he bowled superbly for no luck in the preceding hours.
Australia aren’t the team that could win a Test by simply turning up anymore – losing Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and now Adam Gilchrist will have that affect – but they still have four or five of the world’s best players in their lineup, and India just couldn’t play consistent cricket to match their own big name reputation.
The series is over – Australia have won 2-1 and taken victories in 4 of the 6 Tests of the Summer – losing just the once in Perth.
They proved once again that they deserve to be the World Test Match Champions but the road ahead is getting harder now another champion has called it a day.
WARNE/McGRATH MEDAL VOTES
FOURTH TEST at Adelaide Oval, January 24-28, 2008
5 – Matthew Hayden:for 103 and 2 catches. Returned to the lineup carrying a hamstring injury and gave Australia the start they needed chasing India’s 524 1st Innings total. Made the over-hyped Indian swing bowlers look far less dangerous with a controlled innings that set the game up for Australia to seriously chase down the Indian score. His catch in the 2nd Innings to remove Mahendra Singh Dhoni was a truly spectacular.
3 – Ricky Ponting:for 140 and 2 catches. So much for Harbhajan Singh’s irresistable dominance of the Australian skipper. In the game India had to win to square the series, Singh’s heralded off-spin couldn’t remove Ponting between the time he arrived at the crease and when Virender Sehwag finally induced Ponting to play on to his stumps for 140. Considering he refused to give his wicket away despite a back complaint – it was a vital innings to ensure Australia couldn’t lose the game.
1 – Michael Clarke: for 118, 1/39 and about 4 dropped catches. His 6th Test Century was well constructed and classy, giving the Australians the upper hand in a Test that petered out into a draw on Day 5. Can’t catch a cold in the slips at the moment but he produced a great innings with the bat to help the team and that’s really what he’s in the team for… or is it just so Channel Nine can do their hourly Lara Bingle cross during a match?
WARNE/McGRATH MEDAL COUNT after Six Tests:
10 Points: Matthew Hayden (5+5).
8 Points: Andrew Symonds (5+3) & Stuart Clark (3+5).
6 Points: Phil Jaques (1+5), Michael Clarke (5+1), Michael Hussey (3+3) & Brett Lee (3+1+1+1).
3 Points: Ricky Ponting (3)
1 Point: Adam Gilchrist (1).
2007/2008 AUSTRALIAN SUMMER OF CRICKET – WARNE/McGRATH MEDALIST
Name: Matthew Hayden.
Tests:5 (2 v Sri Lanka, 3 v India).
Runs:503 (93 v Sri Lanka, 410 v India)
Average:(31.00 v Sri Lanka, 82.00 v India).
100s:3 (0 v Sri Lanka, 3 v India).
Catches: 3 (0 v Sri Lanka, 3 v India).
Warne/McGrath Votes: 10 Votes.
5 votes in 1st Test v India (124 & 47) and 5 votes in 4th Test v India (103).
The Summer of Cricket Blog will cover the Commonwealth Bank Trophy throughout February and March – looking to bestow the Adam Gilchrist Medal on its first Australian One Day International Player.