Tag: India

Cricket: Mean Johnson inspires Aussie win

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Mitchell Johnson returned to his aggressive bearded best on day four of the second Border-Gavaskar test in Brisbane with an emphatic display of angry seam bowling that temporarily reduced India to 117/6 and ultimately delivered a four wicket win.

The match didn’t follow the obvious theme established in game one.  In fact India were at several times in significant positions of strength before either gifting Australia back the momentum or having it wrestled back by Mitchell Johnson.

The imploding version happened initially during their first effort at bat.  After surviving a sweltering hot first day to finish on 311/4 the Indians struggled on day two, giving away their next six wickets for the addition of just 97 further runs.  The wickets of Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhonia and Ravichandran Ashwin undid Murali Vijay’s sensational effort of 144.  Only tiredness managed to dislodge Vijay when he lost concentration and tried to hit Lyon out of the ground.  The same couldn’t be said for the rest of the order as they lost their advantage to Josh Hazlewood and looseness.

Despite the collapse, the tourists were still in control as Australia failed to impress in their first innings.  They themselves fell to 247/6, still 161 behind.  Cue Johnson the batsman to rescue the situation and thrash the questionable short pitch bowling tactic.  Johnson had already been reminded that he had taken few wickets in the series (and none in the first innings) which appeared to spurn him on.  His response was to remind the Indian batsmen how few runs some of them had scored as he tore into the Indian attack for 88.  His role was the aggressor in a partnership with century maker and first time captain Steven Smith, who continued his fine form for 133.  Even Mitchell Starc (52), Nathan Lyon (23), and Hazlewood (32) got in on the action to rub salt into the fast bowlers’ wounds – Australia led by 97.

India survived the night – comfortably reaching 71/1.  However, Shikhar Dhawan couldn’t bat in the morning after taking an unpopular knock in the practice nets, leaving Virat Kohli just five minutes to try and settle into his work.  He couldn’t and India lost the plot to a menacing Johnson.  His morning spell was worth 3-14 and in truth was the winning of the game.

A target of just 128 was never going to truly test Australia, and even though they did lose six wickets getting there, that was in a final session that drifted in a lazy manner until the end, rather than any great Indian bowling.  Chris Rogers guided the chase skilfully outlining his benefit to Australia in a range of conditions.  He backed up his first innings 55 with a second 55 to ease any nerves in the Australian camp.  Steven Smith narrowly took out the man of the match award from Johnson and Hazlewood for his third score in the series at a crucial time.

Once more the game could easily be classified as times of fight vs. times of one-sidedness.  We fear now that most of the fight may have left the Indians as they resign themselves to another overseas whitewash.  That and their inability to take twenty wickets means they’ll struggle in the rest of the series.  Unibet agrees with their just updated series odds below:

Series Odds*

Australia 4-0 – $2.20

Australia 3-1 – $5.50

Australia 3-0 – $3.5

Australia 2-1 – $12.00

Australia 2-0 – $13

Drawn 2-2 – $21

*Series odds from Unibet.

Australia 505 (Smith 133, Johnson 88) and 6 for 130 (Rogers 55) beat India 408 (Vijay 144, Rahane 81) and 224 (Dhawan 81, Johnson 4-61) by four wickets

Cricket: Smith leads Australian team full of changes

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The Gabba is the new WACA as far as Australian cricket pitches go.  It’s full of pace, bounce, and for the Indian batsmen, fear.  Fresh from a modest paced and decidedly easy batting surface in Adelaide the Indians now face a much sterner test on the more bowler friendly Brisbane strip.  The surface is expected to be much more like the surfaces the Indian batsmen have historically struggled on; the recipe is the WACA from 2012 where India were bundled out for 161 and 171.

That puts India on the back foot immediately, but there could be silver linings in the return of their inspiration leader and the vast number of changes to the opposing side.  Both sides have new captains at the helm for game two; one with all the experience under the sun, and the other with zero – thrust into the spotlight as the third youngest captain in Australia’s test history.  If Steven Smith’s batting is any indication as to captaincy ability, he’ll be fine, but the World will be watching in earnest as to whether he can command the respect of senior players like Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Warner who all would have had their own captaincy ambitions.

MS Dhoni certainly commands respect and he’ll also bring a more conservative game plan to his teams approach; he’ll likely be a little more defensive / pragmatic than Virat Kohli.  The Gabba surface won’t only favour the home side; Ishant Sharma, Varun Aaron and Mohammed Shami could find assistance in the bouncy deck if they pitch the ball up and don’t get carried away bowling short stuff.  They will, however, need to bowl a much tighter line to David Warner if they don’t want the game to get away from them in the first session again.

The Last Time These Two Met

Game one will go down in history as an absolute classic, not only for the emotional ties to Phillip Hughes’ but also for the scintillating individual performances.  Two players scored hundreds in both innings (David Warner and Virat Kohli) and Steven Smith scored an unbeaten hundred followed by an uneaten fifty.  Then there was Nathan Lyon.  In fairness Australia were the better side through most of the game and will take more momentum and confidence into this one.

The Teams

Australia: 1 Chris Rogers, 2 David Warner, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Shaun Marsh, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon.

Injuries to Michael Clarke and Ryan Harris sees Shaun Marsh and Josh Hazlewood given a chance to prove their wares.  Marsh is well tested at this level and should suit the lower order more than his previous struggles at 3.  Exciting quickie Josh Hazlewood earns his baggy green on the back of some impressive one day form.  Mitchell Starc replaces the ineffective Peter Siddle in the other change.

India: 1 M Vijay, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 MS Dhoni (capt,wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Varun Aaron, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Umesh Yadav.

MS Dhoni is expected to return to captain the side.  He’ll add some middle order stability that was lacking with Wriddhiman Saha in the side.  Ravichandran Ashwin is also added at the expense of Karn Sharma.

The Key Players

Steven Smith – Everything Smith does in this test will be questioned.  The toss, the bowling rotations, the field placements and his batting.  He can probably withstand the heightened attention on his batting and the quality of the Australian team should paper over any cracks in his captaincy.  Much like the coaching of John Buchanan when he inherited such a strong side nothing could go wrong.

Rohit Sharma – For someone that has two ODI double hundreds (including a top score of 264) Sharma hasn’t exactly excelled in the test environment.  Admittedly he has been in and out of the squad and also frustratingly waiting patiently for a chance while Dravid, Laxman, and Tendulkar finished their careers.  However, his record needs to improve.  He needs to kick on from the starts.  He needs a big score.

The Odds*

Australia – $1.55

Draw – $4.25

India – $5.00

*International Cricket odds courtesy of Luxbet.

The Prediction

Australia will be far to strong on the bouncy surface.  The bounce tests the Indian batsmen techniques too much and all of them are susceptible to defending with their hands and half a bat outside off stump.  Expect the Australia seamers to have a field day and win this one by an innings.

Cricket: Lyon’s 12 the difference in perfect test

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After five days of gripping test cricket Nathan Lyon’s seven second innings wickets were the difference between two teams desperate for a win in Adelaide in a match that has already been described as “perfect”.  For vastly different reasons the two supremos of World cricket needed a win.  In Australia’s case it was for their colleague, their friend and their inspiration, Phillip Hughes; four of their players, Brad Haddin, David Warner, Nathan Lyon and Shane Watson were all playing in the tragic game in which Hughes was hit.  India too had every reason to win this game.  Their horrid record in Australia needed remedying; their captain was missing and the stand-in was captaining for the first time; and they couldn’t take a backwards step against Mitchell Johnson.

The result of both team’s ambitious intentions was an amazing spectacle featuring tremendous individual performances and ebbs and flows befitting of a battle between two proud cricketing nations.  The match culminated in a final day where each of the three results were possible.  Chasing an unlikely 364 for victory India set about their task diligently initially, and then later aggressively.  Viral Kohli and Murali Vijay were the stars sharing a 185 run partnership that sent both sets of fans to the edge of their seats.  They were bought together after Shikhar Dhawan had been given out caught behind in what looked like only chest, and Cheteshwar Pujara had become Nathan Lyon’s first victim.

Criticisms of Lyon in the past have revolved around his inability to take big wickets in the fourth innings of matches, and as the monumental partnership continued those criticisms only strengthened, despite some blatant LBW calls that should have gone his way.  However, as a win started to look possible for the tourists, Vijay inexplicably missed a straight one on 99 to open the floodgates.  From there Lyon tore through the rest of the Indian line up through a combination of accurate bowling, poor umpiring decisions, and brainless batting.  His figures of 7-152 gave him 12 for the match and delivered the win Australia were desperately seeking.

India’s last session implosion was ambitious as it was reckless.  Kohl’s aggressive attitude during his 175-ball 141 clearly rubbed off on his team as the lower order tried in vain to get their side over the line.  Kohl’s knock (or knocks for that matter – he also scored 114 in the first innings) did not deserve to be in losing efforts, but he will rue his miscue off Lyon when shepherding the tail was the more sensible option.

The generous target of 364 set by Australia was predominantly due to the loss in overs from Wednesday’s rain, and David Warners match strike-rate.  The destructive leftie amassed hundreds in both innings’; striking at 88 and 61 to give Australia the time needed to bowl India out on the final day.  He was supported by old captain Michael Clarke (128), and new captain Steven Smith (162* and 52*) who both displayed supreme confidence at the wicket.  Michael Clarke’s knock was especially brave after he entered the game with an injury cloud and left the game under a much worse career threatening injury cloud.

The GABBA hosts the second match in the series and will test the fragile Indian batting lineup, whereas personnel changes may threaten Australia’s momentum.  Both Sportsbet Australia and Ladbrokes Australia have predicted an easy series win for Australia on the back of the first up win.  Their series betting odds are:

Sportsbet Australia Series Market

Australia $1.06

Draw $14.00

India $26.00

Ladbrokes Australia Correct Score Market

Australia 3-0 – $3.25

Australia 4-0 – $3.50

Australia 3-1 – $5.00

Australia 2-1 – $6.50

Australia 2-0 – $7.00

Draw 2-2 – $19.00

Draw 1-1 – $29.00

India 2-1 – $34.00

Australia 1-0 – $51.00

India 3-1 – $101.00

Australia 7 for 517 dec (Smith 162*, Warner 145, Clarke 128) and 5 for 290 dec (Warner 102) beat India 444 (Kohli 115, Lyon 5-134) and 315 (Kohli 141, Vijay 99, Lyon 7-152) by 48 runs

Cricket: Clarke fit to lead Australia in first test

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After expecting to play the first game of cricket in the four match test series in Brisbane, all of the players will have to adjust to the new surroundings of Adelaide and the general eeriness that will linger throughout the test match.  The rescheduled match has made the side selection much easier for Australia.  If the first match did go ahead as planned at the Gabba, Michael Clarke was no chance to play.  Now he’s passed a fitness test and is playing with some serious motivation.  The chance to dedicate an innings to his “little brother” is a worrying proposition for the Indians who are without their own skipper, MS Dhoni, who is recovering from a broken thumb.

Virat Kohli, who signalled his arrival on test cricket’s World scene with a debut hundred in Australia the last time he was here, leads the team in Dhoni’s absence.  India desperately need his run-scoring ability and his slightly combative attitude to set the tone.

The Last Time These Two Met

The two teams play in vastly differing conditions and struggle when taken away from their home comforts.  This is shown in the series scores from the last times the teams met.  In 2012/13 in India, India won the series 4-0.  The same scoreline separated the sides in Australia in 2011/12.

The Teams

Australia 1 Chris Rogers, 2 David Warner, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 Steven Smith, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Ryan Harris, 10 Peter Siddle, 11 Nathan Lyon.

India 1 M Vijay, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 Wriddiman Saha (wk), 8 Karn Sharma, 9 Varun Aaron, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Mohammad Shami.

The Key Players

Michael Clarke – The mental strength required for Clarke to play in the first test of the summer should not be underestimated.  Following a role as a pillar of the country in the wake of Phillip Hughes’ passing, Clarke has taken to all his support roles with consulate professionalism and respect.  He’ll be hoping for similar strength from his dodgy hamstring to help him get through the first cricket test of the series.  He’s a key player to see if he has anything remaining in the physical and mental tank after his impressive effort just to be available.  He’s at $4.50 to top score for his side at Unibet.

Ajinkya Rahane – Rahane is quickly becoming India’s go to cricketer.  The diminutive yet correct right hander has been in rich vein of form of late and has already been touted by opposing players this summer.  After their match against the Cricket Australia XI, bowler Josh Lalor commented that Rahane “looks probably the most settled of their players at the moment”.  He’s paying $6 to top score in the first dig.

The Odds*

Australia – $1.63

India – $7.50

Draw – $3.20

*International Cricket odds courtesy of Unibet.

The Prediction

History tells us the Indians struggle in Australia and this series should be no different.  Without captain MS Dhoni it is expected the tourists will struggle to take 20 wickets and concede large totals.  That leaves too much to do for their batsmen, and considering the likes of Dravid, Laxman and Tendulker have not been able to save them in the past, we see this one going the way of the Australians.

International Cricket Catch Up

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Plenty of International Cricket to sink the teeth into.  Check out the quick version of each series below:

New Zealand v Pakistan

Australia came to Abu Dhabi, saw Younis bat, and got royally conquered.  Now it’s New Zealand’s turn to experience the formidable Pakistan batting unit, that has settled in on the Abu Dhabi pitches like a homeless man at an affluent street corner.  The first test is already underway, and has essentially already been decided.  The top five for Pakistan all made over 80 for the first time in Test cricket; they made 566/3d.  But Luxbet still has them at $1.75 and $2 on the draw.

New Zealand batsmen traditionally struggle against quality spin bowling, and while the Pakistan duo (trio if you include Mohammad Hafeez) are relatively inexperienced, they dismantled the Australians, and will extract plenty of venom from a pitch already turning and bouncing.  New Zealand’s best players of spin are Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor who entered this game with some injury concerns which has limited their batting time.  This will increase the susceptibility of a big defeat and may also mean others get the opportunity to shine.  BJ Watling is an excellent player of the sweep shot and looks a good bet for top runscorer for the Black Caps.

Look for spinners to dominate the leading wicket-takers for the rest of the series if you can find series betting.  Pakistan 2-0 with New Zealand scraping a draw in the last of the International Cricket three match series.

Australia v South Africa

International Cricket is also in Australia at the moment as South Africa and Australia fine tune their World Cup preparations with a (recently completed) three match T20 series (won by Australia, 2-1) and five ODI’s.  While the B sides battled it out in the hit and giggle version of International Cricket, the ODI’s will be a much sterner test for both sides and I’m picking this to be a mightily close series.  The Aussies need to bring some respectability back to their summer game after the aforementioned spanking at the hands of Pakistan.  Whereas the South Africans were very strong against New Zealand in a hasty three match series played before they crossed over the Australia soil.

Bet365 have instilled Australia as $1.66 series winner favourites with South Africa paying $2.20.  In the personal stakes, Michael Clarke looks a great top run getter options at $6.  Faf du Plessis looks sensible at $4.50.  Draw permitting this could well be a World Cup Final next year so I’m expecting some high quality cricket and high scores.  The big grounds and flat pitches in Australia are conducive to quality one day cricket.

India v Sri Lanka

Filling in for the West Indies, who inexplicably pulled out of a partially completed Indian tour, the Sri Lankan’s have found it difficult to compete with the star-studded Indian line-up.  Already two down, the tourists will need something special to contain the likes of Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dawan, Ambati Rayadu, and Ajinkya Madhukar Rahane.  That said, the resting of MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan and Ravindra Jadeja will give Sri Lanka a chance to salvage some pride.

The Indian batting lineup has been far too dominant early in this series and their bowlers have had the uncanny knack of starting with very early wickets.  That combination makes it hard to suggest any other winner than India.  Sportingbet Australia are offering odds on this International Cricket match.  They have India at $1.42, Sri Lanka at $2.85.  If Robin Uthappa gets a go in the last two games whack a couple of quid on him to top score.  He’s paying $7.50 to do so in the 4th ODI.

Zimbabwe v Bangladesh

Our International Cricket roundup finishes in Chittagong.  The 3rd test looms as another one-sided contest.  In Tamin Iqbal, Sahib Al-Hassan, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh have the best players on display and will again be too strong.  Don’t look to back any individual players who are not the four listed above.

Betfair Australia has Zimbabwe as rank outsiders at $7.40 for the third test.  Bangladesh are at $1.69.  The draw is actually quite attractive at $3.55.