NEW DELHI: How and when Australia imploded?
Second question first. By then, they were 95/3. Not comfortably placed but still in the game. It was the fourth ball of the 26th over. Southpaw Ravindra Jadeja fired a quick flatter delivery (100kph). On 35, Labuschagne couldn’t keep it out as the ball stayed low and rattled his stumps. The visitors lost three more wickets in the next ten balls with the score remaining intact. Once that happened, it was only a matter of time before they folded. And that is exactly what happened as they could add only 18 runs to get dismissed for 113. For those interested in numbers, Australia lost eight wickets for 28 runs in just 74 balls.
Now the first question. How? Six batters from Australia’s playing XI got out playing either the sweep or the reverse sweep. Agreed, their opener Usman Khawaja top-scored for the team in the first innings playing those kind of shots but not it did lead to his downfall in both innings.
On a deteriorating Day three pitch with low bounce on Sunday, sweeps and reverse sweeps became Australia’s most-preferred options which ultimately proved suicidal. While Steve Smith and Matthew Renshaw were trapped before the wicket, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins and Matthew Kuhnemann were cleaned up while attempting expansive sweeps. “Both games were disappointing, this one in particular. We were ahead in the game and that doesn’t happen often in India. This loss hurts,” said Cummins. Speaking of the sweep shot, he said “We need a review on what could have been done differently. (On batters getting out to sweeps) everyone controls their own game, some balls just have your name. But we need a review on the shot choice, did we do things right or not.”
Counterpart Rohit Sharma, however, believed sweep was not the best shot to play on the Delhi strip. “We were playing in Nagpur on red soil and here we were batting on black soil. Here the sweep was not a very good option, stepping out to the spinners was probably the safer option. That is my view,” he said after India won the match by six wickets.
The India opener, who scored 31 off 20 before getting run-out after a mix-up with Cheteshwar Pujara, also emphasised on the importance of technique and preparations. “You need technique to defend as well as attack, including the shots down the ground, sweep and reverse sweep. On pitches like these, it is very important to have confidence in your own technique.”
Earlier, the day started with Cummins and Co. holding an edge over their rivals with a 62-run lead. Had they extended the lead to around 200, they had a realistic chance of levelling the series 1-1. Notably, India have chased more than 200 in a fourth innings only twice at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
Unfortunately for them, the batters swept their way to self-destruction as the team was bundled out in 91 minutes, 29 minutes before lunch in the first session to let the opportunity slip out of their hands. Once again, it was the duo of R Ashwin and Jadeja, who turned out to be their tormentors. The spin-bowling all-rounders claimed 16 (match tally) of the 20 wickets to fall. It was Ashwin who started the proceedings but Jadeja ended the madcap procession by castling the last man Kuhnemann to finish with two career-best hauls of 7/42 (for the innings) and 10/110 (for the Test).
WTC Final race
In regards to qualification for the ICC World Test Championship final, Australia remain atop the standings despite the defeat reducing their percentage tally to 66.67%. India (64.06%) widened the gap between themselves and third spot.