TVS Cup Final: Kolkata set for India, Aussie clash, from NDTV Options

[Pradeep]

As India takes on Australia in the finals of the TVS Cup tri-series on Tuesday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, all eyes seem to be on the local favourite, the Prince of Kolkata, Sourav Ganguly.

The Indian skipper will have to undergo a fitness test on Tuesday morning before he is declared fit to play.

Kolkata, which witnessed one of the best Test matches of all time in 2001 between India and Australia, is now all set for a World Cup final rematch.

"One-day game is anybody's game. The team which plays well on that particular day wins. If we have to play well for the final, we need to do the basics right," said Indian captain Sourav Ganguly on the eve of the match.

There is a palpable sense of relief that New Zealand didn't ruin the dream final, and Eden Gardens was buzzing with crowds even for the pre-match practice session.

Keeping the crowd quiet won't be easy unless Australia win the toss and bat first.

"We are all very excited about the game and are looking forward to it. It is probably going to be a hostile environment tonight for us but we'll do our best to keep the crowd quiet," said an excited Australian captain Ricky Ponting.

Of the 17 one-dayers played in Eden Gardens, 10 have been won by the side batting first. And a day-and-night game has the additional dew factor to deal with.

India would do well to win this game since it could provide them with the confidence to reach for greater heights in the tour of Australia.

[Pradeep]

Australia lift TVS Cup in Kolkata : Source

Tuesday, November 18, 2003 (Kolkata):

Australia have won the TVS Cup tri-series defeating hosts India by 37 runs at Eden Gardens in Kolkata today.

The Aussies won the toss and elected to bat and posted a score of 235 for 5 in 50 overs. Though it was a target well within India's reach, the batsmen were a big disappointment.

India were bowled out at 198 in 41.5 overs. Michael Clarke was awarded the Man of the Match award for his 44 off 28 balls and his wickets of Dravid and Badani.

Sachin Tendulkar bagged the Man-of-the-Series for his 466 runs at an average of 77.6.

Early setback

India suffered an early setback with opener Virender Sehwag caught and bowled by Nathan Bracken.

With the Australians stepping up the pressure, the Indian run rate slowed down considerably, going a little over two runs per over.

However, the 12th over was a good one for India with VVS Laxman pushing the ball to the boundary on more than one occasion.

Laxman's innings were short lived and was bowled in the last delivery of the same over by Brad Williams at a score of 22.

Sachin, Dravid make amends

From then on skipper Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar pulled up their socks to get the runs on the board for India.

The duo thrashed the Australian bowlers to the boundary alternating with quick singles, rotating the strike.

Tendulkar played some brilliant strokes pushing the ball across the ropes. But the master batsman was bowled by Andy Bichel, just five runs short of another 50.

Yuvraj Singh, who replaced Tendulkar at the crease, couldn't notch up many runs and was caught by Hayden off a Symonds delivery on 4.

Hemang Badani and Dravid did put up some runs on the board, but the partnership came to an end when Badani lofted the ball off a Clarke delivery. He was caught by Symonds on 30.

India's hopes were on Rahul Dravid, but the skipper had to concede his wicket to another Clarke delivery. He scored 42 off 65 deliveries.

Tailenders collapse

Towards the latter part of the match, Ajit Agarkar put up a solo battle against the Aussies but was let down by the batsmen at the other end. Agarkar went on to score an unbeaten 26 with two superb sixes to his credit.

Murali Kartik failed to do much, and was bowled by Ian Harvey for 1. And Zaheer Khan followed suit, bowled, again by Harvey for a duck.

A brilliant catch by Andrew Symonds dismissed Harbhajan Singh for two. Harvey also dismissed the last man, Avishkar Salvi for a duck, putting an end to any hope for India.

Catches dropped!

Though Australia won the toss and elected to bat, Indian bowlers thrashed through the top order, picking up early wickets.

The Australians lost wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist early on to a superb delivery from speedster Ajit Agarkar.

It would have been more trouble for Australia, but VVS Laxman dropped two catches early in the match. The Indian fielding was not up to the mark and as many as six catches were dropped.

Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting looked all set for a great innings but gave his wicket away to a Murali Kartik delivery. He was caught by Laxman on 36.

Soon Harbhajan Singh took over the Indian spin attack and also picked up a wicket. Andrew Symonds could not last long at the crease and was caught by Hemang Badani.

Valiant effort

Damien Martyn tried to salvage the Australian innings with the help of Michael Bevan.

But Virender Sehwag pulled a surprise and Martyn, trying to lift a Sehwag delivery for a boundary, let the ball into Yuvraj Singh's hands.

By the end of 42 overs, the Aussie top order had crumbled in the face of the Indian bowling attack.

It was then up to Michael Bevan and Michael Clarke who tried to put up a competitive score on the board.

Though the Indian bowlers tried to restrict the Kangaroos, a quickfire 44 by Clarke took the Aussie score to 235 at the end of their innings.

Teams:

India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik, Hemang Badani, Avishkar Salvi.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Michael Bevan, Ian Harvey, Andy Bichel, Brad Williams, Nathan Bracken, Michael Clarke.

[Anil4]

Kudos to Ajit Agarkar for superbly bowling out Gilchrist and then for his 2 sixes.

[p1j]

[Pradeep]

Can't really blame our players. You know.. they are so busy with commerical shoots.. hardly they get time to practise..