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Australia have always been on top of India ever since the visitors landed Down Under four months ago. Though both the teams came into this match on backs of winning streaks, Australia proved to be too good for India at the SCG in today’s second semi-final.
Opting to bat first, Clarke’s men imposed an unachievable target of 329 in the World Cup knockout fixture. Indian batsmen, unable to sustain the powerful Australian attack, fell like a pack of cards as the Aussies wrapped up the game quite comfortably with a 95-run margin. Australia will now face their neighbours, New Zealand on Sunday at the MCG for the grand finale.
Australia
Aaron Finch – 7/10
Finch must be feeling sad to miss out on a century. He did the opener’s job perfectly well for a World Cup semi final by scoring 81 runs of 116 balls, and involved himself in two valuable partnerships – with Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell.
David Warner – 1/10
The man who has the ability to take the game away from the opponents early on in the innings had a start by smashing a four and a six before he was done by a Umesh Yadav delivery, lofting a catch to Kohli. He was out for 12.
Steve Smith – 10/10
Steven Smith, who’s been in tremendrous form against India this season, plundered the Indian bowling attack at SCG again, notching up 105 runs off just 93 balls – his fourth century in ODIs. Smith lived up to the pressure of a No.3 batsman in the crunch game. He also effected a crucial DRS appeal for Rahane’s caught behind, and sent Jadeja back to the pavilion with a direct hit.
Glenn Maxwell – 3/10
Maxwell played a flash in the pan of an innings before he lost the battle to his Indian rival, R.Ashwin. Nevertheless, he fired 23 runs swiftly in 14 balls helping his team keep the momentum going for a great total. More importantly, he hit the bulls eye as he sent back the Indian captain M.S.Dhoni with an accurate run out.
Shane Watson – 2/10
Shane Watson was once again pushed down the order to number 5. He was out for 28 bowled by Mohit Sharma, caught by Rahane. Watson was expensive with the ball even in the four overs he bowled which did not result in any wickets for him.
Michael Clarke – 1/10
When much is expected of you as the captain of the number one ODI side, Michael Clarke faltered on the big stag – with the bat, and also by exhibiting butter fingers and dropping a golden chance to dismiss his Indian counterpart, M.S.Dhoni.
James Faulkner- 6/10
Filling in as a bowling all-rounder, Faulkner did justice to his role as he came in during the death overs and showed some battting prowess with a 12-ball 21. He proved the worth of his bowling arm as well by rattling off two consecutive wickets in the last overs.
Brad Haddin – 3/10
Haddin could not do much during the last few overs as he faced only seven deliveries; but, managed to hold on to three valuable catches during the secong innings – which includes wickets of India’s top batsmen, Kohli, Rahane and Raina.
Mitchell Johnson – 6/10
Written off as an epic failure in the World Cup, Johnson proved today that he’s not done just yet. He was all pumped up as he sent back Rohit Sharma after being taken for a big one; and picked the crucial wicket of Kohli with a well bowled short ball. He also played a vital knock in the last two overs of the Australian innings, striking four fours and a six, powering the team to a formidable total.
Mitchell Starc – 8/10
Australia’s most successful man with the ball continued to trouble India by bowling an amazing spell which resulted in just 28 runs in 9 overs. In a game where oppostions’ only motive is to attack, his figures speak volumes about how he contained the run flow. He took two wickets.
Josh Hazlewood- 4/10
Hazlewood wasn’t a regular in the Australian World Cup line-up as he appeared only in his fourth ODI match in the tournament. He bowled the only maiden of the match and finished off with figures of 41 runs in 10 overs. He triggered the Indian collapse by scalping the very first wicket of Shikhar Dhawan.
India
Rohit Sharma – 2/10
R.Sharma, who scored a brilliant century against Bangladesh in the quarter-finals, got off to a good start and set the Indian crowd cheering by smacking 2 sixes of Mitchell Johnson. Just after hitting the second six he was ripped off by Johnson and could score only 34.
Shikhar Dhawan – 4/10
Dhawan, along with Rohit Sharma, built a good platform for India in a huge chase. He displayed few amazing cricketing strokes and looked poised for a big innings; but threw away his wicket in a reckless fashion and paved the way for the batting collapse. He was on 45 of 41 balls when he got out.
Virat Kohli – 1/10
All eyes were on Kohli before the game began as he maintains a terrific record against Australia. Sadly though, he disappointed everyone by getting out cheaply when the team badly needed him to stay. Early on, he also dropped Haddin’s catch in the deep.
Ajinkya Rahane - 3/10
Rahane has been going through a rough patch throughout this tournament. Although he wanted to make amends in the semi final, he was gone for 44 of a brilliant DRS call from the Australians for a caught behind appeal.
Suresh Raina – 1/10
He may have scored a century in the preliminary round of the World Cup against Zimbabwe but he was far from being productive in today’s semi final. He could add only a paltry 7 runs to the scoreboard.
MS Dhoni – 5/10
World’s best finisher and India’s most successful captain tried his best to put up a fight – but all in vain. He stayed at the crease long during the chase and made 65 of 65; however, Maxwell ran him out with a meticulous throw.
Ravindra Jadeja – 2/10
Jadeja was not expensive with the ball given Australia’s massive total and finished off with an economy rate of 5.60 without taking a wicket. However, he miserably failed with the bat in a difficult run chase. He was the last recognized batsman in the Indian team who should have ably supported Dhoni.
Ravichandran Ashwin – 7/10
Undoubtedly the most economical man for India with the ball, Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers as he had impressive figures of 42 runs with a wicket in his quota of ten overs in a high scoring game. What was incredible about his spell was the way he scalped the big wicket of Glenn Maxwell just as ‘Big Show’ looked to attack.
Mohammed Shami – 2/10
Coming in as India’s highest wicket taker the tournament with 17 wickets, Mohammed Shami did not live up to his figures today as he went wicket-less, besides giving away 68 runs in 10 overs.
Umesh Yadav – 7/10
Yadav carried over him excellent form from the previous two matches and ended up knocking off 4 Australian batsmen in an otherwise dismal day for Indian bowlers. His wonderful effort did not do India much good as other bowlers seldom offered a hand. His economy rate however went for a toss as he finished at 8 per-over.
Mohit Sharma – 3/10
Mohit Sharma was never India’s go-to man with the ball in the tournament, but was bowling decently. In this match he managed to take two good wickets but couldn’t help much in containing the runs. Nonetheless, he was the most economical among the quickies.
