Sachin Tendulkar turned in the sort of one day performance on Wednesday of which only he is capable, single-handedly defeating Australia in Dhaka with a magnificent century and four wickets. If the innings wasn't enough, his bowling underlined that he is more than just a good player, and has the capacity, like so many of the players that stick in the memory, to take wickets with very ordinary deliveries.
Australian captain Steve Waugh, speaking after the game, refused to give Sachin all the credit for the win, citing loose Australian bowling and poor shot selection. He had a point, but you couldn't help feeling that someone should have given him a copy of the script before the game. This was Sachin's day and the biggest and most excitable crowd of the tournament so far loved every minute.
There were a couple of surprises in the two teams, most notably, Australia opted to omit paceman Glenn McGrath in favour of Michael Kasprowicz. India's line-up was as expected, with Sunil Joshi winning the nod over Nikhil Chopra for the second spinners spot.
The Australians won the toss, and elected to field. With Sourav Ganguly taking strike, it was Damien Fleming who opened the attack for the Aussies. Waugh set himself at short square cover, apparently planning to entice Ganguly to drive outside the off stump, as he loves to do. What transpired was quite the opposite. Kasprowicz pitched short of a length on leg stump, and Ganguly looked to glance fine. Too fine, as it turned out, and a diving Adam Gilchrist pulled off a spectacular one handed catch. India 7 for 1.
Next in was the Indian skipper, Mohammad Azharuddin, and for him Waugh reverted to two men in the slip cordon, but with the addition of a third catcher at short mid wicket. Two balls later, Azharuddin was trudging back to the pavilion, umpire Steve Bucknor having raised the dreaded digit in response to Fleming's appeal for lbw. Azhar was beaten by a ball coming back off the seam and trapped in front. The ball may have been doing too much, but the scoreboard at the end of the third over read eight for two.
But as it later proved the Australian's early breakthroughs was merely an entrée, as the main course was about to arrive. Tendulkar began to take a liking to the bowling of Kasprowicz, producing one destructive square cut which beat not one, not two, but three men who were positioned in the point region for precisely that shot. He played just as well off his legs, and when Kasprowicz strayed onto his leg stump, the Indian opener sent the ball rocketing to the mid wicket fence with just the slightest flick of his wrists. It was really remarkable to see how early Tendulkar seemed to pick up the length of deliveries, and he controlled the ball as if on a string, sending it to whichever point on the ground took his fancy.
Waugh introduced Julian who, though he bowls with all the co-ordination of a pre-pubescent, kept the batsmen on the back foot with consistent line and length. Dravid, playing foil to Tendulkar, was unable to get him away at all. But 43 for 2 after ten overs, Indian were well on the way to recovery and it was the cue for the batsmen to let rip. Kasprowicz returned at the other end, replacing the valiant Fleming, but off his very first ball, Rahul Dravid played perhaps the shot of the tournament, when he leant into an exquisite cover drive, almost down on bended knee - it was four before he even played the stroke. Dravid, long under pressure from fickle Indian supporters for his slow scoring, was now beginning to open up, and off the fourth ball of the over he played a lovely straight drive back down the ground which almost bettered his previous shot.
After Tendulkar had reached his 50 off just 46 balls, spin was finally introduced, in the form of Brad Young. Tendulkar played him watchfully at first, showing off an immaculate defensive technique. But it wasn't long before Tendulkar was on the attack. In the 25th over, Tendulkar charged down the wicket to the first delivery, and lofted it over long off. He mistimed the stroke completely, but it still carried well clear of the boundary. As if to atone for his error, he veritably smashed the following delivery back over the bowlers head for another six, and then switching to the other extreme, he played an exquisite late cut down to third man for four as India raced to 142 for two after 25 overs.
Young was replaced by Julian, as Waugh struggled to keep control of proceedings, and almost immediately, the move had effect. It wasn't quite what the Australians wanted, but Sachin Tendulkar gifted them a wicket when he ran through for an impossible single, leaving Rahul Dravid to dutifully play the role of sacrificial lamb. Tendulkar has always spoken out about enjoying batting along with Jadeja, and as he shook off the dismissal, the two batsmen started to piece things together once again, their running between the wickets being particularly effective.
As Sachin approached his century a hushed murmur in the crowd gradually grew into a buzz, and then further into a steady applause accompanied by chants of ``Sachin, Sachin'' as the Indian approached his century. On 99, Tendulkar pushed Lehmann out to long off, and before he had even completed the single which brought up his third successive one day hundred against Australia, the 40 thousand people packed into this stadium were on their feet, letting off firecrackers, and applauding an innings of the highest quality.
The Indian 200 came up in the 37th over. Tendulkar and Jadeja began to slowly look to accelerate, now being very positive in their search for the boundaries, and treating the crowd were treated to a remarkable array of strokeplay, Tendulkar playing a rasping square drive off the back foot from Fleming, and Jadeja delightfully late cutting the spin of Brad Young. Jadeja brought up a well deserved half century, made in even time in the 40th over. In the next over Sachin gave himself room and picked the ball off middle stump, sending it into the stands. Jadeja wasn't too far behind either - off the penultimate ball of the over he came down the track and nonchalantly eased Lehmann back over his head. Six more, and India were 252 for 3 after 42 overs.
Desperate situations call for desperate measures, and with nobody else to turn to, Steve Waugh recalled Michael Kasprowicz, who had suffered at the hands of Tendulkar earlier in the afternoon. It was Jadeja who was on strike, and when Kasprowicz's first delivery turned out to be a long hop outside off stump, Jadeja pulled it over mid wicket, one bounce over the boundary for four more. The burly paceman was clearly rattled, and lost control of his bowling completely. Wide after wide followed, and the angst was all too clearly written over Steve Waughs face as a total in excess of 300 loomed ominously.
All good things have to come to an end, and so it was with Tendulkar's innings. It was of little surprise that it happened off the bowling of Julian, and perhaps even less surprise that he fell victim to a run out, Kasprowicz's throw from the outfield just beating him home. Worse was to follow for India though, when later in the same over, Jadeja was dismissed in much the same manner. India ended the over with two new men, Robin Singh and Ajit Agarkar, at the crease, with the score on 286 for 5. Singh edged to the keep shortly after, followed by Joshi, as a combination of wild batting and poor running saw the Indians reach only 308 when their earlier progress had promised more.
Gilchrist, opening for Australia, set out his stall early trying to get after the ball from the first over. In no mood to defend, he was waving his bat threateningly when the bowlers ran in. His aggression almost got the better of him - a diving Singh dropped him at cover off Agarkar's first ball. It would have been a great catch, but was a miss nonetheless. Gilchrist made amends five balls later, cutting Agarkar's fifth through point with a powerful cut.
Mark Waugh's approach was a little more circumspect, selecting his shots with a little more care than his partner. Srinath gave him his first opportunity to breach the boundary rope, gifting him a long-hop which Waugh belted through the square leg boundary. Agarkar never really found his line all day, and Waugh made light work of a few loose deliveries, glancing a legside delivery for four, and driving him through mid wicket in his third over.
Gilchrist's luck finally ran out in the 8th over. Two balls after the opening pair had reached the 50 partnership, he was clean bowled trying to drive Srinath through the covers.
Azhar brought on Joshi and Kumble, but neither could find any consistency and offered Australia easy ones and twos. Having got as good a start as they could have wanted, the Australians settled down to stroke the ball around the outfield. Joshi was extracting no turn from the pitch, and had to rely on variations of flight and pace to keep the batsmen on edge. Just as they had done with Sachin Tendulkar earlier in the afternoon, the crowd gave Mark Waugh a rapturous applause when he worked Kumble behind square on the leg side for two to bring up his half century.
The Australian total reached 100 in the 20th over, but with the run rate mounting slowly, there was a lot of work still to be done.
A brief cameo from Singh, who looked out of his depth on the flat track, prompted Azhar to turn to his batting maestro, Tendulkar. In his first over, he turned the ball sharply enough to beat the bat a couple of times, and one horrendous wide apart, conceded just 4 runs. But it was Joshi who got the breakthrough, pitching the ball up on middle stump and bowling Ponting trying to hit across the line. Julian, averaging only 6.5 in ODIs (though this, to be fair, was only his fourth match), was the surprise inclusion at number four for Australia. Captain Steve Waugh had clearly cast him in the pinch hitter role. Almost stumped off a Tendulkar delivery in his second over, he he set about Joshi in the next over, belting him for a massive six over long off and then driving him for four the next ball to the same area.
Joshi had clearly been earmarked as the whipping boy, but, as is so often the case in one day cricket, expensive slow bowlers are usually good for a wicket or two when batsmen swing across the line. Waugh, eager to get after him, swung across a straightish ball, got an inside edge, and Mongia took it cleanly, stumping him. Soon after Julian holed out, having scored 20 off 16 balls to the recalled Srinath and Australia were looking in trouble.
Waugh came in himself at number five, and Lehmann at number six. Both batsman were trying to play strokes but were struggling to time the ball. Azhar's decision to bring back Tendulkar for Kumble was a manifestation of India's lack of bowling options, rather than a stroke of tactical genius. But Azhar fans would be forgiven for thinking it was the latter, because Waugh came forward to Tendulkar's second ball and pushed it back into the bowler's hands.
Tendulkar's next wicket came off the fifth ball of the 39th over when he clean bowled Bevan with an unremarkable yorker. Lehmann was still having trouble timing the ball. After failing to clip a ball off his legs, Agarkar angled a ball across him right at his feet at umpire Bucknor, after the traditional pause, adjudged him leg before. It was a marginal decision at best, but Lehmann looked unlikely to be a match winner for Australia in any case.
Now riding on a wave of confidence, Tendulkar saw fit to mix up the bowling in the next over, bowling an offspinner, leg spinner and seamer in succesive balls. The game was in danger of becoming a Sachin Tendulkar exhibition match. With the run rate required now at 10.7, Australia could not afford to be shy in coming forward, but both right handers continued to play the sweep, which never looked likely to effect the change in pace they so badly needed. Kasporwicz was run out in the off Tendulkar's bowling attempting a second that was never on. With Australia needing 51 runs off 20 balls Azhar sent the four men to the boundary ropes for the new batsman, as India waited for the inevitable victory. Young swung gamely but with little effect, and finally holed out to Tendulkar, caught Dravid. No prizes for guessing the man of the match.