Australia certainly were the deserving winners. Now the attention will shift to the final of the World Cup, where Australia will take on their Trans-Tasman rivals, New Zealand, at the MCG. Players from both sides will strive to bring out their ‘A’ game as they look to lift the coveted trophy.
India took a slew of wickets in the slog overs. However, James Faulkner, Johnson and Shane Watson struck meaty blows to take them to an imposing total. Umesh Yadav was one of the few bowlers, who made his mark for India. Umesh bowled aggressively and his effort bore fruit as he took four wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin too proved his mettle by bowling a fine spell during the middle overs and took the prized scalp of Glenn Maxwell.
Earlier, runs flowed smoothly from Smith’s bat as he washed away the challenge of facing up to a fine bowling line-up with aplomb. It was his magical wrist-work that flummoxed the bowlers. Smith rolled his wrists to nonchalantly find gaps on both sides of the wicket. He reached his century in style with a boundary off Mohammed Shami. Aaron Finch didn’t exactly touch glorious heights with the bat, but showed resolve and a singular aim to succeed to stitch a 182-run partnership with Smith.
MS Dhoni played with spirit and spunk, but he had too much to do. For a brief period, Ajinkya Rahane gave Dhoni the much needed support. However, once Mitchell Starc came back into the attack to produce the wicket of Rahane, the match was all but over. If Johnson was their go-to-man to take wickets in this crucial game, then Starc and Josh Hazlewood, bowled with superb control to keep the opposition on their toes. Even when Shikhar Dhawan came out all guns blazing, Hazlewood kept it simple by maintaining line and length and hitting the splice of the bat. Australia’s fielding too was usually on the money.
After Steven Smith’s century underlined his stamp of authority on the proceedings, the bowlers put up a thoroughly professional performance to take Australia to their seventh final in World Cups. It was Mitchell Johnson, who bowled with venomous pace and a fiery spark to snare the key wickets of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He dismissed Kohli with a fine bouncer that was bowled across him, with Brad Haddin taking the catch. Johnson then castled Rohit to give Australia the upper hand.
India started their tour in early December with a loss to Australia and finish their tour with a loss against the same opposition. In between, they beat all opponents, barring Australia and England. With this loss, India’s 11-match winning streak in World Cups has been ended. The fireworks go up at the SCG as the Australian fans wave the national flag in the stands. Clarke claps his hands and thanks the crowd. Maxwell talks to Umesh as the players walk off the field. Clarke is emotional and is seen crying, probably he remembered the late Phil Hughes, who was hit by that fatal bouncer at this very ground.
#IndvAus Australia in the final at the MCG on Sunday
