Australia have joined co-hosts New Zealand in the final of the ICC World Cup. This is the second consecutive time that both the co-hosts have reached the final and it will be interesting to see if New Zealand will be able to do to ‘big brother’ Australia what Sri Lanka were unable to do to India in the last World Cup final.

The toss was always going to be vital more so for India than Australia and when Michael Clarke won it and opted to bat first India needed to restrict the Australians to a score under 300 if they had a chance of getting in the final. That didn’t quite happen as Mitchell Johnson hit a quick fire 27 in just about nine balls and took Australia to a score that had never been surpassed before in the semi-finals of the World Cup.

Before that it was sensible batting by Steve Smith and the out-of-form Aaron Finch that laid the foundation for Australia’s innings. Steve Smith has been a thorn in India’s side throughout this summer in Australia and in this last encounter too he was the one who thwarted India’s ambitions of retaining the cup. He got a brilliant hundred and along with Finch ensured that India did not get early wickets. Finch had not scored a half-century since the hundred he scored in the inaugural game of the World Cup against England but he was willing to bide his time and give more of the strike to Smith who was batting fluently. After Smith got an inevitable century, Finch also perished and when Michael Clarke and Maxwell fell in consecutive overs India would have had thoughts of containing the Aussies to under 300. That didn’t quite happen as Johnson swung his bat merrily and the momentum swung back Australia’s way.

AUSTRALIAN paceman Mitchell Johnson jubilates after cleaning up Indian opener Rohit Sharma.—Reuters

India needed a hundred-plus start from their openers and they nearly got it till Dhawan lost patience and went for a shot which wasn’t there and holed out in the deep. Then Kohli on whom so much depended tried to macho his way out and perished attempting a pull shot even though he had just come in to bat and had not got used to the bounce. It was poor shot selection and the match now was Australia’s to lose.

Ajinkya Rahane and Dhoni had a partnership but it was not enough and Rahane disappointed playing another of those steers that ended up in the hands of the wicket-keeper for the third time this world cup. Dhoni knew at that stage that it was all up to him for Raina had a poor game in the Sydney Test match and sometimes these kinds of things stay in the mind.

In the end the better team won but India did squander its chances. This team was a young team not as experienced as the one that won the last World Cup. It was a credible effort alright but the end result was disappointing.

By Special Arrangement for Dawn

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2015

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