Key events
34th over: Australia 182-4 (Smith 68, Carey 28) Exquisite batting from Carey. Boundaries to bookend the over. First a slog sweep that was well in front of square, over a wide-mid with the man up in the circle. Then an inside-out cover drive into acres of space on the off side. He’s playing the field perfectly.
33rd over: Australia 173-4 (Smith 68, Carey 20) Some aggression from Carey, but he’s fully in control. Spots a flighted one from Varun and he stoops down to bring out the slog sweep. Absolutely smokes it over midwicket for six. Two singles elsewhere.
32nd over: Australia 165-4 (Smith 67, Carey 13) Smith plays a pretty lofted drive down the ground, all full-face and flourish, but it plugs in the grass so they settle for two. Kohli fields at deep square and throws to the non-striker’s end. Varun allows it to go towards the stumps and Sharma has to back up. Both Sharma and Kohli berate poor Varun who didn’t do anything wrong as far as I can tell. Three singles and that couple for Smith adds up to five.
31st over: Australia 160-4 (Smith 63, Carey 12) Good from Varun. A flatter googly here, a dippy leggie there, he’s a handful. Just two singles from this over. The Aussies can’t find the gaps. Lovely tight stuff from the Indians.
30th over: Australia 158-4 (Smith 62, Carey 11) Carey gets the broom out and sweeps Yadav. One is fine and finds the boundary, another is stiff and gets a single to the man at deep backward square. Smith is content to keep ticking along as he holds this innings together.
29th over: Australia 152-4 (Smith 61, Carey 6) Carey spots that mid-off is inside the circle so he throws his hands through the line and against the turn to collect a boundary down the ground. He wasn’t in complete control, nor did he time the leather off it, but got enough on it to find the rope.
28th over: Australia 146-4 (Smith 60, Carey 1) Yadav again. Just the two singles. Carey is off the mark with a single down to extra cover. Yadav then beats Smith with a quicker leg-break, almost a leg-cutter, that almost catches the outside edge.
Gervase Greene with some thoughts on those players that send tingles down the spine:
Evening Daniel/all,
Gervase Greene here, in The People’s Republic of Clovelly (Sydney’s east).
Isn’t it odd how the (for want of a better term) X-factor Player determines the drama and pulse of a game? Even Indian supporters, I’m sure, and certainly non-aligned fans would have sighed when a flying Travis Head went relatively early this evening, against the flow of the game.
Equally, I was by no means the only Australian to see Mitchell Starc bowl Brendan McCullum in the first over of that 2015 ODI World Cup.
Hardly a profound thought, I guess, but there was never a fan with more than a faint cricketing pulse who ever wanted to see Baz, Virenda Sehwag, Glenn Maxwell or Rishabh Pant go early. And imo Trav is very much in that company.
Cheers,
27th over: Australia 144-4 (Smith 59, Carey 0) Jadeja was gifted the wicket of Inglis after Smith punched him down the ground for six. That was some cricket and made possible by disrupting Jadeja’s length with some nifty footwork earlier in the piece. But, just like the Labuschagne wicket, Jadeja bags a breakthrough as a partnership started gathering pace.
WICKET! Inglis c Kohli b Jadeja 11 (Australia 144-4)
Soft! Just as the partnership was gathering pace, Inglis spoons a tame shot straight to Kohli at short extra cover. Perhaps it held up in the pitch, but that was a weak attempt at the back foot drive. Neither forceful nor watchful and he pays the price.
26th over: Australia 133-3 (Smith 51, Inglis 8) Lovely batting from Smith who brings up his fifty. First a crunching pull off a rare drag down from Varun brings him four, then a flowing cover drive adds two more to reach the milestone.
25th over: Australia 125-3 (Smith 44, Inglis 7) Jadeja hurtles through his work. No risk of a slow over rate fine when he’s operating. Four singles means his figures after six overs are 1-23. Smith is looking for gaps but the field is perfectly set so there’s no danger of coughing up a boundary.
24th over: Australia 120-3 (Smith 42, Inglis 4) Shot Smudge! Varun gets it too full and the skipper unfurls a gorgeous cover drive that skips along merrily to the rope. Three singles elsewhere. I won’t win any cricket analysis awards for pointing out that Smith is the key man here for Australia.
23rd over: Australia 113-3 (Smith 37, Inglis 2) Labuschagne whacked Jadeja for four off the first ball with a lovely sweep in front of square, but the bowler would have the last laugh. Flatter, skiddier and angled with the arm, he trapped him plump in front. A review wouldn’t have saved him either. Inglis collected two singles off his first two balls. Big job here for the ‘keeper.
WICKET! Labuschagne lbw Jadeja 29 (Australia 110-3)
Trapped in front and Marnus goes without a review! Jadeja, who else, gets the breakthrough. Wicket to wicket, this one skids on with the arm and beats the attempt to flick it towards midwicket. Marnus asks Smudge if it’s worth a review. The senior man doesn’t think so and that’s the third wicket.
22nd over: Australia 106-2 (Smith 26, Labuschagne 25) Shami returns and beats Labuschagne with hist first ball off a good length. A single brings Smith on strike and he charges Shami in an attempt to knock him off his length. Shami drops a sharp return catch, but that was hardly a chance. It was hit so firm that I’d say he had a 5% chance of holding that with his left hand. Smith then falls to his bum as he attempts to paddle one over the fine leg who had come up, but there was no contact. A great return from Shami. Just one run as the rune-rate dips to 4.4 an over.
21st over: Australia 105-2 (Smith 36, Labuschagne 24) A maiden from Jadeja who beats Smith with a beauty outside the off-stump.
20th over: Australia 105-2 (Smith 36, Labuschagne 24) Labuschagne gets lucky as a top edge off a slog sweep lands between two fielders in the deep and he comes back for a second. No luck from the second slog sweep. That screamed off the middle of the bat and cleared the rope for six. Fifty partnership up alongside the team 100.
19th over: Australia 96-2 (Smith 35, Labuschagne 16) Jadeja is just such a quality cricket. Bats, fields, and here is bowling some beautiful miserly spin. Smith chips a couple over midwicket and runs hard for two. Then he squirts a couple more off his pads. A crisp drive keeps him on strike with a single off the final ball.
18th over: Australia 91-2 (Smith 30, Labuschagne 16) Labuschagne shows his class with a deft late cut that took the ball from Rahul’s gloves and found the boundary towards deep third. Axar has his head in his hands as it was off the outside half of the bat, but Marnus was in full control.
17th over: Australia 84-2 (Smith 28, Labuschagne 11) Jadeja into the attack and in a flash he’s through his over. Two singles as he’s darting wicket to wicket testers. Brilliant bowling from the Indians.
Gary Naylor agrees:
This is very high class bowling indeed. In a T20I, I suspect you would barely notice it as the slogs would get the score to 130-4 or 120-7 off 15 overs almost regardless. But 50 overs means that each ball must be played on its merits and we see not just the skills in each delivery, but also in how overs are constructed. Worth keeping this format.
16th over: Australia 82-2 (Smith 27, Labuschagne 10) Axar needs to take a break after this and is headed up the tunnel. He hurt himself fielding off his own bowling. Six singles off that over means it’s an improvement for the Aussies, but India have them right where they want them.
There’s a break in play as Axar receives some treatment after landing awkwardly on his neck while fielding.
They were going to take drinks anyway after this 16th over.
Time for some emails:
Ramprasad Sridhar:
Morning Dan,
Trust you are well.
I agree with Colin. You would be surprised to see India being asked to back out of the tournament or forfeit their points vs matches in Pakistan. This is not the first instance that ICC hasn’t taken any stance against India but this has gotta stop.
Hope you have a nice day
Deepak Puri:
Rather this than India travelling to Pakistan and something bad happening which would lead to a wave of violence across S Asia. And I’m not sure the tourney would have gone ahead without India’s presence.
Btw, it feels horrible, doesn’t it, when a nation leverages its power to the disadvantage of other nations. Many of us know that feeling.
Vasu Chaurey:
Thing is though, this mess is self inflicted. The ICC has done absolutely nothing to for cricket in associate nations, or to diversify the avenues of income. It was happy to let the big boys call the shots and pocket the revenue from showcasing the same big ticket series and tournaments – this is never a good idea as it leave the door open for one/a few to get more influential than the organising body.
Sadly there’s so many similarities with FIFA/UEFA allowing government intervention (in a roundabout way, but still). No one did anything when state ownership started, or when it breached regulations. And now we have Qatar threatening to pull projects from France if PSG is punished, the Spanish Supercopa being held in the Middle East, world cups in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and a team under investigation for financial foul play winning 6 out of the previous 7 Premiership titles. The Super League isn’t far off from being real.
Food for thought…
15th over: Australia 76-2 (Smith 24, Labuschagne 7) Lovely tight stuff from the Indian spinners. Wicket to wicket means there’s no room to free the arms. Marnus works a couple off his pads and then nearly chops on after a late cut catches the under edge of his bat. A single gets him down the other end.
14th over: Australia 72-2 (Smith 23, Labuschagne 4) The ball hits the stumps but the bails stay put! A maiden over but it could have been more as Smith gets himself in a tangle, meets the ball with his pad and watches it dribble onto the stumps. But the bails don’t budge. The ball before there was half a chance for a run-out, if only the man at short fine leg could collect cleanly. A maiden over. pressure is building.
13th over: Australia 72-2 (Smith 23, Labuschagne 4) Varun is mixing it up, both out the hand with a couple of wrong-uns and sliders, as well as through the air with his pace. Must be a nightmare to face. They’ve got twpo catchers in for Labuschagne, one at a very straight short mid-on and another at short midwicket. Three singles off this over.
12th over: Australia 69-2 (Smith 21, Labuschagne 3) They’re content to be watchful for the time being. Just three singles off this Axar over. Tight lines and not too much flight means it’s not easy to get away.
11th over: Australia 66-2 (Smith 19, Labuschagne 2) Spin at both ends means we’re racing through the overs. Three singles off this one. Two for Smith who is now in a cap.
10th over: Australia 63-2 (Smith 17, Labuschagne 1) Another change as Axar joins the party. Smith watches one ball and then launches him down to a vacant long-on for four. A single off the last ball keeps the skipper on strike.
9th over: Australia 58-2 (Smith 12, Labuschagne 1) Success in his first over for Varun as he gets the big fish of Head who decide to take on the new bowler’s first ball. Why didn’t he give himself some time to set? Smith flicks a couple and Marnus is off the mark with a back-foot punch down the ground.
WICKET! Head c Gill b Varun 39 (Australia 54-2)
The bowling change does the trick! Varun’s spin comes into the attack and Head takes him on but doesn’t get enough wood on the drive down the ground. Instead it spoons up and it’s catching practice for Gill running in from the rope at long-off. Soft dismissal you have to say.
8th over: Australia 53-1 (Head 39, Smith 8) Head comes down the track and nails a straight drive for six off Yadav. Lovely swing of the bat and perfect timing. Great shot. Yadav then ups his pace and skids it off the deck, forcing Head to hang back in his crease. A couple of wrong-uns has Head in a bit of discomfort, but he survives.
Shami is off the field receiving treatment. Something’s up with his left foot.
7th over: Australia 47-1 (Head 33, Smith 8) After an uncharacteristically slow start, Head is in the groove. A delicious whip through midwicket for four and a single to short fine leg means he’s batting at 128 currently. Smith gets his first boundary with a lofted pull that trickles to the rope on the leg side. 11 off that over. Australia back in business after the early wicket.
Vasu Chaurey makes a valid point on where we should place the blame:
Just want to understand what BCCI is supposed to do here? It’s not the BCCI who’s refusing to go to Pakistan, it’s the government disallowing it. If they withdraw from the tournament, it’s viewed as throwing a tantrum when things don’t go their way. The onus is on the organizing body to refuse such requests. Yes, yes – “that will never happen since India generates revenue” – and the blame for this imbalance should fall squarely on ICC.
The BCCI is doing it’s job – it’s the ICC who’s failing at theirs.
My 10 cents is that the BCCI is now very clearly a branch/tool/muscular arm of the Indian government. Also the ICC knows who butters its bread.
6th over: Australia 36-1 (Head 28, Smith 3) Spin early doors and it’s Yadav with his tricky left arm wrist spin. Smith is up to it, swatting a single down the ground first up. Four more singles across the over as Yadav finds his range. This is the earliest he’s come into the attack in an ODI since 2017.
Ian [no last name] points to hypocrisy by nodding to history:
In prior times, teams who refused to play games in countries they had issues with defaulted the game (e.g. New Zealand not playing in Kenya at the South African World Cup).
The same should have applied to India this time around, but we all know that they now own the game. Sad times.
Quite.
5th over: Australia 31-1 (Head 26, Smith 0) Head has been unleashed. Rare width from Shami allows him to crack a back-foot scythe through cover for four. A lucky inside edge almost takes out his leg stump but instead adds four more to his tally. Then a lovely cut shot screams past backward point.
4th over: Australia 17-1 (Head 12, Smith 0) The first boundary of the innings is one of pure belligerence from Head. Pandya slightly over pitches and the Aussie throws his hands at it and smashes it down the ground for four. Then a flick of the wrist and the ball is arcing over the fine leg boundary for six. A scampered single to backward point and two wides means it’s a handy haul for the Aussies.
3rd over: Australia 4-1 (Head 1, Smith 0) Lovely from Shami from round the wicket, angling into the left-hander and getting it hold its line after pitching on a full to good length. Connolly kept looking for width that isn’t there and eventually feathers one behind.
WICKET! Connolly c Rahul b Shami 0 (Australia 4-1)
Inevitable! After three consecutive swishes and misses outside his off stump, Connolly gets the faintest outside edge and has to go. Shami had him on toast, forcing some poor strokes away from his body as he was rooted to the crease. Not great batting to be honest. Lovely bowling and Shami is on the board.
“India running the cricket world”
That’s the punchy (and accurate) title of Colin Gould’s email:
How fair is that whilst Pakistan is supposedly hosting the Champions Trophy India gets to play all its games in Dubai, including the semi final and the final (if they win the former).
Every other team (Australia included) plays all their games in Pakistan (unless they had a match against India). Dubai is NOT Pakistan and the conditions whilst maybe similar are surely a huge advantage to the team (ie India) who have played ALL their games there.
If India was not prepared to play in Pakistan then they really should have withdrawn from the competition. This precedent might well be replicated in the future but I doubt any other country will get the favourable treatment that India has been accorded.
I agree it’s not fair. In theory India should have been told to stay at home, but that was never going to happen.
2nd over: Australia 3-0 (Head 1, Connolly 0) Pandya from the other end and he’s got it skidding through. Head hasn’t quite worked out the pace of the deck, first jumping at a lifting ball on his hips, then swishing at a pull shot that shoots just over his stumps. Apart from a wide down the leg side, Hardik is on the money with a string of dots to the fidgety Head.
1st over: Australia 2-0 (Head 1, Connolly 0) Shami was millimetres away from the early breakthrough. Just mistimed his attempt at a return catch, palming it round the post as opposed to pouching the leading edge off Head’s bat. Head collected a single from a full blooded drive that was well stopped in the covers. Connolly swiped and missed at one. Apart from the wide up front, it was a tidy start with the ball.
Dropped off the first (legal) ball!
After bowling a wide first up, Shami found the leading edge of Head’s blade and it spooned back down the pitch. Shami stuck a hand out but couldn’t hold on.
Anthems done, Australia’s openers are suited and booted, and we’re almost ready to get going.
Shami with the ball. Head will face up first.
Not a brilliant crowd so far, but it’s still early on a work day.
Once they do start filtering in, I imagine they’ll be wearing blue kits.
Australia clearly think it’s going to turn.
They’ve switched the seamer Johnson for the leggie Sangha. Even Connolly at the top of the order gives it a tweak.
India team
Rohit Sharma was in two minds as to bat or bowl first, so he says he doesn’t mind losing the toss.
He’s also downplaying the ‘home advantage’, arguing that the pitch has behaved differently every time. It’s a fresh deck, a dry one.
They’re unchanged.
India: Sharma (c), Gill, Kohli, Iyer, Patel, Rahul (wk), Pandya, Jadeja, Shami, Yadav, Chakravarthy.
Australia team
Two changes for the Aussies.
The injured Matthew Short is replaced by Cooper Connolly at the top of the order. Tanveer Sangha replaces Spencer Johnson.
Australia: Connolly, Head, Smith (c), Labuschagne, Inglis (wk), Carey, Maxwell, Dwarshuis, Ellis, Zampa, Sangha.
Australia win the toss and bat
Steve Smith didn’t hesitate. As soon as the heads call went his way, he declared his intent to “put some runs on the board and put some pressure later on”.
As with most battles against India, Australia’s hopes rest on how they play spin.
Steve Smith has highlighted the ‘middle overs’, that large chunk between the fireworks with the new ball and the launch of the death overs. Ordinarily this has been a period to take stock but India have changed the game by attacking this period with both bat and ball.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
We’re down to the final four, and on the evidence of the past few weeks, these are unquestionably the best teams of this year’s Champions Trophy.
We’re kicking off the semis with a big one. India, holders of the T20 World Cup, take on Australia, holders of the 50-over World Cup. This tournament doesn’t quite rank alongside those other two, but both sides will be keen to add to the silverware back home.
They’re both unbeaten. India, aided by the familiarity of the same hotel and playing conditions used throughout their competition – something that has been widely, and rightly, criticised – have thwacked Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand. Australia have tip-toed into the knockouts after two rained-off matches. They did spank England, though that doesn’t reveal too much about their form.
Does this mean that India are the better prepped of the two? Possibly, but the Aussies, more than any other side, have a knack of humbling the Indians. And this is an ICC event and you’d be a fool to bet against the men in canary yellow.
Sure there’s politics, sure there are existential questions about the format, sure there’s the stink of gerrymandering, but let’s try forget all that for a few hours. This has all the ingredients of a cracking game of cricket, one that’s too close to call and stacked with superstar talent.
I hope you’re as excited as I am.
If you’ve got some thought’s you want to share, be sure to ping me a mail.
I’ll be back in about 20-odd minutes with some updates with the toss and team news to follow.
First ball at 1pm in Dubai, 8pm in Sydney and 9am in London (does that cover enough bases?)
