Player of the Match
Player of the Match
2470dThe Bulletin by Brydon Coverdale at the MCG

India forced to work hard for five-wicket win

A five-wicket win chasing 160 might seem a comfortable victory but India made hard work of the success at the MCG, grinding out their first triumph of the CB Series with less than five overs to spare

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

MEK Hussey
65(88) 4x4 - 0x6
Control %97%
  • Productive Shot
  • leg glance
  • 17 runs
  • 1x4 - 0x6
9 4 6 9 18 1 10 8
SR Tendulkar
SR Tendulkar
44(54) 3x4 - 0x6
Control %79%
  • Productive Shot
  • off side drive on front foot
  • 13 runs
  • 1x4 - 0x6
7 1 3 5 10 5 6 7

Best performances - Bowlers

I Sharma
I Sharma
O9.1
M1
R38
W4
Eco4.14
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
S Sreesanth
S Sreesanth
O9
M0
R31
W3
Eco3.44
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF

India have beaten the world champions in their back yard.

It pretty much all went India's way after Australia opted to bat first on a hard MCG surface. Their seam bowlers turned in a top display, led by young Ishant Sharma, who came back marvelously from an 18-run over to dent Australia with 4 for 38, his career-best effort in ODIs. He continues to grow in stature with each outing. The others backed him up and dismissed the hosts for 159 in 43.1 overs.

In reply, India lost wickets at regular intervals but ultimately eased home with five wickets and 25 deliveries remaining. Its their first win against Australia at the MCG since January 31, 1986. A satisfying win for them, and they now lead the CB Series points table. They did not get the bonus point (they had to win in 40 overs for that) but they emerged victors in a hard-fought game of cricket. Plenty of confidence gained from this win.

Ishant deservedly receives the Man-of-the-Match award for setting up this win.

Thats all we have for you, folks, and I thank you for tuning in. Do join us for game five, between India and Sri Lanka at Canberra on February 12, (10:00 local, 23:00 GMT). On behalf of all of us at Cricinfo, this is Jamie Alter signing off. Cheers!

45.6
1w
Symonds to RG Sharma, 1 wide, thats a wide one, very short down leg stump, and the MCG erupts as India win game four of the CB Series by five wickets!
45.5
2
Symonds to RG Sharma, 2 runs, and the scores are level as he pulls a short one to deep midwicket
45.4
0
Symonds to RG Sharma, no run, no room to work with so Rohit drives it back to Symonds' left
45.3
1
Symonds to Dhoni, 1 run, flat and quick on middle and off, he shuffles and drives to mid-on
45.2
0
Symonds to Dhoni, no run, much flatter now, he still walks across the stumps and drives it back
45.1
0
Symonds to Dhoni, no run, tossed up on off stump, Dhoni works it across the line and Symonds fields

Last Powerplay taken

India 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st18SR TendulkarV Sehwag
2nd36SR TendulkarIK Pathan
3rd35SR TendulkarG Gambhir
4th7SR TendulkarYuvraj Singh
5th6Yuvraj SinghRG Sharma
6th58MS DhoniRG Sharma