India Vs Australia First ODI 29th September 2007 Report

And so it rained... Surely a tame end to what promised to be a cracker of a contest.

The atmosphere at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore was electric. It just had to be seen to be believed. The fans were out there in numbers as always but the noise, the jumping, the cheering at the start of the match had that something extra in it. And why not.. India were playing their first match after being crowned the Twenty20 Champions. There were a few boos when Gilchrist won the toss and decided to bat. The crowd wanted to see their heroes bat. They just couldn't wait..

And so Gilchrist and Hayden came out to bat and were their usual aggressive selves. Gilchrist hit a couple of boundaries and and was appearing to be in menacing form. But then Yuvraj pulled out a stunning catch to send Gilly back to the pavilion. Diving full length to the right it was a sight to behold. Then Hodge arrived and didn't last long.. Sreesanth getting one to come back in after bowling two wide deliveries. Hayden and Clarke put up some sort of partnership before Hayden attempted a outrageous slog only to see his stumps being carted away. Not very different from the Twenty20 Semi-final dismissal. Symonds didn't last long and at 90 for 4 it seemed like India were in total control.

But the Aussies then stepped up and showed why they were the champions. A harsh lesson to India how ODIs were different from Twenty20. Here teams have a chance to come back into the match even after a bad start and good teams usually do. It was time for Michael Clarke to put his hand up and play one of his best ODI innings if not the best. No bowler was spared once Clarke had got his eye in and reached his half-century. The same ground where he had scored a test century on debut was witness again to a very special knock. The 144 run partership between him and Haddin just changed the tide of the match for Australia. Some streaky shots by Hopes in the end ensured that Aussies breached the 300 run mark.

308 - A difficult target, but by no means impossible. Indians came out to bat in the light drizzle that had started in Bangalore. The umpires probabaly expected it to go away and hence allowed play to start even as it rained. 2.4 overs is all that India could get before the rain-gods decided to take over completely. India managed to lose Sachin Tendulkar in that period, who was clearly not looking happy playing in the conditions that prevailed in the Chinnaswamy stadium.

All in all a good reality check for the Indians that Twenty20 is history, its time to prove the mettle in the ODI format now. India has a good team and I expect them to do well in the remaining 6 matches. The action now moves on to Kochi where the next match will be played on 2nd October

Video Highlights of key moments of the match are available