Watch India Vs Australia 2009 ODI Players who made the difference Highlights
Injury-hit Australia convincingly defeated India 4-2 in the seven-match series after the last One-Day International in Mumbai was washed out due to heavy rain. Australian side capped one of its best performances with Ricky Ponting equating the victory at par with their World Cup and Champions Trophy triumphs. Players from both sides came up with their best to see their side through with some bold observations.
Australia started their tour of India with a four-run victory at Vadodara. Michael Hussey was the star performer for the visitors and was adjudged Man of the match for his valiant 73 runs. India came agonisingly close chasing 293, with Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar showing some resistance but Aussie bowlers hold on their nerves to snatch a narrow win.
India bounced back in style and defeated the visitors by 99 runs in the second One-dayer at Nagpur with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni leading from the front. Dhoni’s stellar efforts of 124 runs helped India draw level with Australia at 1-1 in the seven-match series. Man of the match Dhoni was involved in two century stands 119 with Gambhir for the fourth wicket and 136 with Raina for the fifth wicket to herald India’s comeback.
After Dhoni’s incredible innings in the second ODI, it was Yuvraj Singh’s turn in the third match at Feroz Shah Kotla. Player of the match Yuvraj Singh (78), who made a comeback in the Indian team after a long injury layoff, alongwith MS Dhoni (71) ensured India’s win by 6 wickets and lead the seven-match series 2-1. Yuvraj dug deep on a tricky Kotla wicket after the hosts suffered a top order collapse to see India home safely.
After two back-to-back defeats, Australia bounced back and claimed the fourth One-dayer at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium by 24 runs to level the series 2-2. Shane Watson was adjudged the Man of the Match award for his all-round show, specially his bowling towards the end. The Australian all-rounder contributed 49 runs with the bat and came back to haunt India by taking three wickets in 7.4 overs giving away only 29 runs.
Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar (175) played an innings to remember but India fell short by three runs chasing a massive 351-run target. The little master took the wind out Australian sails and at one point brought the match almost into the Indian kitty but the visitors hold on to their nerves till the end to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Man of the match Tendulkar also completed 17,000 runs in One-Day Internationals to become the first batsman in the history of the game to reach the landmark.
Australian left-arm seamer Doug Bollinger rose to the occasion and helped Australia seal the seven-match series, as the visitors defeated India by six wickets in the 6th One-dayer at Guwahati. Player of the match Bollinger grabbed five wickets for 35 runs to help Australia won their third straight game in the series after having been 2-1 down. Bollinger’s extraordinary efforts with the ball gave Australia their fifth consecutive series victory in India.
Source : cricket yahoo & Youtube
