Australia romps to victory

On Tuesday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Australia can reflect on a job well done as it cakewalked its way to a mammoth 103-run win over Board President’s XI. 

Chasing 348 for a motley bunch of individuals who arrived in one piece barely a day before the match was akin to chasing rainbows and it was no surprise to see them surrender meekly in the face of a mountain of runs. There appeared to be a contest on the cards when opener Shreevats Goswami 43 (54b, 2x4) and Mayank Agarwal 42 (47b, 4x4) raised 79 runs for the second wicket in quick time. 

But, once Australia saw the back of those two, it was writing on the wall for BP XI as left-arm spinner Ashton Agar cranked up the pressure with a four-wicket haul. Earlier, the visiting Australians overcame a few early and middle-over jitters to rack up a mammoth 347 for seven. 

Opener Hilton Cartwright, whose availability for this match was in doubt, wasted no time in getting reunited with his teammates in the pavilion as he paid the price for swishing at a delivery from Avesh Khan to be snaffled in the slip cordon by captain Gurkeerat Singh for a second-ball duck. The situation demanded that captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner do a rebuilding job that they have become past masters at. 

Warner, fresh from scoring two hundreds in the recent Test series against Bangladesh, was a little circumspect to begin with but soon began to cut loose. Smith showed no signs of discomfort in adapting to a new format and was particularly harsh on Sandeep Sharma. Warner 64 (48b, 11x4) was caught behind attempting a wild heave off Kushang Patel and with the introduction of spin in the form of local hope MS Washington Sundar in the 17th over, the visitor had to labour for runs. 

Washington was frugal in giving away runs and pocketed the coveted scalps of Smith, his Rising Pune Supergiant captain, and the big-hitting Glen Maxwell. Maxwell was ill-at-ease and Washington brought an end to his troubled stay by luring him into a drive straight back at him. At 158 four in 28.2 overs, it seemed the tourist wouldn’t get beyond 275. But all that changed with the entry of all-rounder Marcus Stoinis who flexed his batting muscles in an exhilarating knock of 76 that contained five towering sixes. 

Both Travis Head 65 (63b, 5x4, 1x6) and Stoinis took special liking to the ambidextrous Akshay Karnewar whose ploy of taking the Australians by surprise boomeranged spectacularly. Wicket-keeper Mathew Wade 45 (24b, 2x4, 4x6) biffed a few big hits as Australia plundered 101 runs in the last 10 overs.

Australia: D Warner c Goswami b Patel 64, H Cartwright c Gurkeerat b Avesh Khan 0, S Smith c Gurkeerat b Washington 55, T Head c Sandeep b Karnewar 65, G Maxwell c&b Washington 14, M Stoinis c Tripathi b Khejroliya 76, M Wade b Patel 45, J Faulkner (not out) 8, A Agar (not out) 8. Extras: 12. Total (for seven wickets in 50 overs) 347. FoW: 1-0, 2-106, 3-134, 4-158, 5-246, 6-331, 7-331. Bowling: Sandeep Sharma 6-1-46-0, Avesh Khan 6-0-40-1, Khejroliya 5-0-37-1, Patel 6-0-58-2, Washington 8-1-23-2, Rahil Shah 7-0-32-0, Karnewar 6-0-59-1, Gurkeerat Singh 6-0-44-0. 

Board President’s XI: S Goswami b Stoinis 43, R Tripathi c Wade b Richardson 7, M Agarwal c Warner b Zampa 42, N Rana (run out) 19, Gurkeerat Singh c Faulkner b Agar 27, S Chaudhary c Wade b Agar 4, Washington Sundar c Agar b Richardson 11, G Poddar c Smith b Agar 0, A Karnewar c Maxwell b Faulkner 40, K Patel (not out) 41, R Shah c Cartwright b Agar 3. Extras: 7. Total (all out in 48.2 overs) 244. FoW: 1-10, 2-89, 3-102, 4-130, 5-143, 6-148, 7-148, 8-156, 9-222. Bowling: Coulter-Nile 7-1-16-0, Richardson 6-0-36-2, Head 4-0-24-0, Faulkner 7-0-35-1, Zampa 8-0-59-1, Stoinis 4-0-13-1, Agar 8.2-1-44-4, Cummins 4-0-15-0.