India vs. Australia: Chapter 5

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Magpie in 40/50-over

One day internationals are like poos. Oh wait, we’ve done that one. Er, one day internationals are like strippers. Oh wait, we’ve done that one too. Er, one day internationals are much better when played in warm, benign climates with flat pitches and big crowds such as those found on the sub-continent. Er…….

It’s fair to say this series isn’t really going to plan for the home side, who have a bowling attack which would struggle to restrict even Thames Ditton 2^nd XI to less than 300, thus putting serious pressure on their batting. In the first couple of games they failed and then spectacularly succeeded in chasing down big totals. In the third game they put on a decent total thanks to some MS Dhoni magic only for Ishant Sharma to fuck it all up at the death.

India finally lost patience with Ishant and replaced him with someone we haven’t heard of for the fourth game at Ranchi but Australia still made 295 before the rain came. George Bailey made 98 and with that he appears to have secured his spot in the Ashes team for Brisbane. With a List A average of 37 from 172 games we welcome this development. Hopefully there is still time for James Faulkner to force his way in as well, though not at the expense of Mitchell Johnson. Sorry, any excuse…

The fifth ODI in Cuttack was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to a waterlogged outfield despite warm and sunny conditions overhead. Reports of criticism aimed at the BCCI from the host broadcaster are, at this time, unconfirmed.

Outlook for the Sixth ODI

The forecast for Nagpur is set fair and we are expecting a convincing Indian win. We still reckon there is a stinking performance in this Australian team and the thought that they might actually win this series confuses us. We also expect Malcolm Conn to report that Stuart Broad and Monty Panesar spit roasted an air stewardess somewhere over the Indian Ocean last week.