3rd ODI: Ind v. Aus: Yuvaraj and Dhoni give India 2-1 lead!

A well planned and executed innings from Yuvaraj and Dhoni helped India to win the 3rd ODI and take a lead in the series.

In a tough pitch which had unequal bounce and turn, anything around 250 was felt difficult. But, India restricted Australia to 229.

Deciding to bat first, Ponting lead from the front by opening the innings with Watson. With Paine fracuring his finger during the 2nd ODI, he put himself in the opening slot.

One should appreciate the courage of Ponting not ony for opening but also for positioning himself at short leg while Hauritz bowling and Dhoni batting.

Watson and Ponting started well. They added 72 for the first wicket. A big turn from Yuvaraj's first delivery dragged Watson little away from the wicket and beat him. Dhoni was quick and removed the bails.

Ponting scored another half-century. He played beautifully punching off the back-foot and pulling the short deliveries.

Unfortunatly, this time also, he was trapped leg before. An unique record of getting out in LBW in all the 3 ODIs. Mr. Consistent Hussey scored 81. He played a superb innings and is definitely a dependable batsman for Australia.

Jadeja picked 2 wickets while Yuvaraj, Harbhajan and Raina picked one each.

Chasing 230, India lost Sehwag for just 11 bowled by Johnson. Tendulkar played slowly and steadily. He ensured that he did not chase the wide off stump deliveries as he did in the first 2 ODIs.

Tendulkar's decision to take on for a single against Johnson at mid off proved wrong. He found himself short of his crease as Johnson sent a direct hit at bowler's end.

Gambhir was bowled by the turn of Hauritz. He moved away and to the back foot but the ball turned, took edge and hit the stump. India were 53 for 3 in 15.2 overs.

Yuvaraj and Dhoni played singles, rotated the strike, never felt under pressure. They kept on punishing poor balls but mostly they were just picking singles.

They added 148 for the 4th wicket in 28.4 overs. Yuvaraj won the man of the match for his 78 in 96 balls which had 8 fours and 2 sixes.

Dhoni was unbeaten on 71 in 95 balls with just 6 fours. India took powerplay in the 46th over, needing 28 runs. Dhoni and Raina ensured that they do not take the match to the last over, finished with 10 balls remaining.

Scoreboard:

Match # 3
Date: Saturday October 31, 2009
Teams: Australia v. India
Captains: R Ponting and MS Dhoni
Toss: Australia, decided to bat
Venue: Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Result: India won by 6 wkts with 10 balls remaining
Series: India lead the 7 match series 2-1
Man of the Match: Yuvaraj Singh off India

Australia Innings:

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
S Watson	st Dhoni b Yuvaraj	41	59	5	0
R Ponting	lbw b R Jadeja	59	92	4	0
M Hussey	not out	81	82	3	1
C White	c Dhoni b Raina	0	7	0	0
A Voges	c Kumar b Harbhajan	17	31	1	0
M Henriques	b R Jadeja	12	17	0	0
M Johnson	not out	9	12	0	1
Extras	(b 4, lb 3, w 3)	10	-	-	-
Total	for 5 wkts in 50 overs	229	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-72 (Watson, 16.2 ov), 2-128 (Ponting, 31.1 ov), 3-129 (White, 32.4 ov), 4-172 (Voges, 41.5 ov), 5-200 (Henriques, 46.3 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
P Kumar	5	1	16	0
A Nehra	9	0	51	0
I Sharma	5	0	24	0
R Jadeja	9	1	41	2
Harbhajan	10	0	37	1
Yuvaraj	8	0	30	1
S Raina	4	0	23	1

India Innings: (230 to win in 50 overs)

Batsman	How Out	Runs	Balls	4s	6s
V Sehwag	b Johnson	11	25	1	0
S Tendulkar	run out (Johnson)	32	47	2	0
G Gambhir	b Hauritz	6	15	0	0
Yuvaraj	lbw b Henriques	78	96	8	2
M Dhoni	not out	71	95	6	0
S Raina	not out	9	13	1	0
Extras	(b 4, lb 4, w 14, nb 1)	23	-	-	-
Total	for 4 wkts in 48.2 overs	230	-	-	-

Fall of Wickets: 1-37 (Sehwag, 8.5 ov), 2-51 (Tendulkar, 13.3 ov), 3-53 (Gambhir, 15.2 ov), 4-201 (Yuvraj Singh, 43.6 ov)

Bowler	O	M	R	W
M Johnson	9.2	2	43	1
Siddle	10	0	41	0
D Bollinger	10	0	26	0
Henriques	8	0	51	1
N Hauritz	10	0	48	1
A Voges	1	0	13	0