Exit Australia

For the neutral cricket lover this was an absorbing game of cricket. In the end the margin of victory looked pretty comfortable, but the game ebbed and flowed and it took a superb partnership between Yuvraj and Suresh Raina to guide India home as the bowlers sat nervously in the pavilion.

Australia batted well, for this was never a 300 plus pitch. Ricky Ponting, in particular, was magnificent. The conditions, as well as the current state of his own game, meant that this was never going to be a devastating hundred like that with which he grabbed the 2003 final by the scruff of the neck, but it was an innings of immense character and determination. He has helped by the weaknesses in the Indian bowling attack, but there plenty of glimpses of the old Ponting and he guided Australia to a very competitive total.

Their strategy of relying on slightly erratic pace bowling was always going to be a gamble, however, and although Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson bowled well early on they struggled to exert the sort of control that they were looking for. Sehwag went fairly early, but Tendulkar batted beautifully until he was rather unsurprisingly undone by a length ball from Shaun Tait that moved away a touch. Tait, not for the first time, was very close to a back foot no ball, but after an umpire review the little master was on his way.

Gambhir and Kohli, who looks a very good player, took things along nicely, but then India went into the self destruct mode that has been a feature of their batting performances in the tournament so far. First Kohli hit a knee high full toss from David Hussey straight to Michael Clarke and then Gambhir, having done his best to run himself out from each of the previous two balls, finally managed it with an attempt at a single that might kindly be described as optimistic. It was certainly too optimistic for Yuvraj’s tastes and Gambhir had to go, muttering as he did so. With the horribly out of form MS Dhoni coming and going quickly India were 187-5 and doing their best to make a hash of things.

Suresh Raina was a slightly surprising pick for the game, but he’s a handy bloke to have coming in at number seven and was quickly into his stride. When he and Yuvraj took eighteen from an over by the hitherto impressive Lee the momentum of the game shifted again, this time for good. Australia knew that they were just one wicket away from a long Indian tail that had collapsed with alarming regularity in the group stages, but they paid for their lack of a top class spinner in helpful conditions and Yuvraj and Raina cruised home as the crowd went berserk.

It will be fascinating to see where Australia go from here, particularly with regard to their captain. In some ways a defeat with a hundred from Ponting was the worst possible outcome, for they are out of the tournament but there is now an obstacle to easing him out of the side which could be a problem as they look to move forward. Having abjectly surrendered the Ashes and gone out of the World Cup before the final for the fist time since 1992 his role as captain looks increasingly untenable, but he is showing no sign of falling on his sword and the Australian selectors are not the most courageous or forward thinking bunch. For all of the quality of his hundred yesterday he has not been worth his place in the side for some time and his captaincy style was developed in a time of dominance and is, therefore, ill suited to leading a middling side. This is all complicated still further by the usual Australian custom of not keeping former captains in the side. In spite of the century, this game should mark the end of Ricky Ponting’s captaincy of Australia and also of his career, but I suspect that it will not. I also suspect that this will prove to be a mistake. He has been a truly great player and a joy to watch, but it is time for Australia to move on.

As for India, they march on to a semi-final against another team of flawed genius in Pakistan. Indian still has some significant issues to resolve: the bowling attack, with the honourable exception of Zaheer Khan, is weak, with Munaf bowling atrociously yesterday and Harbhajan certainly not looking as threatening as was once the case. Their fielding has been pretty poor, although Raina and Kohli certainly improve it, and they must be worried about the form of their captain, not just in this tournament but over the last year or so. Yuvraj has been in the form of his life, winning four Man of the Match awards, but they cannot keep relying on him to bail them out. On a true batting pitch I would expect them to have too much firepower for Pakistan, but if conditions favour the bowlers then they could be in for an uncomfortable time. This World Cup continues to fascinate at every turn.