A deep square limb and a deep apex. Australia have perhaps accomplished more than anyone else in the past week regarding these two fielding positions. Pat Cummins had strategically placed his fielders in these locations for the initial few overs of that decisive World Cup final, predicting a slowing pitch and not foreseeing significant ball travel to the more traditional third man and fine leg positions.
Sunday in Thiruvananthapuram, two fielders positioned by Matthew Wade in the PowerPlay were at deep point and deep square leg. It made sense given the pitch, which was in fact sluggish. Prasidh Krishna confirmed this at the press conference following the match. However, the pitch was anything but that when Yashasvi Jaiswal attempted to amuse himself by back-cutting and gliding balls to the third-man boundary.
It was not the girth in particular that Sean Abbott was providing. Abbott, who was bowling over-the-wicket to the left-hander, adjusted his length to full and slowed down to cutter, but both adjustments were in vain, just as with the initial delivery.
However, Abbott is unable to deliver an unexpected short ball. Certainly, but it vanished for six seconds. Abbott is currently rounding the wicket. An additional short ball? Okay. Once more, a six was pulled.
Wade had two players waiting at 45 on the off-side when Nathan Ellis substituted for Abbott in an attempt to halt the run’s hemorrhage through that area. And as fate would have it, Jaiswal reached his fifty runs by gliding a ball precisely between the two fielders.
Eventually, Jaiswal would be dismissed by one of the short third-man fielders, demonstrating why Wade executed a shrewd field placement; however, the breakthrough arrived a little too late. His 53 off 25 deliveries at a venue notorious for favoring the pursuing side with moisture were the perfect remedy for losing the toss. His determination and fearlessness were precisely what India captain Suryakumar Yadav had requested of his squad prior to the series, and it was on account of these qualities that India amassed their third-highest score after six overs in the PowerPlay, 77 runs.
“We were probably a little bit disappointed with our execution in the first six [overs] and that’s where we thought the sweet spot was; taking wickets and giving our spinners a chance to bowl to some new batters,” said Australia coach Andre Borovec. “I was really proud of that fightback in that early middle-overs period, then of course the dew came in and it just made it so difficult to execute. I can’t fault the endeavour and the plans with the bowls. The execution is really tough.”
India concluded the match with 235/4, and the additional runs margin that Jaiswal’s knock granted them was a severe blow to the spinners. Both Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi bowled successfully during the PowerPlay and returned to complete spotless spells, amassing a combined bowling record of 8-0-57-4. In a match with an average of 10.7 runs scored per over, an economy rate of 7 is exceptionally low.
It is important to remember that the spinners from India faced the most challenging conditions. Although the dew made it more difficult to control the ball, both Axar and Bishnoi maintained their composure and bowled direct at the stumps. Adam Zama was consistently slower than Bishnoi’s fast googlies throughout the match, whereas Axar delighted in delivering arm-balls that sank and made life difficult for the batsmen. In fact, Glenn Maxwell was dismissed in the same manner; he was unable to clear the pitch in time for the arm-ball that rushed back into him.
“Yes, it was quite difficult,” Prasidh Krishna said of the playing conditions owing to dew. “I mean, we expected this, we were planning about tackling dew even in Vizag but luckily we didn’t really have to do much there. But then here, it was really wet. I think even as we came on to bowl the sixth over, eighth over, Mukesh was telling me that there’s a lot of dew that’s come in.
“For Axar to come and bowl the way he did, for Ravi Bishnoi to come and pick up the wickets at crucial junctures played a really important role and that’s exactly what we do as a bowling. There are going to be days when one of us is not going to have a great day or two of us are not going to have a great day but then the others step in and show the responsibility of wanting to finish off that over rather than trying to pick a wicket and and help your own stats. I think they were very selfless today and that really helped us do what we did today.”
The pacers, subsequently, adopted a strategy similar to that of the spinners and bowled effortlessly. Almost every Yorker, regardless of speed, struck the stumps.
This was virtually the ideal contest in many respects for India. Ishan Kishan brought them out of the post-PowerPlay lethargy after opposing fiftys scored by Yashasvi and Ruturaj Gaikwad; Rinku Singh then scored a few runs towards the end; his composure and execution were reminiscent of “someone” rather than Suryakumar Yadav.
And despite having to contend with a damp ball, the spinners for India stood out during the defensive. Even the fast bowlers contributed, albeit belatedly, but with each yorker they landed, Australia’s hopes vanished.
At 9:18 PM in Thiruvananthapuram, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell were positioned at the crease. Smith, who had just completed the finest ODI innings, was an all-time great, and Maxwell, who had just completed such an innings, was a visionary. Ravi Bishnoi, a lespinner of 23 years old, was pitching against them in his nineteenth international white-ball match. Although the partnership was unremarkable and Bishnoi failed to extricate either of them, the moment’s significance was not overlooked by any individual. From the conditions to the toss to the lack of mature hands, the odds were piled against India, but the fact that they emerged victorious and now lead the series 2-0 says much about them as a unit.
