For all the hype preceding this game, Friday’s Twenty20 international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was a damp squib, if ever there was one. All the fireworks were restricted to the break between innings as Australia humiliated India in front of 84,041 fans.

Every team is allowed the odd bad day in office; unfortunately for India, that poor day came in front of what is likely to be the biggest attendance of the summer, in an eagerly anticipated clash involving the World Cup champions and the Twenty20 World Cup winners.

The only thing that went India’s way was the toss. From the moment Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted to bat first, however, it was all one-way traffic. India were emphatically steamrollered, the nine-wicket drubbing their first loss in three T20 encounters to Australia.

Perhaps, Dhoni will rue leaving Sachin Tendulkar out of the eleven. The Mumbaikar’s experience, as much as his expertise, would have come in so handy on an evening when the young guns were supreme disappointments, playing strokes as if it were a five-over dash.

Not even when Virender Sehwag was run out by a direct hit from skipper Michael Clarke — Ricky Ponting sat out with a sore back — after a diving stop at point and a radar-trained shy at the non-striker’s end was a rout imminent. Admittedly, Sehwag was the one capable of maximum damage in the absence of Yuvraj Singh, but the supposed profusion of batting riches meant India could still eye a competitive total.

In the event, 74 all out in 17.3 overs can hardly be termed respectable, let alone competitive. The unseemly rush with which the younger lot threw their hands away without so much as getting their eye in reflected poorly on their thinking abilities. Australia bowled with purpose — and great fire when Brett Lee let rip — and fielded with considerable passion and commitment, but their task was made ridiculously easy by the consistent freebies India’s batsmen offered. The bowlers had too little to defend, man of the match Clarke steering the Aussies to 75 for one with an unbeaten 37, and a whopping 52 deliveries to spare.

Mixed feelings

Present in full strength in anticipation of a gripping contest, the fans greeted the carnage with mixed feelings.

There was undiluted euphoria at Australia’s overwhelming dominance, tinged with a touch of regret that the fight they had hoped India would put up in a losing cause was conspicuous by its absence. That said, their constant booing of Harbhajan Singh left a bad taste in the mouth. Perhaps it was to have been expected, given the frenzy the local media has whipped up in so-called support of its 'slighted' players; then again, whoever maintains Australians always play their cricket hard and fair will also probably endorse the behaviour of the fans.

No bearing

That, of course, had no bearing on the outcome. As a contest, if indeed this was one, the game was over inside the first hour and a quarter. India lost a wicket in each of their first four overs, playing strokes with ill-advised abandon. Only three boundaries were struck during their entire knock — all behind the wickets and two off top-edges! — and none since the sixth over. Irfan Pathan, at number seven, was the lone man to reach double figures; Nathan Bracken was the primary beneficiary of India’s largesse with remarkable figures of three for 11, while left-arm spinner Adam Voges picked up two late wickets. Australia caught everything that came their way, debutant David Hussey’s acrobatic overhead effort at cover to dismiss Harhbhajan positively stunning, and every bowling change Clarke made struck pay dirt.

India barely avoided the lowest Twenty20 total — 73 by Kenya against New Zealand in the World Cup tie in Durban — but there was no avoiding a rout. Shanthakumaran Sreesanth bowled with hostility, but with Adam Gilchrist and Clarke in the mood, there was no stopping Australia. The boundaries didn’t exactly flow in a rush, but entertainment wasn’t at a premium. In his last Twenty20 game, Gilchrist indulged himself with trademark bludgeons, while Clarke was more elegant and less brutal without suffering in strike-rate comparison.

Between them, Harbhajan and Pathan managed to give Clarke a ‘life’ on 26, unable to hear each other’s call as they ran back from mid-wicket and mid-on respectively to hold on to a slog off Ishant Sharma. It didn’t matter; nor did the fact that the winning runs came off a wide! It was that kind of a night — a complete anti-climax.

score board

INDIA
Gambhir c Hopes b Bracken 9
(6b, 1x4)
Sehwag (run out) 0
(3b)
Kaarthick b Lee 8
(8b, 1x4)
Uthappa c D Hussey b Bracken 1
(3b)
Rohit b Hopes 8
(8b, 1x4)
Dhoni c Lee b D Hussey 9
(27b)
Pathan c Gilchrist b Bracken 26
(30b)
Praveen c Voges b Noffke 6
(10b)
Harbhajan c D Hussey b Voges 1
(3b)
Sreesanth c Hodge b Voges 0
(1b)
Ishant (not out) 3
(6b)
Extras (W-3) 3
Total (all out, 17.3 overs) 74
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Virender Sehwag), 2-12 (Gambhir), 3-20 (Kaarthick), 4-20 (Uthappa), 5-32 (Rohit), 6-49 (Dhoni), 7-60 (Praveen), 8-63 (Harbhajan), 9-63 (Sreesanth).
Bowling: Lee 3-0-13-1 (w-2), Bracken 2.3-1-11-3, Noffke 4-0-23-1, Hopes 3-0-10-1, D Hussey 3-0-12-1 (w-1), Voges 2-0-5-2.
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 22/4; 10: 43/5; 15: 62/7; end of innings: 74 all out in 17.3 overs.
Runs during: Power Play: 1-6 overs: 30/4.
AUSTRALIA
Gilchrist c Gambhir b Praveen 25
(22b, 2x4, 1x6)
Clarke (not out) 37
(36b, 1x4, 1x6)
Hodge (not out) 10
(10b)
Extras (B-1, LB-1, W-1) 3
Total (for 1 wkt, 11.2 overs) 75
Fall of wicket: 1-57 (Adam Gilchrist).
Bowling: Pathan 3-0-18-0, Sreesanth 3-0-25-0, Praveen 2-0-15-1, Ishant 1.2-0-8-0 (w-1), Harbhajan 2-0-7-0.
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 30/0; 10: 70/1; end of innings: 75/1 in 11.2 overs.
Runs during: Power Play: 1-6 overs: 44/0.