World XI team player Brian Lara (left) walks off the field past the celebrating Australian team after being dismissed for a duck during the first one-day game in the Super Series at Melbourne, yesterday. New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori took four wickets and Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan grabbed two for the World XI to restrict Australia to 255 for eight in the first one-day international. - REUTERS
melbourne, australia, cmc
BRIAN LARA'S SECOND-ball dismissal for a "duck" typified a lacklustre effort by the vaunted World XI batting line-up as the visitors folded meekly to an emphatic 93-run defeat to Australia in the first of three One-Day Internationals of the Super Series yesterday.
Set a challenging target of 256 in chilly weather conditions at the Telstra Dome, the World XI were bundled out for just 162 in the 42nd over of a contest that attracted just over 18,000 spectators in a venue capable of accommodating in excess of 50,000 fans.
BIGGER CROWDS
While larger crowds are expected for the remaining two ODIs on Friday and Sunday (Thursday and Saturday nights Jamaica time) at the same venue, enthusiasm for the series would have been dented by the manner in which the World XI capitulated after their specialist spinners - ; Daniel Vettori and Muttiah Muralitharan - performed superbly to restrict Australia to what appeared a manageable total.
Replying to the World Cup holders' total of 255 for eight, only wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara offered any substantial resistance with 64 at the top of the order.
All-rounder Andrew Flintoff (38) and tail-enders Vettori and Shoaib Akhtar were the only players to get into double-figures with Shaun Pollock's team even failing to capitalise on the use of the dangerous Shahid Afridi as their substitute player in place of Muralitharan.
WATSON'S DESIRE
Shane Watson, who has stated his desire to follow in the footsteps of Flintoff in developing into a world-class all-rounder, earned the Man of the Match award in picking up three wickets for 43 runs with his medium-pacers and running out Pollock with a direct hit to the stumps from long-leg.
He had earlier missed a straightforward catch at first slip from Virender Sehwag off the bowling off Brett Lee. Two other simple catches were put down by the Australians, continuing the dramatic drop in the standard of their outcricket from the Ashes series, but those lapses did not prove worrisome in the end with the World XI batsmen lacking the necessary application to put the hosts under concerted pressure.
Sehwag seemed incapable of coping with the discipline of Glenn McGrath and the sheer pace of Brett Lee. The Indian opener, having been let off by Watson, pulled a short delivery from McGrath in the very next over to give Mike Hussey a straightforward catch at midwicket.
The veteran pacer then trapped Jacques Kallis LBW, although the prolific South African batsman might have had reason to feel aggrieved at the decision by Australian umpire Simon Taufel.
Their dismissals ushered in Lara at 45 for two in the 12th over.
WARMEST OVATION
The former West Indies captain received the warmest ovation of any of the World XI batsmen, but those expecting a classic innings from the left-handed maestro were quickly disappointed as the Trinidadian drove lazily at left-arm seamer Nathan Bracken to give Andrew Symonds a comfortable catch at cover.
Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals with Rahul Dravid, Kevin Pietersen and Afridi the victims of poor shots against disciplined if unspectacular bowling. Sangakkara, who escaped on 32 when Simon Katich could not complete a running catch at mid-off from the bowling of Watson, doubled his score before falling to the all-rounder via a sharp low catch by Ricky Ponting at gully.
His demise, followed swiftly by the departure of Afridi and Pollock, left the World XI in ruins at 118 for eight in the 33rd over.
Flintoff, who was given a life on five when Lee inexplicably dropped a chance at long-leg off Watson, eventually found McGrath on the long-on boundary to give the talented Australian all-rounder his just reward. Lee returned to end the match by luring Vettori into giving a second catch to a delighted Ponting at gully.
The victory was greeted with particularly intense celebrations by the Australians, who have endured severe criticism from the media and former players here in the aftermath of the 1-2 Ashes series loss to England less than a month ago.
Vettori must have felt that his hard work and that of Muralitharan were in vain as he trudged off the ground. The New Zealand left-arm spinner claimed four for 33 while the Sri Lankan spin wizard returned figures of two for 42 in combining effectively to restrict Australia's progress after Adam Gilchrist and Katich had put on 80 for the first wicket by the 15th over.
Ponting contributed 23 in a 48-run second-wicket stand with Katich after Kallis bowled Gilchrist through the gate for 45.
The Australian captain's miscued flick off World XI counterpart Pollock found Lara coming off the boundary at cover to take a well-judged catch.
The lone West Indian in the team took another good catch in the 47th over to remove Watson off Vettori 15 metres in from the midwicket boundary.
Muralitharan accounted for Damien Martyn via a good catch by Vettori at mid-on before the Sri Lankan destroyer prompted Katich to hit a catch back to the bowler to end a workmanlike topscore of 57.
Though lacking the sharp turn of the off-spinner, Vettori's excellent control of variations in pace and line frustrated the Australian middle and lower order. He removed Michael Clarke, Symonds, Watson and Hussey before Bracken stuck around with Lee (26 not out) in an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 24.
Mindful of the impressive reputations of the World XI batsmen, that late effort seemed too little, too late to save Australia from an early defeat.
As it turned out, the partnership proved much more than enough with the visitors apparently in no mood to shine under the lights and the roof of Telstra Dome.
SCOREBOARD
AUSTRALIA INNINGS
+A. Gilchrist b Kallis 45
S. Katich c&b Muralitharan 58
R. Ponting c Lara b Pollock 23
D. Martyn c Vettori b Muralitharan 0
A. Symonds c Flintoff b Vettori 36
M. Clarke c&b Vettori 6
M. Hussey c Pietersen b Vettori 32
S. Watson c Lara b Vettori 8
B. Lee not out 26
N. Bracken not out 2
Extras (b2, lb6, nb5, w6) 19
TOTAL (for 8 wickets - 50 overs) 255
Fall of wickets: 1-80, 2-128, 3-128, 4-142, 5-154, 6-206, 7-223, 8-231
Did not bat: G. McGrath
Bowling Akhtar 9-1-49-0 (3nb, 1w); Pollock 8-1-32-1; Flintoff 9-1-66-0 (1nb, 3w); Kallis 4-0-26-1 (1nb, 1w); Muralitharan 10-0-41-2 (1w); Vettori 10-1-33-4
WORLD XI INNINGS
+K. Sangakkara c Ponting b Watson 64
V. Sehwag c Hussey b McGrath 6
J. Kallis lbw McGrath 8
B. Lara c Symonds b Bracken 0
R. Dravid c Ponting b Lee 4
K. Pietersen lbw Watson 2
A. Flintoff c McGrath b Watson 38
S. Afridi lbw Symonds 2
S. Pollock run out 5
D. Vettori c Ponting b Lee 15
S. Akhtar not out 10
Extras (lb1, nb1, w6) 8
TOTAL (all out - 41.3 overs) 162
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-45, 3-50, 4-75, 5-82, 6-101, 7-104, 8-118, 9-150
Bowling: Lee 7.3-2-31-2 (1nb, 2w); McGrath 7-1-13-2 (1w); Bracken 8-0-36-1 (1w); Watson10-0-43-3 (1w); Symonds 9-0-38-1 (1w)
Result: Australia won by 93 runs.
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