BANGALORE, (Reuters) – Indian leg spinner Piyush Chawla grabbed a four-wicket haul to trigger an Australian batting collapse today and hand his captain a World Cup selection dilemma with under a week to go.
Chawla has proved himself a match winner with the ball but his batting has done nothing so far to suggest it can strengthen a potentially vulnerable middle and late order for the Cup hosts.
Chasing a modest 215 for victory, World Cup holders Australia were cruising at 118 for one with captain Ricky Ponting (57) well set, before the Indian spinners ran through the middle order for a 38-run win.
Chawla, a surprise inclusion in India’s World Cup squad, and established off-spinner Harbhajan Singh took seven wickets between them to bowl out Australia for 176.
The 22-year-old Chawla collected deserved figures of four for 31 in his first one-day international on Indian soil.
Harbhajan took three for 15, while Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuvraj Singh picked up one wicket each.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni now faces a tricky choice in selecting a second spinner alongside Harbhajan.
He said, however, that besides the nature of the wicket, the ability of a bowler to contribute with the bat could also be a deciding factor.
“If he (Chawla) could make 15-20 runs with the bat that would be really great for the side but as a specialist spinner he has done well,” a relaxed and jovial Dhoni said in a news conference.
PERFORMED WELL
Dhoni warned, however, that the middle order needed to start contributing more if the team was to score big totals when it mattered for the 1983 World Cup winners.
India’s much vaunted batting line-up failed to click in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, who was rested for a minor hamstring niggle.
Virat Kohli (21), Yuvraj (1) and Suresh Raina (12), all competing for a place in the middle order, looked uncomfortable against short-pitched deliveries.
Yusuf Pathan (32) and Ashwin (25 not out) stitched together a 49-run stand — the highest of the innings — for the ninth wicket before a late flourish by Ashish Nehra (19) helped India cross the 200-run mark.
Earlier, Virender Sehwag showed no signs of the shoulder injury that kept him sidelined for the past few months and scored 54 at almost a run a ball.
Sehwag was his usual nonchalant self despite being starved of much of the strike and his shots to the fence were greeted with acclaim by the packed Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
“With two batsmen contributing we scored 200, so if the middle order contributes, I think we can score much more,” he said.
Ponting, 36, the tournament’s second most prolific batsman behind Tendulkar, top scored for Australia with 57.
He showed no signs of the after effects of a broken finger he suffered in the Ashes and played at a steady pace before a rush of blood saw him getting stumped by Dhoni off the bowling of Harbhajan.
Australia’s cause had not been helped with 29 extras conceded.
India’s pace spearhead Zaheer Khan was also rested for a minor niggle and his selection for their World Cup opener against co-hosts Bangladesh on Saturday will be decided nearer that match.
Australia face Zimbabwe two days later.
