The emotion and drama of the first two matches of this Carlton andUnited Series had provided spectators and commentators alike withplenty about which to eulogise

John Polack12-Jan-2000The emotion and drama of the first two matches of this Carlton andUnited Series had provided spectators and commentators alike withplenty about which to eulogise. Through the course of today’s thirdgame – between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground -some more terrific cricket was conceived, particularly in the form ofthe batting of two players. For intensity and excitement, however,this encounter clearly suffered significantly by comparison.Unfortunately, it was also blighted by an act of brazen stupidity froma contingent of fans seated in the lower reaches of the Southern Standat this magnificent stadium.Before a huge crowd (which, on a very hot day in the Victoriancapital, may ultimately have been too big for its own good), the gamestarted in entertaining enough fashion after Australia had won thetoss and elected to bat on a hard, bouncy pitch and in the middle of alightning fast field. Openers Adam Gilchrist (3) and the stillcompletely out of sorts Mark Waugh (7) were gone inside the first fourovers and aspirations of a first Indian success over the Australiansthis summer were imminent. But it was in between those dismissals thatRicky Ponting (115) walked to the crease and it was essentially overthe course of the next three hours that he spent at the crease thatthe fate of the game was decided.Relishing an appointment to the Australian vice captaincy in the wakeof the absence (through injury) of Shane Warne, the Tasmanian played asuperb innings. Initially, he favoured horizontal bat strokes -several pulls, hooks and cuts evident early when bounce and pace inthe pitch was rife. But, as the variability of bounce diminished andthe pace in the track slowed, so he transformed his game, driving withdelicious authority forward of the wicket. Until he cramped late inhis stay and then bunted a slow Javagal Srinath full toss to midwicket, he scored at virtually a run a ball throughout a hand thatoccupied just under three hours.So effective was his effort that he made life substantially easier forthose around him too. Indeed, he forced the constant rotation of theIndian attack, prompted considerable revisions to the field, andunnerved the bowlers into losing their line and length. Consequently,the likes of Michael Bevan (41), Damien Martyn (30) and even, at theend, Shane Lee (22*) and Damien Fleming (14*) all cashed in on ahandsome opportunity to make runs and to ensure that their teamcontinued to score in excess of five runs an over on its way to atotal of 7/269.As for the Indians, they fought determinedly, but their inability tobuild upon their two early wickets told on them. They had an excellentopportunity to run Bevan out when he had only one run on the board,and captain Sachin Tendulkar also grassed a relatively straightforward opportunity to catch Ponting (then on 109) at mid wicket inthe course of a generally sloppy overall exhibition with the ball andin the field.When it came time for India’s response, Sourav Ganguly (100) repliedwith a choice hand of his own. After the Indian upper order hadsuffered similar problems against the new ball to those encountered bytheir opponents, the lithe left hander constructed a beautiful inningsand, hard on the heels of his 61 in his only other game in thisseries, continued to resemble the very essence of the player who cameto Australia with such a glowing reputation. Characteristically, hisdriving through the off side was the feature of his batting and thesheer placement and timing in his execution was a joy to behold.Freed of the constraints and mores of Test cricket, Rahul Dravid (60)also played extremely well, and his 109 run partnership for the fourthwicket with Ganguly had looked to be providing India with anunexpected lifeline before calamity – both on and off the field -struck. The first instalment of such tragedy came when, conceivablyout of tiredness, the latter committed the cardinal sin of failing toground his bat when attempting a quick single to Andrew Symonds atcover in the fortieth over. Duly, he found himself over the line ofthe crease with his bat but the fact that it was in the air when thethrow from Symonds hit his stumps meant that his blushes were notspared.Worse (for everybody at the ground and those millions following thegame around the world) was then to come when a replay on one of thestadium’s giant electronic scoreboards seemed to suggest that he hadmade the crease safely. This prompted a mass protest from the largecontingent of fans seated in the lower reaches of the Southern Stand,hundreds of bottles and considerable invective hurled in the generaldirection of long on. Security and ground staff, as well as a largecordon of police, were called into the area to maintain order butpeace was not immediately restored. Indeed, it was only after Dravidand Robin Singh (34*) headed toward the offending spectators, andpleaded for sanity to prevail, that play was eventually able toresume.From there, neither the stain of Ganguly’s dismissal nor the blot onthe whole day created by such unacceptable public disorder could beremoved. In an innings in which consistently poor running between thewickets was evident, the Indians consistently gifted further wicketsaway at inopportune moments and they finished twenty-eight runs shortof their rivals at a tally of 6/241. That more crowd trouble ensued(several members of the 73,219 strong audience foolishly invading theground at different times in the concluding stages) rendered it anight to forget for many reasons, notwithstanding the impressivenessand general efficiency of Australia’s performance in securing itsfirst win of the tournament.