PANDYA’S HEROICS DOWN AUSSIES
Australia's hopes, but this time Chahal outsmarted him with a wide leg-break that he could only mistime to long-on. That, at 76 for five in 12 overs, was game over for all practical purposes.
It was Maxwell in the first half of the match that started Australia's ascendancy with a sensational catch to send back Virat Kohli, who had chosen to bat first expecting the pitch to slow down considerably in the chase. This came just after reserve opener Ajinkya Rahane (5) had fallen to extra bounce on a drive.
Like Rahane, Kohli, too, drove at Nathan Coulter-Nile, getting a thick edge, which seemed to be sailing over point before Maxwell jumped and hung on, like plucking stationery fruit from a branch. Two balls later, Coulter-Nile soon made it 11 for three with the scalp of India's new No 4 Manish Pandey.
Cummins got Rohit Sharma out and Kedar Jadhav fell after a good start. Both fell - for 28 and 40 respectively - to short balls from Marcus Stoinis, one of three allrounders in the Australian line-up.
India's next man in was its only allrounder. He walked in to join the man who might as well have been the only one batting for the Chennai crowd - Dhoni.
Making potentially decisive moves was Smith, bringing back first Cummins and then Coulter-Nile to actively look for wickets and not just wait for them. In his first over back, the 28th of the innings, Coulter-Nile duly produced the edge for his captain, but Smith was up too early at slip, and let it through for four runs. Had he held on, Pandya would have been dismissed for 13 off 18.
Instead Coulter-Nile was through his middle-overs spell, and Smith had to eventually go back to Zampa in the 33rd over.
Pandya fancied Zampa immediately, winding up to each of the three deliveries he faced from him first up. All three were too full for him to hit in the air so he got singles down the ground.
However, in the 37th over, Pandya hit three sixes off Zampa. He did the same to a Stoinis slower ball later before Smith backed Zampa to bowl another over with Pandya still unbeaten. Pandya managed another six off him before Zampa found a bit of drift, making him go across the line towards midwicket, and getting an edge for short third man to gobble.
After Pandya's brilliance, the focus was back on the original darling, Dhoni. At 207 for six in the 41st over, it was now time for Dhoni to tee off. And tee off he did, although smartly, as he took 39 off the last 22 balls he faced. Bhuvneshwar Kumar provided Dhoni ample support with 32 off 30.