Amid ruins Knock on helmet sums up batting
PERTH: It was a routine back-ofthe-length delivery from James Anderson, but because of the bounce in the WACA strip the ball found enough bite to smack MS Dhoni’s helmet.
The India captain took his helmet off and stood in the middle of the wicket. For a man who usually does not show emotions, the hit had shaken him. Five balls later, Dhoni was caught in the crease to an Anderson delivery that did not rise much. Struck in front of the wicket, he fell.
The knock on the leader’s helmet was also a rap on the team’s batting, which collapsed for the second consecutive game against England. Virat Kohli was handed his original No 3 position, but that did not help as he was out to Moeen Ali’s off-spin, trying to unsettle him at the start of his spell.
Suresh Raina guided Ali to Chris Woakes at backward point before he could even get his eye in. Ambati Rayudu looked keen on edging Stuart Broad to the wicketkeeper. In at No 4, he poked at too many deliveries outside off on a wicket which takes time to get used to. The lack of fight continued with Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel gifting their wickets away.
The only exception was the start the openers handed the world champions. Shikhar Dhawan scratched around before bringing out the dazzling square cuts and elegant cover drives. The left-hander found a semblance of form and stitched an 83-run stand with Ajinkya Rahane. The opening partnership was the highest the team had enjoyed in the tri-series. Rahane reasserted his comfort as the side’s opener with a 73, but the rest crumbled to collapse for 200.
Had it not been for the 35 the last-wicket pair of Mohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami put on, the three-wicket victory that England eventually managed would have been even more one-sided.
After the team was knocked out, the captain expressed his concern. “If you lose the toss and bat on a surface that assists pacers, then lose a couple of wickets, you doing the catch up job,” Dhoni said.
“We need to get our batting strong. The lower-order contribution is something that is key. We can’t have four to five batsmen in the lower order getting out quickly because you want to make the most
of 50 overs.”