Australia’s calculated onslaught on the opening bowlers of the ICC World XI gave them just the start that they needed. Adam Gilchrist was in his element as he batted as only he can and took the opening bowlers apart. When Gilchrist is batting in this vein, the opposition can only hope that he gets a bit carried away and gets himself out.
However, after a poor Test series in England where the English bowlers seemed to have had his number with the reverse swing, it was obvious that some attack somewhere was going to pay for the misery he suffered in England.
That attack happened to be the World XI attack. While the World XI watched quite helplessly, the Australian crowd cheered to the hilt and when he became Australia’s fastest scorer of a one-day hundred, the stadium erupted in jubilation.
Adam Gilchrist is one of the most popular players on the circuit and his decision to walk without waiting for the umpire’s decision has made him even more popular with the Australians, who like to play hard but fair.
There was no let up for the world attack after the openers were gone for Ponting and Martyn notched up half centuries too, and with Symonds and Clarke throwing their bats around in the last few overs, the total swelled to 328, which by any standard was a real daunting score to chase. For the World XI once again, the spinners bowled well and Sehwag’s use as a partnership breaker was once more in evidence as he got rid of the centurion Gilchrist.
On this drop-in pitch, there is not much help for the spinners as far as turn is concerned, but the slowness of their deliveries off the pitch does pose a problem to the batsmen wanting to go for the big shots. The pacers were disappointing and though England had success with their tactics of bowling round the wicket to Gilchrist, they also had the advantage of seaming pitches unlike here, where the ball hardly moves off the pitch and doesn’t swing in the air as the roof of the stadium is closed.
