India XI beat Australia XI to win Siyaram's Cup
India XI beat Australia XI by 154 runs in the day/ night encounter at the MA Chidmabaram Stadium, Chennai, on Friday to win the Siyaram's Cup
Santhosh S
23-Mar-2001
India XI beat Australia XI by 154 runs in the day/ night encounter at
the MA Chidmabaram Stadium, Chennai, on Friday to win the Siyaram's
Cup. The match was played for the benefit of the 'Gujarat Earthquake
Victims'. It was a noble gesture on the part of the touring
Australians and the Indian players to turn up for such an event.
Most of the leading Aussie players preferred to keep out, leaving it
to some select players who are touring India to join a few of their
mainstream players. Saurav Ganguly did not play in the match. Rahul
Dravid led the Indian side which was in full attendance.
In the afternoon, India XI won the toss and elected to bat. They made
338/8 in their allotted 40 overs. There was hardly any competitive
nature to the match as the batsmen unleashed a savage attack on the
bowling, much to the thrill of the packed stadium.
Sachin Tendulkar, the star attraction of the match, did not fail to
entertain the big crowd. He was at the crease for just 39 minutes
facing 49 balls to knock off 93 exhilarating runs of a hapless
bowling. He punctuated his explosive knock with 18 fours and 2 sixes.
Local lads S Ramesh (35), Hemang Badani (55) and Robin Singh (33) too
gave the crowd the opportunity to cheer their heroes. Vijay Dahiya
made an entertaining 50 with the help of six boundaries off just 32
balls. The Aussie veteran Greg Matthews added colour to the festive
occasion.
An Australian run chase was never a possibility against a full
strength Indian bowling attack. Javagal Srinath and Ajit Agarkar
bowled with a lot of fire. The Australians were all out for 184 in
27.1 overs. The two Australian one day specialists Darren Lehmann and
Michael Bevan gave glimpses of their ability with some lusty hitting.
Lehmann struck two mighty sixes and three boundaries to score 24 runs
off just nine balls. Bevan who has been in tremendous form in the
Australian domestic season, seems to have carried it with him to
India. He delighted the crowd with some exquisitely timed boundaries,
leaving the fielders watching the ball scream to the boundary. Bevan
made 58 off 35 balls with the help of 13 boundaries.
Justin Langer too got cracking in the middle order. He struggled
initially against the spin of Virendra Shewag (3/19), but went on to
make 53 runs off 39 balls. He struck six boundaries and three big
sixes. The big crowd that converged at the MA Chidambaram stadium had
their share of fun, with some big Mexican waves going around, when the
Aussie batsmen got a little defensive in the middle.
All the proceeds from this benefit match are to go to the Gujarat
Relief Fund. In another noble gesture, all district associations
affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association donated Rs 1.1 lakhs
to the relief fund.