One throw that turned the dice

A struggling Symonds and the ball in his hand with a clear view of the stumps 8212; Harbhajan8217;s eyes lit up but he didn8217;t carried away. Not opting for direct hit, he threw the ball on the bounce to Yuvraj Singh who broke the stumps.

The sequence of events that followed Symonds8217; run out for 20 played a big role in Australia getting restricted to 166/5 after they were threatening to cross the 200 mark as they were 110/2 after 12 overs.

Sreesanth had just gone for 14 runs in the 12th over, and with Symonds and Ponting well set, 10 runs per over didn8217;t look too far-fetched. But the run out changed the complexion of the game.

In the next four overs there was no boundary. The two overs by Harbhajan and one each by Murali Kartik and Irfan Pathan saw the Aussies scoring just 17 runs. There was a sudden break in the scoring pattern and the Indians put their foot in the door that was slightly left ajar by the Aussies.

Ironically, it was Sreesanth again who broke the lull as he was hit for four boundaries in his 18th over. But RP Singh8217;s discipline in the final over saw the Aussies restricted to just 166/5.

SCOREBOARD

Australia

A Gilchrist b RP Singh 12

M Hayden b Harbhajan 17

R Ponting b Pathan 76

A Symonds run out 20

B Hodge b Pathan 2

M Clarke not out 25

B Haddin not out 5

Extras lb2, w7: 9

Total For 5 wkts, 20 overs: 166

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-60, 3-110, 4-116, 5-158

Bowling: RP Singh 4-0-39-1, Sreesanth 4-0-47-0, Pathan 4-0-34-2, Harbhajan 4-0-17-1, Kartik 4-0-27-0

India

G Gambhir c Ponting b Hilfenhaus 63

V Sehwag c Gilchrist b Lee 5

R Uthappa c Gilchrist b Clarke 35

Y Singh not out 31

M Dhoni not out 9

Extras lb12, w9, nb3: 24

Total For 3 wkts, 18.1 overs: 167

Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-102, 3-143

Bowling: Lee 3.1-0-35-1, Bracken 2-0-19-0, Hilfenhaus 4-0-28-1, Clark 4-0-33-0, Symonds 3-0-26-0, Clarke 2-0-14-1