Slaughter – or was it suicide?

Brutal batting from Matthew Hayden set the tone for the rest of the match. Striding down the pitch in the manner of a man no longer prepared to brook any nonsense, he demolished the pace bowlers. Moving across the crease, he tore apart the tweakers. No one was shown the slightest respect. India might as well have been firing peas at a tank.

Sensing India’s frailty, the Australian openers did not waste any time taking a look at the bowling. No team has ever been better at crushing a distracted rival. Hayden started a little slower than Adam Gilchrist but did not take long to catch up. Before long India was under attack from both ends, a feeling with which its batsmen are familiar.

Previously Hayden has been prepared to play second fiddle. Now he grabbed the score and dictated his own tempo. As far as the bowlers were concerned, there was nowhere to hide, no refuge from the gathering storm.

Hayden took a particular liking to the bowling of Irfan Pathan, driving and pulling the youngster with relish. The Queenslander is the most physical batsman the game has known since Viv Richards and is not afraid to throw his weight around. Standing a foot forward of the crease at address, the muscular opener is an intimidating sight.

Only the strongest bowler can withstand the onslaught, and they are few and far between in this age of helmets and docile surfaces. Throughout the Queenslander was at his most vengeful, his inner fury evident in every blast of his bat.

Pathan was treated to words, gestures and ferocious hits calculated to put a precocious youngster in his place. Not that Pathan is an innocent in need of protection. His rudeness towards Damien Martyn was unnecessary; perhaps it can all be put down to the sapping effects of a long season. Generally it has been a well conducted series of matches.

Hayden did not spare the other bowlers, stepping out to pull a respectable delivery off the front foot, repeatedly popping the ball through mid-wicket with a curious shot and driving powerfully on both sides of the wicket. Also he swept regularly, thereby airing the stroke that turned his career around in India three years ago. Towards the end he widened his range, unfurling late cuts and lifts over cover.

Even Hayden’s dismissal did not bring respite as Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke produced some astonishing innovations. Symonds hits hard from a short backswing and played precisely the required innings. His adaptability has become a strong point and the selectors deserve credit for spotting his potential and retaining faith in him through a long apprenticeship.

Clarke was scintillating. Just watching him run between wickets is fun because he is light on his feet and moves without apparent effort. Using the pace of the ball, he created runs by angling his bat. Youngsters are not supposed to know about that sort of thing.

India were overwhelmed. Although the fast bowlers did not start as badly as in the World Cup final the result was the same. Sourav Ganguly was powerless to stop the flow of runs. His bowlers lacked accuracy and penetration, his fieldsmen were spread far and wide and as usual the umpires were not giving anything (the sooner leg before and caught behinds are put in the hands of the third umpire the better).

Although the margin of victory was extreme, the result of the series did reflect the gulf between the sides. Not for the first time Ganguly’s bowlers lacked the control and experience needed to check an innings once it was underway. Defeat was inevitable because Australia is incomporably better balanced in 50-over cricket, which is more of a team game. The senior batsmen carried the side in the Test matches. Now energy and form deserted them and the rest was predictable.

India lost so heavily because it could not recover the intensity shown in the Test matches. Nor could it win the battles of the new balls. For them it was time to go home and to reflect upon their achievements and to ponder upon weak points revealed in the cricket crucible of the period.