Eight straight as resistance abates
All the 1999/2000 cricket season long, Australia has been the dominant force; the trend-setter; the irrefutable and almost unbeatable power. Prior to today, its players had taken it to an astonishing thirteen wins from fourteen matches, and rarely had any of the triumphs involved anything more than a gentle canter to the finishing post.
So, it was probably fitting then that one of the summer's most consequential matches, the First Final of the Carlton and United Series, should head the same way too. And that it did so in what was maybe even a more emphatic manner than most of the triumphs which have preceded it - this one recorded over Pakistan by the small matter of six wickets with forty-four balls to spare at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today - is adequately instructive in itself of the sheer strength of this outfit.
As regrettably seems to be the case in many cricketing Finals, this match briefly enjoyed a pyrotechnical start but little else in the way of drama as it then headed toward a maudlin climax. In all honesty, it was a tame match in terms of excitement and interest for the most part. In fact, from the time that Australian cricket's man of the moment, Glenn McGrath (3/17 off nine overs), joined with new ball partner Brett Lee (3/18 off eight overs and two balls) to precipitate a spectacular Pakistan top order collapse, the result was essentially never in doubt. In a regrettable spectacle for those craving a tight competitive tussle (that so rarely sighted species in this summer), it actually had much of the look of a World Cup Final re-run about it.
Less than forty-eight hours after receiving official acclamation of his status as the best cricketer in this outstanding team, it was the indomitable McGrath who was at the core of this win. His control was spellbinding; his rhythm was magnificent; and his accuracy was impeccable. Five deliveries into the contest, he had his first wicket when Shahid Afridi (0) perished to a ball which reared steeply off a length and, in the judgement of Umpire Simon Taufel, flicked glove on the way through to Adam Gilchrist. Talk about World Cup memories; this was an offering which was eerily reminiscent of the celebrated Shaun Pollock ball which removed Mark Waugh in his first over of the never to be forgotten semi-final at Edgbaston. Four balls later came McGrath's next scalp, that in the form of a loose edge from Ijaz Ahmed (0) to Shane Warne at slip. And the third was just another two balls in arriving - Inzamam-ul-Haq (0) trapped palpably lbw by the lanky New South Welshman. By this stage, the tourists had a mere four runs on the scoreboard and to utilise the word 'shellshocked' in the description of their demeanour was possibly understating the case.
Scarcely could any of his bowling teammates ever in their careers been provided with such a perfect platform to indulge themselves, and they duly relished their opportunity. On the back of McGrath's brilliance, the score was soon reduced to 5/28 at the end of fifteen overs and there was only one possible conclusion to the opening bout of these best of three deciders. What a way it was to start a campaign for back to back Allan Border Medals too!
With little left to faze them in the way of steadfast and intelligent batting on a pitch apparently devoid of too many tremors, Australia's attack was never subsequently threatened to any genuine extent. The visitors could indeed ultimately only make their way to a tally of 154 (from 48.2 overs) - that scoreline representing a frugal return after they had earlier won the toss in warm, sunny and generally batsman-friendly conditions.
While there was something of a recovery through the latter stages, the Pakistani effort was disappointing throughout. Serially, they found it almost impossible to deal with anything on or around the line of middle and off stump from the Australian pacemen. As if that was not bad enough, even the few players who made starts threw their hands away for the most part - Abdur Razzaq (24) and Azhar Mahmood (16) the most obvious examples after they had conceived thirty-one runs in liaison for the sixth wicket.
Only the lusty late hitting of Moin Khan (47) afforded the Australians any real concerns, and even he stumbled upon an unnecessary way to bring about his demise. Indeed, with his rush of blood to the head in slamming a Warne leg break straight down the throat of Damien Martyn at long off in the forty-sixth over, probably went any last semblance of a restoration of his team's aspirations at all. Prior to that moment, he had been the one man to even look like coming to grips with the attack; a magnificent six off Shane Lee over wide mid on in the forty-fifth over and then another to much the same position off Warne the delivery before his dismissal bringing considerable life to the almost silent contingent of Pakistani supporters in a surprisingly sparse crowd.
Through the evening session, Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar did his best to embark upon a mission to single-handedly transform proceedings, but there was neither the requisite support nor the requisite number of runs available to his team for the situation to change greatly. After Akhtar removed openers Gilchrist (9) and Mark Waugh (10) in quick succession, the stage was indeed left to those two great sources of dependability for their team, Michael Bevan (54) and Ricky Ponting (50), to quell any lingering suggestion of a Pakistani comeback.
Typically, their stand of seventy-seven runs for the third wicket was a mature one. Both players eschewed thoughts of executing too many bold strokes; controlled shots for singles and twos instead dominating their association. Each started slowly but inexorably they wrested the initiative from the Pakistan attack. Ponting played mainly through the off side and chiefly off the back foot, although it should be said that the two most memorable shots of his innings - a straight drive off Wasim Akram in he ninth over and a cover drive off Razzaq in the fourteenth - were, in fact, played from the front foot. With a glut of time available to him, Bevan meanwhile was in his element nudging into gaps on the leg side and simply defending deliveries away from his stumps.
Accordingly, the locals cruised to their 1-0 lead in the series and there remains only one chance left for Pakistan's players to prompt a radical revision to the complexion of the summer's proceedings. Just on the basis of form, it does not seem unreasonable to postulate, though, that the most likely outcome will be that the Australians will be travelling to New Zealand with seven successive Test and nine consecutive one-day international triumphs under their collective belt.
