Pretoria: A confident India A, boosted by Shikhar Dhawan’s brilliant double century, will take on their consistent Australian counterparts in what promises to be a high-scoring tri-series final on an absolute featherbed at the LC de Villiers Stadium here tomorrow.
India have lost both their round robin league matches against the Australians by close margins but Cheteshwar Pujara and Co will hope that ‘Law of Averages’ catches up with the opposition side.
India A will certainly go into the match with a lot of confidence after yesterday’s ‘Dhawan Mayhem’ against the Proteas but Australia, who have been the best side in the tournament, will certainly chalk out some elaborate plans to stop the star-studded rival batting line-up.
All eyes will be on Dhawan, who has dazzled with his superb strokeplay, and one would expect him to fire when it matters the most.
As far as batting is concerned, India have ticked all the boxes in the tri-series with each and every top-order batsmen getting runs. While Dhawan, with 348 runs from three games (one game rested), leads the tally, skipper Pujara has come back to form with a half-century and a century in successive games.
While Rohit Sharma has been a picture of consistency with a hat-trick of 50s, Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina have also chipped in with useful contributions.
Meanwhile, the regularity with which Shikhar Dhawan hit boundaries off his bowlers made Justin Ontong feel as if he was watching a “highlights package” where only boundaries and sixes are shown. Dhawan hit 30 boundaries and seven sixes in his unbelievable 248 against SA A in a tri-series encounter on Monday.
“Dhawan summed up conditions quickly. Every shot he hit found the gap or went over the fielders. It was like watching a highlights package. He hit so many good shots, it’s hard to pick out one that stood out. There were a few sixes that went into the construction site,” Ontong told ESPN Cricinfo after the match.
The South African ODI specialist termed it the best ever innings he has watched. “It was probably the best one-day innings I’ve seen. But I am also really proud of the boys. We showed some character when we were batting and if someone batted through, we could have won the game. Ontong expressed his helplessness that his bowlers were unable to stop Dhawan.
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