The pitch was dry, India relied on spin, and Australia were driven by Brad Haddin, who oscillated between urgent nudges and calculated risks, and the game hung in balance at the
half-way mark in Motera. Australia had the edge but Haddin's dismissal in the 23rd over, brought India back in the game. Even as the Australian innings snaked through to the 25-over mark, the question that hung in the hot and humid air was: what's a good target on this pitch? Ricky Ponting said at the toss that 250 has been a reasonable score on this pitch in the past and the way they approached the innings indicated that Australia were aiming for something between 250-270.Haddin had played a superb hand to lay a great platform but didn't carry on, driving Yuvraj Singh to cover where Suresh Raina took a sharp catch. Even the mode of that dismissal was in concurrence with the Australian plan: play out Zaheer Khan, treat R Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh with caution and try to take on Munaf Patel and Yuvraj.
One six, hit against Ashwin in the seventh over, perfectly captured Haddin's mindset and proved to be the turning point. There was a lot of skill, a bit of risk, and a touch of apprehension as he followed the trajectory of the ball, hoping it would clear the long-on fielder. The ball had kicked up a puff of dust as it landed around off and turned in, but Haddin just leaned forward and extended his arms through the line and with the turn. His innings turned after that single shot. Until then, he was almost waging an inner battle; whether to hit or rein himself in on this pitch, especially against Ashwin, and reached 7 from 16 deliveries. He played a nervous chip shot over the infield, dragged an attempted lofted hit to square-leg and jabbed at a few. That six freed his mind.
He got increasingly confident against spin; not that he dealt in big hits, but looked more assured in defense as well. As the overs ticked by, you could sense he was waiting for India to bring on Munaf Patel and when they did in the 14th over, he turned brutal. The first delivery was crashed over wide mid-off, the second almost decapitated the bowler, and the last was walloped over mid-on. Thirteen runs came in the over as Australia jumped to 65 for 1 and India immediately turned to all-spin attack by bringing on Yuvraj Singh.
Until Haddin hit that six, it was Shane Watson who looked the more assured of the openers. He wasn't too aggressive but rarely let a bad delivery go unpunished. The poor deliveries usually came in the end of the overs - thrice off the last ball- and Watson cashed in. He slog-swept Ashwin in the third over, flicked, on drove and swiped Zaheer for fours but fell, just as Australia were appearing to take complete control. It was the final delivery of the 10th over, from Ashwin, but Watson was beaten by the slower pace and was bowled, failing to connect with his sweep shot to a delivery that turned from outside off.
Watson's exit cleared the stage for an age-old battle: Ponting v Harbhajan. The attack was mainly from round the stumps and Ponting repeatedly shuffled to his right to work it with the turn. He continued to deal in singles as he slowly settled in for the big haul.
