IPL 5: Delhi beat Punjab to seal playoff berth

Mahela Jayawardene's scored a match-winning 56 to help Delhi Daredevils beat Kings XI Punjab in the 64th match of the Indian Premier League at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi. Delhi managed to reach the target with an over to spare as they consolidated their position at the top of the table with 20 points and become the first team to seal the playoff berth.

Parvinder Awana (3 for 22) was exceptional with the ball for visitors, especially early on, when they had slumped to 37 for 4, but Naman Ojha (34 off 29) and Irfan Pathan (19 off 10) provided enough support to help Jayawardene confirm Delhi's place in the last four.

This was after the DD top-order failed once again as both Virender Sehwag (9) and David Warner (14) promised a lot of fireworks as 21 runs came off the first two overs but Praveen Kumar gave Punjab early breakthrough in the third over when he dismissed David Warner (14). But Praveen Kumar gave Punjab breakthrough in the third over when he dismissed David Warner.

Soon Awana also struck with the very first ball to dismiss Sehwag in the fourth over as the hosts were reduced to 28 for 2. Then Awana struck twice in the sixth over to dismiss Ross Taylor (0) and Venugopal Rao (7). Awana's effort rocked Delhi run chase. But the gritty Sri Lankan batsman consolidated Delhi's innings as he added 58 runs for the fifth wicket with Naman Ojha (34).

Piyush Chawla dismissed Naman Ojha in the the fourteenth over to reduce Delhi to 95 for 5. But Jayawardene and Pathan added 45 runs for the sixth wicket to help the home team clinch a superb victory.

Earlier, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron produced a fantastic bowling effort for Delhi as they restricted Punjab to a modest 138 for 8. Yadav (3 for 21) and Aaron (2 for 19) shared five wickets between them, while the fielders took some sharp catches as well as inflicting two run-outs.

Punjab's skipper David Hussey top-scored for the visitors with an unbeaten 40 off 35 balls, but he lacked any real support from his teammates. There were no significant partnership as Hussey was the only batsmen trying to take the attack back to the opposition.

Opting to bat first, Punjab were dealt an early blow after Shaun Marsh fell in the fourth over for 13. He tried to flick Aaron on the leg side and instead sent a fine edge to wicketkeeper Naman Ojha. Mandeep Singh (21) hit a few streaky boundaries but he soon fell to Aaron as he was smartly caught by Sehwag.

Punjab were then dealt another blow as Nitin Saini (15) took a long walk back to the pavilion as he edged a ball that moved away from Yadav to Sehwag at first slip. Punjab were struggling at 54 for 3 at this stage. David Miller (4) was then run out by a Pawan Negi direct hit to leave Punjab on 63 for 4 at the halfway stage.

Hussey and Azhar Mahmood (9) tried to do a repair job, but all went in vain as Umesh send back Mahmood courtesy of a stunning catch at wide long-off by Irfan Pathan. Last match's hero Gurkeerat Singh Ahluwalia (8) hit two boundaries but then a classical left-arm spinner's delivery from Negi got better of him. Piyush Chawla (10) helped the Kings past 100 in a 29-run stand with Hussey, but after he fell, the visitors battled and eventually set 139 for victory.

IPL 5: Punjab thrash listless Deccan by 25 runs

 

Hyderabad: An all-round show helped Kings XI Punjab to thrash listless Deccan Chargers by 25 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Tuesday.

Deccan were left stranded at 145 for 8 after the completion of 20 overs. There was some fight back offered by Akshath Reddy (24) and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (19), but not enough to take them through. For Punjab - Praveen Kumar, David Hussey and Parvinder Awana claimed two wickets each.

The run-chase for Deccan didn’t get off to a great start as Punjab struck in the second over to remove the in-form Shikhar Dhawan (8) cheaply caught at first slip off Praveen. In the fifth over, Awana got the better of Parthiv Patel, who has been quite inconsistent this season. After scoring a six and four in the same over, Awana made a great comeback to clean up Patel for 17 off 13 balls.

With Daniel Harris still at the crease and Cameron White joining him at the middle and seemed to do some repair work, but David Hussey had other plans. In his first over, Hussey scalped Harris first and then White to reduce Deccan to 72 for 4. Deccan were looking down the barrel and expected their captain to do a rescue act, but Kumar Sangakkara (4) fell in the very next over. The Deccan skipper got a gem of a ball going away a bit that took the edge and was taken beautifully by wicketkeeper Nitin Saini diving to his left. 

Earlier, Mandeep Singh smashed a 48-ball 75 to help Punjab post a dominating 170 for 5 after put into to bat first. The young opener continued with his good run and scored eight fours and three sixes to set the tone for his team at the start. Moreover, Mandeep stitched in 55 runs for the opening wicket with Shaun Marsh.

However, Marsh (22) looked in good touch but was not able to capitalise on the start and was bowled while stepping out to Dhawan off a flighted delivery. Soon after Saini fell to leave Punjab at 58 for 2 in 7.4 overs. But these wickets didn’t deter Mandeep and he kept the scoring rate going along with David Hussey, who hit one six and a four in his 16 runs off equal number of balls.

When Punjab were going steady at 130 in 15 overs, Ashish Reddy got rid of Mandeep when he had his off-stump pegged back while the opener was looking for a big slog. While Azhar Mahmood played a handy nine-ball 14 which included two hits to the boundary before getting run out in the 17th over. But David Miller’s late surge of 28 runs at the end helped Punjab to a big total. For Deccan, Ashish took two wickets while Dhawan and Veer Pratap Singh chipped in with one wicket each.

IPL 5: Rajasthan thump Punjab to stay alive

Rajasthan Royals produced an all-round show as they thumped Kings XI Punjab by 43 runs to end their four-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday. Chasing 178 for a win, KXIP were in the game only for a brief while when opener Shaun Marsh (34) was going great guns with some lusty hits but once he was out in the ninth over it was all over for the home side as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

Chasing a competitive 178, Punjab got off to shaky start losing opener Mandeep Singh in the second over to Shane Watson. Marsh then up the ante with some big shots but soon Punjab lost their skipper David Hussey and Punjab were reduced to 55 for 3 in eight overs. But just when Marsh looked settled, Johan Botha unleashed a peach of a delivery to clean bowled the left-hander. 

Azhar Mahmood and Gurkeerat Singh tried to stabilise the innings but with the run-rate rising with every passing over, Punjab's defeat looked inevitable and the home team managed 134 for 8 in their allotted overs.

Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals compiled a challenging 177 for 6 in their IPL encounter with the Punjab. Skipper Rahul Dravid crafted a classy 46 and was ably complimented by Shane Watson, Ashok Menaria and Brad Hodge. Having won the toss and elected to bat first, Dravid lost his opening partner Ajinkya Rahane (5) in the second over, as he was caught behind off Ryan Harris' second ball.

Dravid and the powerful Shane Watson then shared a 71-run stand, with Watson scoring 36 off just 17 balls, including two massive sixes. But the legspinner scalped him, as he was caught in the deep by Harris. Dravid then follwed back to the pavilion in the fourteenth over. Dravid hit eight four in his 39-ball innings. He had added 41 with Menaria (34) for the third wicket before he took long walk back. Maneria carried on the tempo with some lusty hits. He was though lucky as he was dropped near the boundary by Mandeep Singh. He was eventually in the 16th over and became Chawla's second victim.

Brad Hodge then played a cameo of 36 off 23 balls, with a pair of sixes and fours. Johan Botha chipped in with a couple of fours himself, as Rajasthan set a testing target. Harris, however, had the last laugh as he claimed Hodge's wicket in the final over. For Punjab, Ryan Harris and Piyush Chawla picked up two wickets apiece. Praveen Kumar once again remained wicketless and went for 32 runs. Awana gave away 34 runs and Mahmood proved expensive giving away 37 in the four overs he bowled.

IPL 5: Nervous Punjab hold on to beat Bangalore

Kings XI Punjab kept their nerves towards the end of their chase to register a four-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in an Indian Premier League (IPL) nail-biter at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. Chasing 159 to win, the visitors were on their way to an easy win at one time with just 13 runs needed to close out the match, but a flurry of wickets, especially three run-outs, took the match into the last over.

With five runs required in the last over to win, Piyush Chawla smashed Vinay Kumar for a six off the fifth ball to see his team home.

Nitin Saini (50), David Hussey (45) and Mandeep Singh (43) played crucial hands in the chase. This was Punjab’s second successive win and now they lie fourth in the standings with five wins in 10 matches, while Bangalore lost their second successive match to be 6th.

Punjab got off to a good start with Mandeep and Shaun Marsh adding 38 off 28 balls. Mandeep did the bulk of the scoring in a 38-run partnership that was ended by Andrew McDonald, who cleaned up Marsh for 8. Mandeep was impressive during his innings before being trapped in front of the stumps by K Appanna. His wicket gave Punjab some hope but Saini and captain Hussey were determined to take the team over the line, especially Saini who showed a lot of nous during his stay. He and Hussey added 73 to take the visitors within 13 runs of victory. But those 13 runs took a lot of getting with Saini falling to Zaheer Khan and the run-outs of Abhishek Nayar, Hussey and Azhar Mahmood.

Earlier, after being put into bat, Bangalore lost Mayank Agarwal early as Aussie Ryan Harris – playing his first match this season - sent his off-stump cartwheeling with only seven runs on the board. Virat Kohli joined Chris Gayle and began a partnership that at one time threatened to take the game away from the visitors. Parvinder Awana and Chawla in particular were at the receiving end as Gayle played some mutilating shots. Both added 119 runs off 83 balls as the team headed for a big total but Punjab’s Pakistani import Mahmood came back to end the West Indian’s innings with a well-aimed bouncer in the 16th over.

Gayle scored 71 off 42 balls with six boundaries and four sixes to take his IPL tally to 407 runs in nine matches this season. One of his sixes travelled 111 metres, an IPL 5 record. Chawla then got in on the act and accounted for Kohli in the next over. The India batsman made 45 off 42 balls and played a perfect foil to Gayle. The twin blow reined in the hosts’ innings. The Mahmood-led Punjab bowling came up trumps yielding just 36 runs in the last five overs. Mahmood, who also has the citizenship of England, sent back McDonald and AB de Villiers in the last over to restrict Bangalore to 158 for 5, which was at least 20 runs fewer.

India out of CB series as Sri Lanka beat Australia

Melbourne: Lasith Malinga sparked a top-order collapse as Sri Lanka claimed a thrilling nine-run win over Australia to book their place in the limited-overs tri-series finals.

David Hussey hit 74 runs off 74 balls in a last-gasp attempt to salvage a win for Australia, but was dismissed in the first ball of the final over.

Sri Lanka needed a win on Friday in front of a large crowd of supporters at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to advance to the finals against Australia. A loss would have seen India go through.

"We lifted our game," Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said. "I'm sure the crowd will follow us now, the lift that we got (from them), it pushed us in the last few overs."

Malinga (4-49) claimed the important wickets of David Warner, Peter Forrest and Shane Watson to help Sri Lanka defend their innings of 238.

Australia's Dan Christian earlier claimed a hat-trick among his five dismissals, but half-centuries from Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne proved enough to guide Sri Lanka to a winning total.

Australia made an assured - albeit short-lived - start to their run chase as Warner made 6 from six balls before being dismissed by Malinga in the third over. Fellow-opener Matthew Wade was out two balls later after making 9 off 12 balls when he was trapped lbw by Nuwan Kulasekara. The collapse continued as Forrest was caught behind for 2 off Malinga in the next over, leaving Australia at 26-3.

Shane Watson set about restoring Australia's impetus, sharing 87 runs with Mike Hussey until Hussey was caught behind for 29 off Thirimanne.

Watson made 65 off 83 balls before he was bowled middle stump by Malinga and Christian was caught and bowled by Sachithra Senanayake for 3.

James Pattinson, who returned from injury to play his first ODI of the series, was caught by Tillekeratne Dilshan at mid-wicket for 12 off Rangana Herath and Australia's hopes looked to be fading when Clint McKay was run out for 6 two overs later.

David Hussey hit a big six into the stands in the 48th over to leave Australia needing 17 runs off 17 balls, but Xavier Doherty popped a catch to Dilshan off Malinga in the next over to leave the target at 13 runs off 10 balls.

"A brilliant game of cricket," Watson said "You never knew who was going to win. Dave Hussey batted beautifully, as he's shown through the summer so far."

Allrounder Christian earlier had figures of 5-51, while paceman Pattinson took 4-51 as Sri Lankan opening pair Jayawardene and Tillekeratne Dilshan got the tourists off to a poor start after Jayawardene won the toss and elected to bat.

Jayawardene (5) was run out in the second over, as he attempted a risky single and was beaten by a David Hussey direct hit.

Pattinson claimed his first wicket a short time later when he had Dilshan (9) caught behind.

Sangakkara and Chandimal then combined to steady the innings, while building up the run rate with a 123-run third-wicket partnership.

Sangakkara was eventually caught at deep square leg by Forrest off Pattinson for 64 and Chandimal became Pattinson's third victim when he was caught by Clint McKay at mid-off. His 75 came off 84 balls with three fours and a six.

Dan Christian removed Angelo Mathews for 5 when Doherty claimed an athletic running catch near the mid-on boundary.

Perera (5) was caught off a Christian ball two overs later on the deep mid-wicket boundary by Michael Hussey, who grabbed the ball, threw it into play and re-caught it to save six runs. Christian struck again with the next ball to trap Senanayake lbw for a duck and completed the hat-trick when he dismissed Kulasekara in similar fashion without scoring.

Thirimanne was out for 51 in the 49th over when he played a Pattinson ball onto his stumps, and Christian completed his five-wicket haul by bowling Malinga for 2 with the last ball of the innings.

Australia maul India by 110 runs

Brisbane: Riding on Ben Hilfenhaus' maiden five-wicket haul in one-day internationals, Australia bundled out India for 178 to win the seventh match of the tri-series by 110 runs in Brisbane on Sunday. India's chase of 289 was over before it started when they failed to recover from three early strikes. Australia now have 14 points from five matches while India are second in the table with 10 points from five games.

It was again the batting which failed India, particularly the top order. From a scoreline of 36 for 4, only MS Dhoni stood out with a battling 56 as India were handed a heavy defeat. Hilfenhaus, returning to Australia's one-day side after a long gap, finished with career-best figures of 5 for 33 that included the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar (3).

After early wickets, there was no consolidation from the lower-order, other than the stand of 46 between Dhoni and Suresh Raina (28) for the fifth wicket. The Indian batsmen fell prey to some brilliant bowling by Hilfenhaus and Brett Lee (3 for 49) and never recovered from their new-ball strikes.

After electing to bat, Australia got off to a good start as David Warner (43) and Matthew Wade (45) added 70. Wade was dropped by Rohit Sharma on 0 off the second ball of the innings and made the Indians pay, while Michael Hussey enjoyed three reprieves during his game-changing 59 off 52 balls. India had done well to get rid of Warner and Ricky Ponting, but failed to go for the kill.

Wade and newcomer Peter Forrest played watchfully and kept the scoreboard ticking. MS Dhoni made the folly of continuing with fill-in spinners Suresh Raina and Rohit, and even Rohit's dismissal of Wade – who chipped a simple return catch back to the bowler – failed to stop Australia from posting a big total.

Michael Hussey's innings began in bizarre circumstances. On 1, he stretched forward to a delivery from Raina that beat the bat, and Dhoni took off the bails in a flash. The on-field umpires went upstairs, and after replays showed Hussey had dragged his back foot in, the third umpire Bruce Oxenford inexplicably pressed the 'out' button. This mistake was corrected immediately and the on-field umpires called Michael Hussey back.

Hussey was dropped on 13 by Rohit at short midwicket off Raina, and stamped his authority with a 100-run stand with Forrest. Irfan Pathan struck to remove both batsman in the 44th over, but David Hussey and Daniel Christian plundered 110 runs from the last 10 overs. In the 49th over Christian hit four consecutive boundaries off Vinay Kumar, and his unbeaten 30 off 18 balls took his team's score to 288.

Sri Lanka thrash Australia by 8 wickets for first win

Sydney: Mahela Jayawardene smashed an unbeaten half-century to lead Sri Lanka to a commanding eight-wicket win over Australia and back into limited-overs tri-series finals contention on Friday.

Australia were bowled out for just 158, their lowest ODI total at the Sydney Cricket Ground since 1997, after the match was reduced to 41-over innings due to a two-hour rain interruption.

Faced with an amended victory target of 152 after adjustments made under the Duckworth-Lewis Method, the Sri Lankans wasted no time in aggressively chasing down their first win of the tri-series.

Jayawardene carried his bat for 61 not out off 67 balls as the Sri Lankans reached the winning total in just the 25th over.

"We needed a start," Jayawardene said. "I have done opening before, and thankfully it worked today. We knew we had to win today."

India lead the series by a point from Australia, while Sri Lanka, with a bonus point, are only two behind the host side.

Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan shared an almost run-a-ball 74-run opening partnership as the Australia bowlers failed to make an impression.

Dilshan made 45 off 41 balls before Clint McKay (1-23) finally make a breakthrough when he had the opener caught at slip by David Hussey in the 12th over.

Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara then shared 59 runs until Sangakkara was caught by Xavier Doherty at mid-on off Brett Lee (1-42), leaving Sri Lanka requiring 21 runs with 20 overs remaining. Sangakkara had 30 off 29 balls, and became the 10th man to pass 10,000 ODI runs, and the third Sri Lankan.

David Hussey's aggressive 58 off 64 balls was the sole highlight for Australia's innings as the hosts were dismissed two balls short of their 41 overs.

Man of the Match Thisera Perera returned figures of 2-29, as well as being responsible for a run-out. Farveez Maharoof had 2-18 and took the important catch of opener David Warner.

"The pitch didn't have the sort of pace we thought it had, and their bowlers capitalized," stand-in captain Ricky Ponting said. "Full credit to Sri Lanka, they bowled and fielded really well, and played their shots in the chase."

Hussey shared a 49-run, ninth-wicket partnership with tailender Mitchell Starc (17) which saved Australia from total capitulation.

Warner made just 13 before being caught by Maharoof off Lasith Malinga (1-42) and Ponting faced just 10 balls before being caught and bowled by Maharoof for 2.

Wade was run out on 15 in the next over thanks to some athletic fielding from Perera at short-cover.

Michael Hussey was caught behind off Angelo Mathews (1-26) for 13, before Maharoof claimed his second wicket when he had Peter Forrest caught by Mathews for 16.

Perera trapped Dan Christian lbw for 6 to leave Australia at 81-6 when rain interrupted play.

Clint McKay faced just eight balls after the resumption of play before he was out lbw to Rangana Herath (1-12) for 3 and Brett Lee failed to score before he was run out.

Australia meet India on Sunday in Brisbane.

India seal thriller against Australia

Adelaide: India held their nerves to conjure up a four-wicket victory by chasing down a target of 270 with two balls to spare in their tri-series encounter against Australia on Sunday.

Needing 13 runs off the last over, MS Dhoni hit a massive six on the third Clint McKay delivery after R Ashwin took a single off the second. Dhoni then made full use of an over-the-waist full toss - which was declared a no-ball by the umpire Nigel Llong – to get back on strike and sealed the match with another pull shot that resulted in three scampered runs.

Dhoni remained unbeaten on 44, along with Ashwin (1). McKay was the most successful Australian bowler, picking up three wickets, while Xavier Doherty also took two wickets with his left-arm spin.

Chasing a competitive total, Virender Sehwag (20) and Gautam Gambhir (92) gave India a rousing start, hitting boundaries at will. Both batsmen played some exquisite cover drives as India reached 50 in the ninth over. But like so many occasions in the recent past, Sehwag departed when he tried to fetch a leg-sided delivery by McKay, only to balloon it and giving a simple catch to David Hussey at backward point.

Virat Kohli was the next to go, his dismissal the result of hitting too many good shots straight to fielders. He was caught at sweeper cover by Peter Forrest off McKay. Rohit Sharma replaced Kohli and got himself going with a few well-stolen singles. His first boundary, a six, was a fierce pull shot off Mitchell Starc. Meanwhile, Gambhir completed his half-century in 63 balls. But when things were looking good for India, Rohit threw his wicket away and gave Australia a chance to claw their way back.

Clearly perturbed by his partner's wicket, Gambhir too played some high-risk shots before he shuffled across the stumps and was adjudged lbw off McKay, his third wicket of the innings. As his wicket fell in the 34th over, Dhoni and Suresh Raina saw off the batting Powerplay, taking only 18 runs in those five overs.

Raina broke the shackles by hitting Doherty for a six in the mid-wicket region, and the two then concentrated on taking some quick singles and doubles till Raina was yorked by Doherty to leave India needing 31 runs off 23 balls. Ravindra Jadeja contributed 12, before leaving Ashwin to see India through along with Dhoni.

Earlier, India's bowlers had restricted the Australian scoring rate in the last ten overs, giving away just three boundaries in that period. Vinay Kumar and Umesh Yadav picked up two wickets each while Zaheer Khan got one. The other three Aussie batsmen were run out.

Australia changed their opening combination as Ricky Ponting started the innings in place of Matthew Wade, along with David Warner. Ponting looked out of sorts from the beginning, and Vinay provided India their first breakthrough when Ponting hit his swirling delivery into the hands of Kohli at backward point.

Michael Clarke looked in ominous touch as he raced to 25 in just 17 deliveries, hitting four crisp fours either side of the wicket. Warner's wicket after a terrible mix-up with Clarke put the brakes on the Australian scoring. Clarke then departed when Yadav, after bowling consistently around the 150 kph mark, bowled one of 121 kph, completely deceiving the Australian skipper, who chopped on while trying to fetch the ball from well outside off-stump.

Yadav was the pick of the Indian bowlers, but Forrest, who made his debut, used Umesh’s pace to register his first boundary in ODI cricket. The right-hander also looked extremely comfortable against the spinners, using his feet to both Jadeja and Ashwin, and he got to his maiden half-century in 70 deliveries.

At the other end, Hussey (72) made his intentions clear from the outset, stealing singles on a regular basis and hitting fours on loose deliveries. But Yadav returned to provide India the much-needed breakthrough when he had Forrest caught at the square-leg fence for 66. The wicket also ended the 98-run stand for the fourth wicket between Forrest and Hussey.

Daniel Christian (39) also took the attack to the Indians from the word go. But a terrific diving catch at square-leg by Sehwag sent Hussey back and then Christian ran himself out against the run of play as India pulled things back by bowling plenty of dot balls in the final overs.

Aus crush Ind by 65 runs in tri-series opener

Melbourne: Team India capitulated to 151 all out, giving Australia a 65-run win in the rain affected opening match of the Commonwealth Bank tri-series in Melbourne on Sunday.

Clint McKay took 4-20 as the visitors lost complete interest in the match after the rain break and never looked close to mounting a fightback. For India, Virat Kohli top scored with 31.

Chasing a huge target of 217 runs to win, India were bundled out for 151 in 29.4 overs. Mitchell Starc tormented India early on when he got the prized scalps of Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir. Tendulkar faced six balls and scored two runs while Gambhir fell for five.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli added 51 runs for the third wicket to get India back on the track, but Clint McKay got rid of both the Indian batsmen to leave the world champions reeling.

Suresh Raina's problems against the short ball continued as he became Dan Christian's, the second Australian debutant in the game, first victim at ODI cricket when he spliced one to mid-on.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (29) and Ravindra Jadeja (19) looked to push things on, but they couldn't find the boundaries and it wasn't too long before both found themselves back in the hut.

McKay finished the game off and collected figures of four for 20 when Praveen Kumar holed out to Ryan Harris at long-on.

Earlier Australia rode on half-centuries from debutant Matthew Wade and David Hussey and a brilliant cameo from Michael Hussey as they posted 217 for five in their 32 overs.

After winning the toss and electing to field first, Australia were 35-2 when rain forced the players off the field after eleven overs and play was delayed for almost three hours. When play eventually resumed, India looked like they would take charge again when Michael Clarke chipped Rohit Sharma to deep midwicket when at 10, but Michael Hussey had other ideas.

His brilliant running between the wickets and sublime touches put India's fielders under all sorts of pressure. It also gave Wade the necessary freedom to play his natural game. The left-handed opener went to his maiden half-ton off 55 balls.

Unbeaten on 21 at the rain break, Wade attacked Rohit Sharma's second over by lifting him to widish long on. He then ran and dived for every opportunity before reaching his maiden half century with a tap on the onside. Introduction of legspinner Rahul Sharma brought the much-needed edge in the visitors' bowling and the youngster broke the stand when he had Wade playing him on to his stumps.

The Hussey brothers kept India on the backfoot, though, by hustling and bustling between the wickets. Michael fell five runs short of his half-century, but David kept going and a couple of lofty shots in the final few overs saw him reach his half-century off just 28 balls.

He finished 61 not out from 33 balls with debutant Dan Christian unbeaten on 17. India, opted to rest Virender Sehwag for the match and went in with two spinners.