Australia’s thumping win over India meant that they made it back to the top of the points table, reducing the damage afflicted by the two previous losses. From a purely cricketing perspective though what it has done is set up the tri-series nicely, with all three teams now having a decent chance of making it to the finals of the tournament. Picture this: Australia have gained 14 points from five games, with three wins and two losses; India have achieved 10 from the same number of matches, with two victories, two defeats and the tie against Sri Lanka. Speaking of the Lankans, they have clawed back well into the tournament after a disappointing start. After losing their opening two encounters, they did well to hold India to a tie before going on to overpower the Aussies. Presently, they have managed to garner seven points for more matches, and would be high on confidence going into their next encounter, against the Indians, who themselves would be looking to improve on their shabby showing against the Aussies at the Gabba, Brisbane. In short, neither team can claim to have been the dominant one in the tri-series so far. Australia may be ahead on points for now, but they can’t lay claim to being the best yet.

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.

One could see it coming. Sri Lanka had come perilously close to winning against Australia, and almost pulled off a tight win against India. On both occasions, the opposition somehow managed to hang on — Australia for a victory and India for a tie. However, on Friday at Sydney, the tide finally turned. Sri Lanka put in a completely ruthless performance with both bat and ball as well as in the field as the Aussies were embarrassingly crushed on the day Ricky Ponting returned to lead the side in the absence of their injured regular skipper Michael Clarke. It did not help that Ponting continued to struggle for runs in the 50-over format. He registered his fourth consecutive score of under 10. Except for the in-form David Hussey no one in the Aussie line-up got a decent score, as a result of which the home side ended up with a below-par score. All credit to Sri Lanka though for the manner in which they rolled over the Aussies.

By: The Pinch Hitter

Ever since The Pinch Hitter was introduced to cricket at the age of nine, he fell in love with the gentleman’s game. While his desire to take up the sport professionally remained unfulfilled, he substituted the bat with the pen. And since 2003, he has been commenting on the sport for various magazines, websites, enjoying every moment of it. With ‘Over the top’ he hopes to continue enlightening and enlivening ‘cricket companions’ the write way.