They were an unglamorous set of cramps, compared to the other night. When Mitchell Marsh’s feet started feeling funny in a terrible way, while leading Australia’s chase of 307 against Bangladesh in Pune’s scorching afternoon, he rationed his celebrations upon reaching 100. He was consciously trying to control his heart-rate, so the cramps wouldn’t go out of control.
After the wobble of 91/7 at Wankhede against Afghanistan, the Australian top order was on high alert and determined to get a seamless chase under its belt. It’s why captain Pat Cummins chose to field first on a belter. And Marsh made the run-a-ball pursuit almost uneventful with his unbeaten 177 after Glenn Maxwell had had to pull them out of a serious batting funk against Afghanistan and sat out this one, grabbing a breather. The Aussies won by 8 wickets in a much-needed saunter.
It took Marsh time to win the Pune crowd over, though the ‘Bison’ as he is called, teed off whacking the Bangla bowlers from the fourth over itself. Mahedi Hasan, who opened the bowling with Taskin, was creamed through the covers first, then edged past first slip with a chunky bat on the stroke and finally Marsh rose to his full height to drive between mid-off and extra cover in one over that went for 13.
Bookended by solid knocks from David Warner (53 off 61) and Steve Smith (63* off 64 of which he ran 41), Marsh was merely slotting in at his No. 3 and getting the job done after the fumble of Wankhede.
He was asked about support from the crowd that got behind him when he got to 94 pulling a short one from Mehidy Hasan Miraz and then dealt in singles till he got to 100, getting stuck a tad on four dot balls from the other offie, Mahedi Hasan. The unassuming batter would chuckle, “I’m not sure they came to watch us, they came for guys like Maxwell and Warner. Even Steve Smith is very grand in India!”
Heading into yet another World Cup semifinal, and with the Aussie penchant for back-to-back top performances when knockouts fetch up, South Africa will be wary of the least-heralded batsman amongst the top order with big names.
It’s a sign of just how relaxed and happy this Aussie unit quilted by Pat Cummins, coach Andrew McDonald and other support staff Dan Vettori and Andy Flower is, that humour is their first recourse when they get asked about pressure innings.
The chase was steep, and Australia had lost Travis Head in the third over playing away from the body and onto the stumps. Marsh who walked in next, would be concerned with settling his sin account, he’d joke when asked about his century.
“Well, I started with 50 when I bowled (he actually conceded 48 from his 4 overs). So thought I needed to give back those!” he smiled. Towhid Hridoy had gotten stuck into the all-rounder, smacking him early for three boundaries and then Mahmudullah swung him for two almighty sixes in his second spell.
For the longest, Marsh struggled to find his place in that Aussie batting order. First, he got stick for being persisted with, with nasty snides about that being owing to his famous father. Then, when he started scoring, injuries would strike at the worst times.
He even broke his hand punching a wall after having taken 5 wickets in an Ashes Test. Cameron Green would nudge him out, before he got included in the squads to Bangladesh and West Indies, and scored a tonne of runs, getting an extended run at the top of the order with the big names skipping these outings.
He scored a Test century on returning after a 4-year gap, and was player of the final when Australia won the T20 World Cup last. But despite being the most loved guy inside the team, who is the life of the party and good mates with most teammates, Marsh simply didn’t register as a big name or a tough threat to the outside realms.
Marsh is now indispensable to the Aussie one-day side, and has over the last few seasons corrected the skew that was once heavily in favour of scoring off pace bowlers. For someone who thrived on bounce and speed, Marsh has done enough to counter spin strangles and moved onto scoring heavily off them. He averages 52.8 against spinners now in ODIs as against 33.5 against pacers.
On Saturday as 19,064 turned up to get a glimpse of Australia, Marsh scored 62 in boundaries against slow bowlers, and 34 against the pacers. His career strike rate of 80.7 vs spinners (it’s 108.9 playing pace) points to him seeing out spinners, to then go after his favoured bowling. But there’s no doubt, Marsh has levelled up his counter-spin game.
After packing offie Mahedi out of the attack early with his early charge, Marsh would skip down the track to left-arm slow bowler Nasum Ahmed and loft Miraz over long off for a pair of sixes as Bangladesh were never allowed to settle or contain the Australians.
Not that Taskin and Mustafizur were spared as Marsh accumulated 17 fours and 9 sixes. The most glorious amongst them came when Mustafizur was flattened as his half volley on the first ball of the 33rd over was lofted straight over the bowler. The ball went over the sight screen and climbed two steps on bounce on a staircase.
But no bowler was spared as Australia reached their target with five overs to spare. Bangladesh wasn’t the most incisive of spin attacks. But the Aussie top order needed reassurance that they weren’t prone to crumbling. Maxwell sat the game out, but Australia had Marsh.
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सांसदों-विधायकों के खिलाफ क्रिमिनल केस जल्द निपटाएं: SC का आदेश- हाईकोर्ट में स्पेशल बेंच बने, दुर्लभ कारणों में सुनवाई टले
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