It was a strange innings in many ways because the defending champions never really dominated it. Rather it was Zimbabwe who came off impressively at half time in the Zimbabwe v Australia match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Group A match, using the UDRS to good effect as well.
Australia found themselves at sixty-nine for one after twenty-one overs, showing how sedately Australia were approaching this game. Whether it was a cautious approach or anything else, was hard to tell. What was clear though that Australia were feeling their way into the match, which worked rather well for Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe still have 263 runs to chase at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad. Australia’s credits go to the man in form, Shane Watson, and thereafter in an unlikely hero in the Australian vice captain, Michael Clarke, who kept it together.
Zimbabwe would have liked the fact that Australia were going no faster than 3.5 runs an over and it was only in the period till the thirty-first over thereafter with the introduction of Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, that seemed to have woken up Watson to score seventy-nine runs.
Zimbabwe used the Umpire Decision Review System twice in the first two decisions and more importantly in the case of Shane Watson. Chris Mpofu pulled off a tremendous run out against Ponting and thereafter Zimbabwe restricted Australia in the end stages once more even as Clarke batted on for a half century to take Australia to 262 for 6.596041
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