Matthew Wade, the blinder that caught India off guard


image-l8am9vs1Matthew Wade vs India in Mohali (PC: Twitter)

India and Australia faced off in the first of the 3 match T20I series at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.  The world champions lived upto their reputation and won a high scoring encounter by 4 wickets with 4 balls to spare. 

Australia won the toss in the match and put India to bat. The hosts lost two wickets within the first 5 overs for the score of 35 runs. But after that the ship was steadied by KL Rahul (55 off 35) and Suryakumar Yadav (46 off 25). Following this partnership, it was Hardik Pandya who played a fiery knock of 71 runs off 30 balls and helped India reach a total of 208 runs in their 20 overs. 

image-l8amcnpcCameron Green set the platform for Australia (PC: Twitter)

In the chase, Australia got off to a stormy start. After the dismissal of Aaron Finch in the 4th over of the innings Cameron Green (61 off 30) with Steve Smith (35 off 24) gave a solid y platform to the visitors. But after he dismissal of Green in the 11th over Australia began to lose their way and India crawled back into the match. 

In the 15th over of the innings the Aussies were stationed at 145 for 5, when Matthew Wade walked into the crease. The equation for Australia to win the match at this stage was 64 runs off 35 deliveries at the rate of 10.97 runs per over with 5 wickets in hand. 


Matthew Wade's approach

At that situation Wade read the situation perfectly. He saw that Axar was bowling well and was the only bowler looking potent for India. Wade decided to play him out and waited for the Indian medium pacers to come into the attack. His strike rate against the three bowlers he played during the innings will give us an idea of the way he approached the chase. 

image-l8allgtnMatthew Wade's strike rate against the Indian bowlers

India's Strategic Failure

Wade was finding it pretty easy against the Indian medium pacers. Harshal and Bhuvi kept feeding him balls which were very comfortable for him to put way.  We will get a clearer idea if we look at Wade's strike against the two bowlers of different lengths of deliveries.

image-l8alqfcuMathew Wade vs different lengths of bowling against Indian medium pacers

Well the figure gives us two interpretations:

  • Indians looked to bowl too full or a bit too much of the hard length and in the both the areas Wade found it easy to score.
  • It was full or good length deliveries where scored at a lower rate and the two Indian medium pacers did not bowl enough balls in those areas. 

Also the variations use by Harshal and Bhuvneshwar against Wade will give us a better idea where the faltered against the southpaw. 

image-l8alwbhlVariations of Indian medium pacers against Wade and his strike rate against them

The table reveals that while the off-cutters were effective against him, the two bowlers resorted more on slowers than it.  Also, most of the slowers were back of the length and this allowed Wade enough time and room to get underneath the deliveries and put them away for runs. 

Also, the fact that Umesh Yadav did not bowl a single delivery to Wade was a bit surprising. Yes, Umesh was expensive but he also picked up two wickets and his extra pace might have surprised Wade, when he was settled playing the speed of Bhuvi and Harshal. 


Conclusion

The stage was set by Cameron Green for the lower middle order Australian batters. But at a stage when India was making their way back into the match it was Matthew Wade who put his team ahead in the competition with a blinder of a knock. His innings  appeared to be well planned and the risks taken by him were calculated to perfection. 

The Indian pacers did fail tactically and also it was surprising on Rohit's part to not use Umesh even for one over when the other two were being taken to the cleaners. But these do not take anything away from the fact that Wade's knock was the real game changer for Australia. 


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