Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni shared a serene 148-run stand to help India win a battle of attrition on a sluggish track and take a 2-1 lead in Delhi. Australia would perhaps rue the fact that they had settled for 229 when they batted.

“A total of 220 should be a good score on this pitch,” Ponting had said after winning an important toss and Australia’s approach while batting reflected his mindset. They did pick up three top-order wickets to leave India wobbling at 53 for 3 but Yuvraj and Dhoni batted superbly to see India through.

They mainly dealt in singles and twos initially before Yuvraj pressed down on the accelerator in the 34th over and went into top gear with the equation reading 94 from 17 overs. He collected a flicked six and hit a gorgeous extra-cover drive off Moises Henriques before he repeated the sequence next over with a bludgeoned six over long-on and a square driven boundary against Adam Vogues. The momentum completely shifted after that and Yuvraj went on to indulge himself with several peachy drives. There would have been a moment of apprehension when he fell 29 runs short of the target but Dhoni ensured there wouldn’t be any drama with couple of crunchy blows.

Earlier in the match Aussies were in a spot of bother in the middle of their innings but Hussey’s innings was tailored to the situation. You don’t usually remember a stand-out shot from a Hussey innings. What strikes you is his total self-awareness of his own game with its limitations. Today, was no different. His innings was straight out of Michael Beaven’s book. He played numerous little dabs and nudges, cut and swept whenever he could, and never got ahead of himself at any stage. Hussey came to Australia’s rescue with an assured knock but it didn’t prove enough to stop India from going ahead in the series.

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