Nihal Koshie. Hyderabad
In the end it was heart break for the 42,000 spectators who had screamed their lungs out. The India-Australia rivalry is widely considered the marquee contest in terms of revenue generation, bums on seats, and above all, the quality of cricket.
At 2-2 going into the fifth game, one of the teams was expected to lift its game. Here on Thursday, a quartet of Australian batsmen and one Indian -- Sachin Tendulkar -- played out of their skin. India, led by Tendulkar's imperious 175 and an earnest effort by Suresh Raina, lost by a heart-breaking three runs chasing a mammoth 351 for victory. With matches like these, the future of one-day cricket only looks brighter.
Australia would have felt similar kind pressure before. Ricky Ponting would have known that his team, though the best in the world, has had the ignominy of being on the losing side during the two top run chases in ODI cricket ever. South Africa did it at the Wanderers when they chased down 434, New Zealand did it in Hamilton in 2007 when they chased down Australia's 346.
On Thursday, India almost pulled off a miracle. Australia had posted a mammoth 350 on a track which produced 697 runs in all. A t the break, Ricky Ponting couldn't be faulted for thinking that he had the match in the bag. Australia had fought tooth and nail so far to stay on par with India after four games. They have lost eight of their first-choice players to injury. It is a testament to their character that they managed to squeeze the best out of their resources. They did produce a powerful batting display after winning the toss.
Their senior players, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, contributed, while Shaun Marsh smashed a century and Shane Watson showed why he is turning into one of the most dangerous opening batsmen in world cricket. On a batting strip, the bowlers couldn't afford to err and putting catches down was a sin. Both sides, in the heat of the battle, were guilty of both.
First, Mahendra Singh Dhoni spilled the chance when Marsh tried to cut Harbhajan. Marsh was on 29 at that point.
Shortly after crossing his half-century Marsh came down the track but didn't get to the pitch of the ball. The ball dropped on Virender Sehwag at short cover. Sehwag failed to collect the catch cleanly and Marsh lived on, this time on 51. Marsh went onto make 112.
Shane Watson was on 90 when he smashed the ball back to Yuvraj Singh who couldn't latch onto the sharp chance. Watson had already hurt India and added just three more runs before being dismissed.
Doug Bollinger dropped Sehwag at fine leg when the batsman was on 21. Suresh Raina was dropped by Cameron White off debutant Clint McKay. Raina added 137 with Tendulkar for the fifth wicket.
But it was the Australians who held their nerve when India took the batting powerplay from the 45th to 49th over. India lost three wickets for 33 runs in this period, including that of Tendulkar and the run-outs of Ravindra Jadeja, who made 23 off 17, and that or Praveen Kumar.

Tag: INDIA, MARSH, CRICKET, RUNS, RICKY, BALL, AUSTRALIA, RICKY PONTING, DROPPED, WATSON, PONTING, TENDULKAR, LOST, COULDN T, RAINA, A MAMMOTH, SHANE WATSON, SURESH RAINA, HARBHAJAN MARSH 29,