Watch the highlights of Australia vs India 3rd Match Benson & Hedges World Series Cup 1986 - Benson & Hedges World Series Cup one-day international tournament of the 3rd ODI match played between India and Australia at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane in 12th January 1986.
A disciplined bowling before A superb 79-run stand between Steve Waugh and Greg Matthews steers to Australia tense four-wicket victory over India, despite a Roger Binny's economical figures in a low-scoring game of the third match of a Benson and Hedges World Series Cup.
India scored 161 for all-out in 43 overs with top scorer by Mohammad Azharuddin struck 35 off 57-balls including 3-fours.
Syed Kirmani cracked a 27 off 33-balls including 4-fours, Chetan Sharma 22, Dilip Vengsarkar 19 and Kapil Dev 16.
Australia best bowler by Craig McDermott, Steve Waugh both takes 2-wickets, Simon Davis, Bruce Reid and Dave Gilbert each took one-wickets.
Australia chased 164-6 in 45.2 overs with top scorer by Greg Matthews scored a unbeaten 46 off 77-balls including a boundary.
Steve Waugh scored 40 off consuming 95-balls including 2-fours, Craig McDermott hit a unbeaten 24 off 21-balls included 4-fours and Allan Border 16.
India best bowler by Roger Binny picked up 3-wickets for 38-runs in 10-overs including two maidens, Chetan Sharma took 2-wickets and one for Shivlal Yadav.
This match reported by Trevor Grant (Third Party Reference from The Age)
Greg Matthews saved Australia from another batting disaster and helped lift the Benson and Hedges WSC Cup match from under India's nose. His action came just as Australia's batsmen were doing their utmost to pick up from where they had left off in the third Test in Sydney last week.
Once that familiar clatter of wickets 5/48 in the first 15 overs chasing a meagre 161 had silenced the boisterous mob at the sun-drenched Gabba, it seemed that the most humane course of action for the world one- day champions would be to put the Australians out of their misery as quickly as possible.
The fans, deliriously happy after the Australian bowlers had given their only command performance of the summer, could not even cry into their beer. The bars on the Hill ran dry in mid-after- noon after an unprecedented demand from a 21,145 crowd.
But Matthews and his junior New South Wales teammate, Steve Waugh, who came together after the fall of the fifth wicket, refused to recognise the inevitability of defeat. In fact, it is a safe bet that the possibility of losing never crossed Matthews' mind when he ambled out to join Waugh, having just seen Wayne Phillips, David Boon, David Hookes, Allan Border and Greg. Ritchie all tumble for 28 runs in the space of 11 overs.
Thankfully, through the misery of the Australian Test season, Matthews has retained a consuming belief in the positive side of life. Yesterday, his 22-year-old partner, Waugh, playing only his second one-day international, fed off that confidence and ended up playing the finest innings of his brief Australian career.
Between them, Matthews, who made an unbeaten 46 and collected the Man of the Match award, and Waugh, 40, set up a most unlikely victory adding 79 for the sixth wicket in 24 overs.
Waugh's driving, cutting and unflappable temperament throughout the crisis showed that the rave reviews pouring out of Sydney in the past 12 months had not been misplaced But the issue had still not been resolved when he was bowled while stepping away to cut in the 39th over.
Even at 6/227, logic suggested that it would be a tough assignment for Australia to get the 35 runs needed for victory. Waugh's departure had exposed the tail, and when that happens the Australians are liable to sink silently and quickly.
The facts certainly support that theory. The last five batsmen went for nine runs in the third Test against India last week in Sydney and the last five for seven runs in the first Test in Adelaide.
This time, however, there was an unfamiliar surety about the batting of the bowler who heads that tail, Craig McDermott. His once lofty hopes about being an all-rounder have been denied by a succession of indiscreet, and often timid, performances with the bat. He went some way towards revealing his true talent yesterday by playing sensibly, and straight. He stayed with Matthews for 30 minutes and saw off the remaining runs, producing a timely personal contribution of 24 not out.
The pair added 37 in six overs to guide Australia to victory by four wickets with 28 balls to spare.
For reasons which defy logical explanation, the early Australian batsmen, chasing a target of 3.27 runs an over for victory, came out and played as if they were set a target close to 10 runs an over.
Phillips started the ball rolling when, after smashing two 4s for his first two scoring shots, he tried to drive Roger Binny even though he was nowhere near the accepted position to play an off-drive. As a rule, anything goes in these matches but not when there is no need to chase quick runs.
All they had to do was play straight and work the ball around the field: twos and ones would have done nicely. Phillips's ill-fated attempt at overkill he lobbed an easy catch to mid-off - was quickly followed by a very poorly judged defensive stroke by Boon, a lofted on-side drive by Hookes, a brilliant right-handed diving leg-side catch by wicketkeeper Kirmani to dismiss Border and a sharp one handed reflex catch by Chetan Sharma to dispose of Ritchie.
Leaving Matthews and Waugh to make good the damage was hardly in the Australian game plan, but it could prove of enormous benefit to the team's battered morale to know that there is some responsible and reliable batting in the late order.
We have already been made aware of Matthews's capabilities in these situations- his two centuries this summer were adequate evidence. Now we have seen that Waugh has a fighting quality to match his senior NSW teammate and a gift that might take him to an upper echelon in the game in years to come.
Without these two, a highly commendable Australian bowling performance would have been buried under the weight of public anger at another inexplicable defeat.
After India had blazed its way to victory over New Zealand here on Saturday, fears that they might do even worse things to the Australians were understandable. But the Australian bowlers, performing first on a helpful pitch after Border won the toss, never let the early Indian batsmen gain the foothold they did the previous day.
Sunil Gavaskar, who blazed 27 in 19 minutes against New Zealand, came out with the same idea against Craig McDermott and newcomer Simon Davis, who bowled superbly in taking 1/11 off seven overs.
All their carefully laid plans came unstuck when Gavaskar edged the fourth ball from Davis's first over into his leg stump, and Krish Srikkanth was caught at third man attempting to hit McDermott over cover.
From that point, the Indians, bereft of their usual cache of runs from these two, stumbled aimlessly from one disaster to another before Sharma and Kirmani at least gave the Australians a fight with a ninth-wicket partnership of 47 from nine overs.
But the fifth Indian runout in two days, this time involving last man Yadav and Sharma, left the side stranded seven overs short of the 50-over limit and with a very poor total to defend.
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