Dhoni onslaught seals whitewash

For the third time in a row, Asia XI won the toss and decided to bat first against Africa XI, and scored over 300, to finally win by a narrow margin. But unlike the first two ODIs of the Afro-Asia Cup, Asia XI got off to a miserable start, and could easily have been bundled out for a low score, if it weren’t for heroics from the captain Mahela Jayawardene and particularly MS Dhoni who brought about two world records on route to his mammoth 139 not out off just 97 balls.

On another scorching hot day in Chennai, Jayawardene had no hesitation in decided to bay first, and given the pitch conditions, 300 looked on the cards, yet again. But the Asian top order that had seemed rather untroubled in the first two matches got complacent, thus resulting in wickets to poor shots. The bowling was decent, but nothing that could not be countered with a little bit of application. A couple of brilliant catches, of Virender Sehwag and Upul Tharanga, by Justin Kemp and AB de Villiers respectively, further added wound to Asia XI’s lackluster top order batting.

The Africans had the Asians five-down for 72 when Yuvraj Singh, who looked the only one applying himself in the middle, got bowled for 31 while trying to force the pace of the innings. This was probably the only time in the entire series where they have been on top of the hosts. After that Jayawardene and Dhoni, slowly but steadily started to rebuild the innings, bringing up their 50 partnership in 63 balls, which included a minimum of risks. Jayawardene was his usual self, stealing a single out of any gaps in the field while Dhoni, uncharacteristically had to hold off from going after the bowling.

The mayhem had to start sometime though, and once Dhoni had settled in well, he decided to take advantage of the bleak African bowling combination of Steve Tikolo, Vusi Sibanda and AB de Villiers that tried to make up the fifth bowler, which otherwise would have been Thomas Odoyo and Albie Morkel – left out for this match – after Kemp bowled only two overs. Their eight overs cost a mammoth 105 runs, as both the batsmen brought up their centuries within the 40-45 over period. While Jayawardene was the first to reach the milestone at almost a run-a-ball, Dhoni was much quicker in terms of balls faced, taking only 82.

By the time Jayawardene fell, the partnership had already been 218, the highest of the sixth wicket in ODIs. Dhoni powered the Asians to 331-8 from thereon, ending not out himself on 139, the highest score by anyone coming in at number seven, breaking the record set by Shaun Pollock in the first match of the series.

Africa XI had always had an uphill task right from the word go, but just like the first two matches, they gave it their all, which in the end, resulted in a close match, which could probably have gone either way. The Africans did look on top for a while though, as the first-wicket stand of 117 in 18 overs got them the ideal start chasing the big total. While Sibanda was slow, de Villiers played attackingly, scoring 70 in 63 balls, before being accounted for by Mohammad Rafique, who ended up picking four wickets in the innings, all very vital. Boeta Dippenaar was dismissed the next ball, and then Sibanda a few overs later to reduce Africa XI to 138-3, with a reducing run rate. Kemp and Pollock came together at the fall of the fifth wicket with the score on 159 in the 32nd over. At this point of time, it looked rather difficult for the Africans to get close to the target, with an asking rate of almost 10. But Pollock carried on his good form in the series, while Kemp did what he does best – thrash the bowling – as the Africans came within a whimper of the target.

Their 122-run partnership, which included a massive seven sixes from Kemp all but ensured a huge turn-around. However, Rafique picked up the all-important wicket of Kemp, and from then on, even some hard-hitting by Pollock could get Africa XI only within 13 runs of the target.

Asia XI 331-8 in 50 overs
Mahela Jayawardene 107 (106), MS Dhoni 139* (97)
Morne Morkel 3-50 (10), Peter Ongondo 3-35 (10)

Africa XI 318-7 in 50 overs
AB de Villiers 70 (63), Justin Kemp 86 (76), Shaun Pollock 58* (49)
Mohammad Rafique 4-65 (10), Harbhajan Singh 3-48(10)

Asia XI won by 13 runs

Man of the Match: MS Dhoni

Man of the Series: Mahela Jayawardene