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Bevan among the best in the world
Updated: Saturday April 07, 2001 12:23 AM
In an inspired 113-ball innings, Australian batsman Michael Bevan showed why he is considered the best one-day player in the world. Bevan's 87 not-out in the 5th and final limited overs international steered Australia to a series victory against a tough Indian side. Fittingly, the Canberra-born 30-year-old left-hander hit the winning runs before an eerily quiet capacity crowd in Goa. In most countries, Bevan would be a prominent member of both the Test and one-day teams. But given the strength of the Australians, he can only secure a permanent place in the Aussie team for the shortened version of the game. During an international career lasting almost seven years, Bevan has played just 18 Test matches but has appeared in 159 one-day internationals. In Goa, Bevan saw the Australians through a shaky period during which they lost three wickets for 15 runs and survived dangerous bowling spells from Sachin Tendulkar , Javagal Srinath and Harbhajan Singh . The beauty of Bevan's batting is that he scores runs in a very unobtrusive manner. His excellent running between the wickets sees him pick up singles and twos and before you know it, he's got a half-century. Because of the volatile nature of one-day cricket, the batsmen's statistics tend to be much less impressive. But Bevan's limited-over batting average is a world-best's 57.41 -- in my opinion, the equivalent of a Test average of 80-plus. As well as his batting, Bevan is a useful left-arm wrist spinner and a superb fieldsman. There were other good Australian performances in the final one-day match including tidy bowling spells from Nathan Bracken and Glenn McGrath and good batting from man-of-the-series Matthew Hayden , allrounder Ian Harvey and wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist . Gilchrist showed great courage to bounce back from his batting woes in the final two Test matches. He still seems vulnerable to spin bowlers coming around the wicket, but he rode his luck early from the opening position to set Australia on the road to victory with a cavalier 76 from just 60 balls. During his innings, Captain Steve Waugh clashed with Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar during the tense final overs. Full credit to Waugh for keeping his team focused after the disappointment of losing the Test series 2-1. The most surprising aspect of the tour may well be the poor performances of Shane Warne . The talented leg-spinner has bounced back before, but it remains to be seen that if at the age of 31 he will be able to return to his previous match-winning form. Although they will be disappointed to lose the one-day series after their Test triumphs, the Indians should take a great deal of encouragement from their recent performances. In Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman , they have two genuine match-winners to go alongside veterans like Tendulkar, Srinath, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly . And don't forget that Anil Kumble will soon be back from injury.
Australian-born Jason Dasey is an anchor for World Sport, a 30-minute sports highlights and news program shown on CNN International and CNN/Sports Illustrated.
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