The battle of the juggernauts turned out to be a one-sided slaughter, as Australia easily overwhelmed India in Barbados. The overall strength of the victory suggests that Australia's jinx Twenty20 World Cup jinx may be coming to an end, while India need two wins from their next two games if they plan on reaching the semi-finals.
Put in to bat by India, openers David Warner and Shane Watson conceded a maiden over to Harhbajan Singh, who opened the bowling. I really like this (inevitable) tactic by captains, opening with slow bowlers. If Twenty20 cricket has gifted anything to the game at large, it's innovation - whether scooping the ball over the wicketkeeper's head, slapping the ball back into play over the boundary, or attempting to stymie runs by starting proceedings with a spinner. It worked in this game, and with one over down without scoring, India might have entertained thoughts of a relatively comfortable run-chase.
That was about as good as it got for the Indians, as Warner and Watson put the pedal to the metal and rarely looked back. Ashish Nehra's over went for 12, and despite Harbhajan keeping things tidy from his end, none of the other bowlers were spared. Ravindra Jadeja was hit for three consecutive sixes off the last three balls of his first over by Shane Watson, and another hat-trick of sixes by David Warner off his next over, effectively conceding 36 runs in 6 balls. When Watson was finally bowled by Yousuf Pathan, his 54 contained six 6s to his single 4, such was his dominance. After Warner (72, seven 6s and two 4s) and David Hussey (35) fell, India did very well in ensuring that the Australians did not get over 200. It certainly seemed like that would be the case, with the 100 coming up in the 10th over, but Australia finished very handily at 184/5, a run-rate of 9.20 per over. Harbhajan Singh was the only bowler treated to a modicum of respect, his four overs going for just 15.
While India exposed Afghanistan's weakness to the short ball, this time they were on the receiving end, as Dirk Nannes and Shaun Tait peppered the top order with bouncers. After many attempted hooks and swishes, India were reeling at 23/4, and then slumped to 50/7, with every Australian bowler getting into the action. Rohit Sharma stood alone with a defiant 79 off 46 (four 4s, six 6s), but the next highest score was 13 by Harbhajan Singh. No other batsmen scored in double-digits. A yorker from Shaun Tait to Ashish Nehra ended the Indian innings at 135 in the 18th over, giving Australia victory by 49 runs.
So Australia continue their unstoppable streak, manhandling India without ever breaking into a sweat. India's only positive came from not folding for under 100, which would have wrecked their net run-rate and made their next match (against the West Indies) a do-or-die encounter to stay in the tournament. That said, their bowlers were smashed and their batsmen (save Rohit Sharma) were slaughtered, and at the end of this match, they were left with a lot of work to do. Australia move to their game with Sri Lanka on a confident and aggressive note.