Jadeja, Praveen hit half-centuries as India make 170

GUWAHATI - Ravindra Jadeja and Praveen Kumar hit defiant half-centuries to pull India out from a disastrous 27 for five to 170 all out in 48 overs against Australia in the sixth One-day International here Sunday.

Jadeja (57) and Praveen (54 not out) with their 74-run eighth-wicket stand gave the bowlers some target to bowl at.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s decision to bat first back-fired after the top-order failed to negotiate the new ball and they lost seven wickets for just 75 runs by the 31st over at the Nehru Stadium.

But Jadeja and Praveen showed resilience and played contrasting knocks to give some respectability to the innings. Jadeja was calm and composed during his 103-ball innings, hitting six fours, while Praveen went into the attacking mode and smashed seven fours and a six during his 51-ball knock.

Left-arm fast bowler Doug Bollinger, who is having a good run in the series, wrecked the batting with his maiden five-wicket haul (5-35). Mitchell Jonhson, after missing the last match at Hyderabad, came back strongly with his three for 39 while Shane Watson got two for 27.

Despite being smashed by Virender Sehwag (6) for a six in his second delivery, Johnson rattled the stumps of both Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in three deleveries in the first over.

India kept losing wickets at regular intervals and Sachin Tendulkar (10), Yuvraj Singh (6) and Dhoni (24) failed to play an innings that could have saved them the blushes in the must-win match to stay alive in the series.