Watch- How prime Brett Lee set up and dominated a young Indian batter in front of MS Dhoni | Cricket News
Following this background, India, Australia, and Sri Lanka embarked on the Commonwealth Bank Tri-Series in 2008.India was particularly determined to win this series with their young team, fresh off their inaugural T20 World Cup win in 2007.
The opening match of the ODI series witnessed the ODI Champions, Australia, facing off against the T20 Champions, India.
India chose to bat first after winning the toss in a match against Australia that featured pacers Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, and Nathan Bracken. India’s batting lineup included Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, head coach Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, and current captain Rohit Sharma.
India lost their openers early to Nathan Bracken and Brett Lee. Brett Lee made a significant impact by dismissing Tendulkar through a hit wicket. Following this, Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir formed a partnership, taking the score to 92 before Gambhir was dismissed. Manoj Tiwari then joined Sharma at the crease.
Rohit Sharma soon fell to Brett Lee, bringing MS Dhoni to bat alongside Manoj Tiwari. Tiwari was playing his first international One Day International (ODI) match in Australia.
In the match, India was at 92/3 when Tiwari came to bat, facing Brett Lee’s fast deliveries.
The first ball he encountered was a short one bowled at 145 km/h. The next ball, also short and at 144 km/h, caused Tiwari some difficulty. The commentator noted, “he did not really pick it up and turned his head away, and that was miles from his body. He took his eyes off the ball on that occasion. Good bouncer.”
Brett Lee makes light work of Manoj Tiwary | Intellectual Fast Bowling
Tiwari managed to block the third ball, which was delivered at 149.2 km/h. He then ducked under another short ball on the fourth delivery. The fifth delivery, bowled at 145 km/h, was hit towards point, but Michael Clarke dived to stop it, allowing Tiwari to grab a single.
In the subsequent over, Tiwari faced another bouncer from Brett Lee and ducked it. The next ball, a yorker, broke through his defense as his leg did not move, resulting in his dismissal.
Tiwari faced 16 balls and scored 2 runs before being bowled by Brett Lee.
The match was later interrupted by rain and it washed washed out.