— Photo: S. Subramanium

FULL THROTTLE: Nathan Bracken's incisive spell spelt trouble for the West Indies. — Photo: S. Subramanium

MUMBAI : That swing is an effective weapon is known but Nathan Bracken on Sunday demonstrated the essence of making it wobble just that bit to leave the opposition in a quandary. The left-arm bowler was under tremendous pressure. Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee had suffered at the hands of Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Suddenly the champion combination of the world looked out of sorts until Bracken tilted the scales with a spell of 6-0-22-3.

Ricky Ponting looked up to his experienced performer and he did not disappoint. It was not easy though. There was not much hope from the pitch. The movement expectedly was not sideways and that made Bracken's job tougher.

Accuracy counts when bowlers explore in difficult conditions and Bracken, with his skipper backing him, knew he had a job at hand. He was familiar to the pattern since he had managed to adapt in the preceding matches when Ponting opted to open the attack with McGrath to exploit the conditions at Mohali against India and New Zealand.

Swing bowlers do not pray for help from the pitch. And Bracken, thanks to Ponting's reading of the situation, had the right end to bowl from. He used the breeze and made a lasting impact on the course of the contest.

Strong point

The 29-year-old's strong point is his ability to whip the ball in to the right hander. The one that goes with the arm does help him keep the batsmen guessing but the ball that he craftily bends at sharp angles makes him a difficult bowler to read.

There was variation in Bracken's bowling this afternoon. He may not be quick at 80 mph but he is canny when bowling to left-handers. The change of pace added to his strength and made the batsmen look vulnerable. The confidence with which he kept coming at the batsmen was infectious and the Australian attack looked transformed.

He was nippy to the extent of causing discomfort to the West Indians, who experienced Bracken's skills the hard way. Shivnarine Chanderpaul failed to read the slower one, so cleverly concealed. Chris Gayle received a classical left-arm pacer's delivery where the ball moved just that fraction. To beat an in-form batsman like Gayle in this fashion spoke about Bracken's ability to set up his victim.

Ramnaresh Sarwan was foxed by one that never swung. This again was a beauty since Sarwan is adept in reading such wily stuff. Bracken left him acutely embarrassed. The left-arm swing bowler had effectively swung the match Australia's way.

Swing without line and length counts for nothing as Irfan Pathan discovered recently. Bracken's performance reiterated the belief that there is a place in one-day cricket for lethal accuracy and not just express pace.

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