Kanitkar's first victim was Michael Bevan who has developed a habit of trying to hit a lot of balls to the on side against the spin. In playing these shots he is not properly balanced and his back leg is not anchored while he is hitting the ball and consequently he is vulnerable to the off-spinner that turns a bit.

In each of his last two innings the bowler has made him use his feet and he has been beaten in the flight and stranded while trying to push the ball through the onside. Thoughtful bowlers like Sachin Tendulkar and the impressiveKanitkar will exploit this weakness.

Kanitkar is a good cricketer -- he thinks when he is batting and bowling and he is good in the field. In the one-day game he pushes the ball through quite quickly but still gets a little drift and some loop. On what I have seen so far, Kanitkar is a better proposition as a Test match off-spinner than either of the two used in the three match series just played.

Technically he is a long way in front of Harbhajan Singh as a bowler and with a little more work on that part of his game he could be a good contributor for India in both forms of the game.

Kanitkar gave a good example of his skill as an off-spinner when he deceived Steve Waugh with drift and had him well stumped. The Indian spinners have quickly realised that many of the Australian batsmen are not comfortable leaving their crease and they have wisely invited them to use their feet.

The only Australian batsman to look comfortable during a marvellous spell of tandem spin bowling from Kanitkar and the equallyimpressive Sanghvi, was Ricky Ponting. Coming in early, Ponting hit a couple of confidence building boundaries off the faster bowlers and this had him primed for the spinners. He did not dominate the bowlers but he did play with decisive footwork, which was not often evident during the Test series.

The fans did not have to wait long for dominant batting. No sooner had they finished their parathas than Ganguly was stroking cover drives gloriously through the field. Spurred on by this exhibition of timing, Tendulkar who could well have done a Popeye and downed a can of palak in the break, strong-armed the bowling.

It did seem as though Tendulkar was sending Steve Waugh a sharp reminder that he could dominate an attack in a way that neither Bevan nor anyone else could match.

Meanwhile, Ganguly went about his job as though nothing was happening at the other end. That is what makes the Tendulkar-Ganguly combination an ideal partnership; they both play their own game and it has absolutely no effect on thepartner. Once they were in to stride, it appeared that the pair was determined to try and thrash Australia with as many balls to spare as possible. This was a smart psychological ploy with one eye on the final in Delhi.

In the process of smashing the bowling the pair posted the highest one-day opening stand against Australia. By the time they were separated at 175 the match was safely in India's grasp and the difficulty the rest of the players experienced on a fast deteriorating pitch showed just how tough the task might have been if early wickets had been lost.

India are now safely into the final with a lot of players in form and contributing to the team's success. From the Australia point of view, they have to overcome a determined Zimbabwe to make the final and then find a way to shake the confidence of this rampant Indian team.