West Indies pip India by 3 wickets
Posted on Oct 26, 2006 at 14:01 | Updated Oct 27, 2006 at 13:10
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Tags: cricket, champions trophy, india
But for Dhoni’s pyrotechnics India would have finished for much less as they were struggling for 131/5 after 31 overs and the prospects of being bowled out inside 50 overs was very much real.
At that time Dhoni and Suresh Raina were at the crease with the West Indians bowling a tight line and length backed by their fielders.
The dominance of the bowlers was so overwhelming that the batsmen could manage to find the boundary only after 72 balls when Raina cut Marlon Samuels for a four in the 42nd over. Before that Yuvraj had hit a four off Smith in the 30th over.
Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar opened the Indian innings and a good start by the duo would have given the given the perfect platform to put up a big score but that was not to be.
Sehwag started in his usual fashion hitting some and missing some. He also survived a run out chance when Dwayne Smith, at point, failed to hit the stumps with the batsman out of his ground.
But Sehwag could not take advantage of the reprieve and his innings was finally brought to an end when Jerome Taylor trapped him lbw for 17. The experiment of sending Irfan Pathan up the order failed as he was sent back for a duck bowled by Ian Bradshaw.
In the fifth over of the innings Taylor hit Pathan on the helmet as the batsmen tried to duck under a snorter.
Tendulkar was slow to get off the mark, realising that his stay in the middle is crucial to India’s chances. Taylor also hit Tendulkar on the right shoulder off a short ball but that did little to unsettle the batsman.
He played some delightful shots and in the company of Dravid was busy rebuilding the Indian innings when an inside edge off a Bradshaw’s delivery went on to hit the stumps and give India a big jolt. Tendulkar made 29 with the help of four fours with the score reading 69/3 in 16.5 overs.
Seeing the top order collapse, Dravid put his head down and began doing what he is best at -- rescuing India from a precarious situation. The 100 of the Indian innings was brought up in the 24th over. The Indian skipper also played some aggressive shots and hit Dwayne Bravo for two consecutive fours in the 23rd over.
Seeing his skipper fight back, Yuvraj Singh, who was a little edgy in the beginning, began playing with confidence. He added 61 runs for the fourth wicket with Dravid before he spooned a simple catch to Bravo to give Bradshaw his third wicket.
And more distress was in store for India as Dravid was run out going for a quick single after Mahendra Singh Dhoni had played the ball to the square leg. But before Dravid could make his ground Dwayne Smith shattered the stumps to deny the Indian skipper his 72nd ODI fifty.
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Total Comments: 131
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Posted By Ankit Choudhry
Whole indian team was resposible for loss agaist WI.Lots of misfielding...............lots of wides in death overs ...............blunder in team selection.........poor
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Posted By Raj
Just read an hillarious comment about Suresh Raina\\Mohammad Kaif:
\"It is sad that players such VVS Laxman and Saurav Ganguli have
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Posted By M.V.Menon
Why blame Shewag? The ones to be kicked out are Greggy & Jammy.
If Ganguly was checked out because his avg.
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Posted By Vimal
1. WHY THE HELL, WOULD YOU PLAY WITH 4 QUICKIES ON A SLOW WICKET? WE ARE INDIAN TEAM NOT SOUTH
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Posted By s santhanam
If India is to lift any trophies at international level, BCCI should organize series only with Kenya, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Nepal
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