Munaf digs deep to give India breakthrough

Agencies

Bangalore, 27 February 2011: The first breakthrough came via a sensational caught and bowled by Munaf Patel to get rid of Kevin Pietersen (31). It was a superb reflex catch on a rebound in the tenth over that finally got a new pair of English feet on the crease.

 

England had started their run-chase with the openers Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss taking total past the 50-run mark in quick time. They hammered a few past the boundary line to get the Indian bowlers under a bit of pressure and to keep ahead of the required-rate.

 

In the Indian innings, Sachin Tendulkar’s spectacular century had set the tone for a formidable 338 all out against England despite the team not managing to complete playing out the entire 50 overs.

 

It was a clinical and effective display of the willow’s prowess by Dhoni’s men as Sachin (120), Gambhir (51) and Yuvraj (58) made their mark at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, giving enough reasons to the Indian fans to cheer their throats hoarse.

 

England did manage to stop a complete carnage with two wickets in two balls (Yuvraj and Dhoni) towards the death. Soon after, Virat Kohli (8) and Yusuf Pathan (14) fell while trying to up the ante. Harbhajan was out plumb in front of the wicket for a duck and this sudden array of wickets falling did give a breather for the visitors, not letting the target go beyond the psychological barrier of 350 runs.

 

Tendulkar celebrated playing in a World Cup match on home soil after a gap of fifteen years with his 98th international century that was elegant, fast and most importantly, sublime. It was his fifth century in a World Cup, the most by any batsman in the history of the sport.

 

Michael Yardy was the man to catch the most important wicket of the Indian outfit, bringing out skipper MS Dhoni to the crease. Things did not change for the better even then for the visitors as the fabled Indian batting line-up kept true to its word.

 

The Indian top order clicked at the right time, setting up a solid platform for a mammoth total and the middle order simply followed suit.

 

Tendulkar had slammed fifty with a spectacular six, bringing the Bangalore crowd on their feet. His partner at the other end, Gambhir, also earned a well earned half-century of his own but could not continue with the batting.

 

In the morning, only one hiccup was encountered by India as Virender Sehwag’s (35) daredevil innings finally came to an end as he was brilliantly caught behind the wicket by Matt Prior to draw first blood.

 

Sehwag had started off the proceedings against England in his signature style – sending the ball past the boundary on the first delivery itself. The ball flew just past the fingers of the slip fielder and the early nerves were calmed.

 

Giving Sehwag company at the other end was Sachin Tendulkar, who saw the Delhi blaster tease the English side, lobbing three possible catches in the first over that could not be taken. However, the ball found the bat’s edge more often than not for Viru, ending his campaign with the bat for the day.

 

Teams

 

India (Playing XI): Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel

 

England (Playing XI): Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss(c), Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Michael Yardy, Matt Prior(w), Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, Ajmal Shahzad, James Anderson