Spinners rule roost as India nail England

September 24, 2012

spin_rule_the_match

Three days can be too long in cricket and England realised it the hard way.

Only on Friday, England were brimming with pride and confidence after annihilating Afghanistan by 116 runs. On the other hand, India had come in for all-round criticism, and justifiably so, for their scratchy win against their Asian greenhorns.

England appeared ready to teach India a lesson or two in T20 cricket, but it was instead MS Dhoni and company who handed a crushing 90-run defeat to the defending champions in their final Group ‘A’ match here at the packed R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday night.


After posting a competitive 170/4 on the back of knocks from Rohit Sharma (55 n.o., 33b, 5x4, 1x6), Virat Kohli (40, 32b, 6x4) and Gautam Gambhir (45, 38b, 5x4), Indian spinners played havoc with the clueless English batsmen to bowl them out for a paltry 80 in 14.4 overs to qualify for the Super Eight stage as group toppers.

Harbhajan Singh (4-12), returning to the squad after being in the wilderness for over 12 months, bamboozled the Englishmen with his bag of tricks in his parsimonious four overs.

With an equally impressive Piyush Chawla, again playing his first international since the match against the Netherlands in March 2011 in the World Cup, claiming 2-13 with his assortment of googlies and leg-breaks, England looked like the Afghanistan of Friday.

Two slips, a short-leg and a silly point are a rare sight in T20 cricket where captains would prefer to dot the boundary line with fielders. But such was the effect of Indian spinners that Dhoni was forced to pack his close-in cordon in anticipation of wickets that fell like nine-pins.

Redemption

It was a sort of redemption for man of the match Harbhajan, who last played his match against England in the Nottingham Test last year before being ignored for his patchy form. Irfan Pathan (2-17), too, played his hand in India’s victory, dismissing opener Alex Hales and the dangerous Luke Wright cheaply. It was also a vindication of five-bowler strategy adopted by India, who until this match were reluctant to play with a batsman less. India, meanwhile, rested Zaheer Khan and R Ashwin along with Virender Sehwag.

Barring the six-over Power Play period and the final five overs, Indian innings chugged along a trifle slow in the middle overs.


After losing make-shift opener Irfan, who stepped in for Sehwag, early in the innings, Kohli provided the momentum with some crunching drives. With Gambhir picking up the odd boundary, India raced to 52 during field restrictions. It was as good a start as India would have hoped for after being asked to bat first by England who included an extra seamer in Tim Bresnan dropping Samit Patel.

On hindsight England might be regretting their decision to play with just one spinner -- Graeme Swann.

The way Indian spinners left the English batsmen befuddled and the manner in which the England off-spinner kept the Indian batsmen quiet, the left-arm spin of Patel may have come in handy. Swann, introduced immediately after the Power Play, bowled with great control and precision as Kohli and Gambhir failed to force the pace against the wily bowler.

Kohli perished, trying to send Swann out of the park. A tired-looking Gambhir was unable to make much headway though the knock would have done a world of good to his confidence. In an effort to get some quick runs, Gambhir holed out in the deep that heralded the best phase for the Indian innings.

Rohit took an erratic English attack apart as India collected 57 runs in the last five overs. The frenetic pace of run-making also forced the English fielders into silly errors that helped India post a good total which eventually proved quite daunting.

Score Board

INDIA
Gambhir c Kieswetter b Finn 45
(38b, 5x4)
Irfan b Finn 8
(8b, 1x4)
Kohli c Bairstow b Swann 40
(32b, 6x4)
Rohit (not out) 55
(33b, 5x4, 1x6)
Dhoni c Hales b Dernbach 9
(8b, 1x4)
Raina (not out) 1
(1b)
Extras (B-1, LB-3, W-8) 12
Total (for 4 wkts, 20 overs) 170

Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Irfan), 2-81 (Kohli), 3-119 (Gambhir), 4-166 (Dhoni).
Bowling: Finn 4-0-33-2 (w-3), Dernbach 4-0-45-1 (w-3), Broad 4-0-36-0, Bresnan 4-0-35-0 (w-1), Swann 4-0-17-1 (w-1).

Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 52/1.

ENGLAND

Kieswetter c Kohli b Chawla 35
(25b, 4x4, 2x6)
Hales b Irfan 0
(2b)
Wright lbw Irfan 6
(4b, 1x6)
Morgan b Harbhajan 2
(6b)
Bairstow b Chawla 1
(8b)
Buttler b Harbhajan 11
(12b, 1x4)
Bresnan c Gambhir b Harbhajan 1
(8b)
Broad c Gambhir b Dinda 3
(3b)
Swann st Dhoni b Harbhajan 0
(3b)
Finn (not out) 8
(10b, 1x4)
Dernbach (run out) 12
(7b, 2x4)
Extras (W-1) 1
Total (all out, 14.4 overs) 80

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Hales), 2-18 (Wright), 3-39 (Morgan), 4-42 (Bairstow), 5-51 (Kieswetter), 6-54 (Bresnan), 7-60 (Buttler), 8-60 (Swann), 9-60 (Broad).

Bowling: Irfan 3-0-17-2 (w-1), Balaji 1-0-10-0, Dinda 2-0-26-1, Harbhajan 4-2-12-4, Chawla 4-1-13-2, Yuvraj 0.4-0-2-0.

Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 39/3.



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News Network
January 24,2020

Auckland, Jan 24: K L Rahul and Shreyas Iyer smashed quick-fire half-centuries, while skipper Virat Kohli made 45 as India defeated New Zealand by six wickets in the first T20 International to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series here on Friday.

Chasing a challenging 204-run target, Rahul smashed 56 off 27 balls and together with Kohli shared 99 runs for the second wicket to lay the foundation for the chase.

Later, Iyer (58 not out off 29 balls) and Manish Pandey (14 not out) remained unbeaten as India chased down the target with an over to spare.

Earlier, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor smashed scintillating half-centuries to power New Zealand to a challenging 203 for five.

Opener Munro blasted six fours and two sixes in his 42-ball 59, while skipper Williamson treated the Indian bowlers with equal disdain, hitting them out of the park four times in his 26-ball 51.

Taylor then clobbered an unbeaten 54 off 27 balls. His innings was laced with three sixes and as many fours.

Opener Martin Guptill also chipped in with a 19-ball 30.

Earlier, India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to field.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah (1/), Shardul Thakur (1/44), Yuzvendra Chahal (1/32), Shivam Dube (1/24) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/18) snapped one wicket each.

Brief Score:

New Zealand: 203 for 5 in 20 overs (Colin Munro 59, Kane Williamson 51, Ross Taylor 54; Jasprit Bumrah 1/31).

India: 204 for 4 in 19 overs (Shreyas Iyer 58 not out, K L Rahul 56, Virat Kohli 45; Ish Sodhi 2/36).

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Agencies
May 22,2020

India's cricket board will not push for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia to be postponed but would consider staging the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October/November slot if it becomes available, a senior BCCI official has told Reuters.

This year's IPL, which is worth almost $530 million to the BCCI, has been indefinitely postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic while the World Cup, which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 18, is also in jeopardy.

Reports in Australian media have suggested India's influential board may look to push for the World Cup to be postponed to open up a window for the IPL.

World Cup contingency plans are on the agenda at next week's International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting but BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal said India would not be recommending it be pushed back.

"Why should the BCCI suggest postponing the Twenty20 World Cup?" Dhumal told Reuters by telephone.

"We'll discuss it in the meeting and whatever is appropriate, (the ICC) will take a call.

"If the Australia government announces that the tournament will happen and Cricket Australia is confident they can handle it, it will be their call. BCCI would not suggest anything."

While Australia has seen new infections of the novel coronavirus slow to a trickle and is gradually easing travel curbs and social distancing restrictions, hosting a 16-team World Cup would be a Herculean task for Cricket Australia.

Dhumal questioned whether the tournament should go ahead if it had to be played without spectators and said the Australian government would play a key role in any decision.

"It all depends on what the Australian government says on this - whether they'd allow so may teams to come and play the tournament," he added.

"Will it make sense to play games without spectators? Will it make sense for CA to stage such a tournament like that? It's their call."

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts was guarded about the prospects of staging the tournament as scheduled on Friday.

"We don't have clarity on that one, yet. But as the situation continues to improve, you never know what might be possible," he said.

"It's ultimately a decision for the ICC."

The ICC has said it was unlikely to make a final call on the fate of the World Cup until August but some boards are in the process of making contingency plans in the event of a postponement.

While the BCCI recognised an open October-November window would suit the IPL, Dhumal said there was no point in making plans until there was some certainty about the World Cup.

"If we have the window available, and depending on what all can be organised, we'll decide accordingly," he added. "We can't presume that it's not happening and go on planning."

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News Network
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: India's World Cup-winning former opener Gautam Gambhir performed the last rites of his deceased domestic help after her mortal remains could not be sent to her home in Odisha due to the coronavirus-forced national lockdown.

Gambhir, also a BJP Lok Sabha MP, posted a tribute on his Twitter page for his employee Saraswati Patra, who was working at his residence for the past six years.

"Taking care of my little one can never be domestic help. She was family. Performing her last rites was my duty," he tweeted.

"Always believed in dignity irrespective of caste, creed, religion or social status. Only way to create a better society. That's my idea of India! Om Shanti," said the 38-year-old Gambhir, who played 58 Tests for India between 2004 and 2016.

Media reports in Odisha said the 49-year-old Patra hailed from a village in Jajpur district.

She was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital a few days ago and was battling diabetes and high blood pressure for a long period. She breathed her last while undergoing treatment on April 21.

Union Minister of Petroleum and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan appreciated Gambhir.

"Taking care of Saraswati throughout the course of her illness, he also ensured her dignity in death by performing her last rites himself since her mortal remains could not be sent to her family back home in Odisha," Pradhan, who also belongs to Odisha, tweeted.

"His act of compassion will enliven the faith in humanity for millions of poor, who are working far from their home for livelihood and will garner respect from all folds of the society."

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