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| Sachin Tendulkar during 47th oneday century. |
(TOI)
BANGALORE. This was a game both India and England deserved to lose but in the end it was a tie. If the Indians seemed listless while defending a more than healthy 338, the English after being in a position to spoil the Indian party on a pitch on which the expected demons did not surface, suddenly seemed to have invoked the devil himself. In the end what transpired was the fourth ever tie in the history of the World Cup.
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| AJ Strauss shot during century |
The match swayed like a pendulum. The Indian total of 338, set up by a record fifth World Cup ton from Sachin Tendulkar, looked good enough at the break, more so as the hosts had gone in with two spinners. England captain Andrew Strauss had different ideas as he set about all but obfuscating Tendulkar's knock with his maiden World Cup ton.Then came the batting Powerplay. Suddenly from an impregnable 280/2 from 43 overs, when Strauss (158, 145b, 18x4, 1x6) and Bell (69, 71b, 4x4, 1x6) were going strong with a 170-run stand off 156 balls, things turned upside down.
Zaheer Khan, hit around in his first two spells and held back by Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the Powerplay, got two in two, sending back Bell and Strauss to open up the game again.
Suddenly the Indians were pumped up, as the English middle and late order collapsed. But then two sixes, one each by Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan, both off Piyush Chawla's final over, the penultimate one of the innings, again changed the game. Fifteen had come from that over leaving 14 required from the last to be bowled by Munaf Patel. With number 10 Ajmal Shazad on strike, the match looked to be in India's grasp, but the drama wasn't over by any means. A solid six and some hurriedly run singles brought the equation to two runs off the ball. They got one and the Bangalore crowd, some of whom had left early seeing India's chances all but gone, got what they expected least. A tie!
Before that, the Indians had got most things right. Having decided to play with two spinners in Harbhajan Singh and Chawla, it was important that Dhoni won the toss and allowed his spinners the second use of the pitch. That part went along the script as did the batting, with the top-order firing for the second match in succession. It was even better that the middle-order too got a chance to show their wares and they didn't do too badly either.
Only Tim Bresnan stood up and got noticed among English bowlers. Having dismissed the fortuitous as well as dangerous-looking Sehwag off his fifth ball, Bresnan came back at the death, to keep the Indians from running away to a total in excess of 350. His final analysis of 10-1-48-5 was true reflection of his showing on the afternoon.
No other English bowler went under five an over, with James Anderson in real danger of going for twice that. Every Indian batsman got stuck into him. Tendulkar and Gambhir used his wayward line and length to full effect. That Tendulkar (120, 115b, 10x4, 5x6) picked boundaries even off his better deliveries, ensured that it was not to be Anderson's day.
Once Sehwag (35, 26b, 6x4) had gone, poking at Bresnan for wicketkeeper Matt Prior to bring off a fine one-handed catch diving to his right, the right-left pair of Tendulkar and Gambhir (51, 61b, 5x4) took charge. Without looking in any sort of hurry, the master-blaster milked the bowlers before assaulting them.
The innings wasn't just about Tendulkar and Gambhir though, even if their 134-run second wicket stand set it up. There was also Yuvraj Singh, rightly promoted ahead of Kohli seeing that it was the 30th over, and Dhoni, whose 25-ball 31 went almost unnoticed. Yuvraj (58, 50b, 9x4) wasn't at his fluent best but who knows this knock could well be the launching pad for more to come.
Warne predicted it 8 hours ago
Shane Warne was bang on target when before the start of the match he Tweeted saying "Looking forward to the game between India and England today. My prediction... a tie." And the cracker of a contest which saw 676 runs being scored did actually end up in a tie, making Warne's prediction come true.
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score card
| India innings (50 overs maximum) | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
| V Sehwag | c †Prior b Bresnan | 35 | 34 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 134.61 |
| 7.5 Bresnan takes out Sehwag, with a little bit of help from Prior. It was a back of length delivery outside off, it came pretty slowly off the track, Sehwag thought ok then, I see some width, let me steer it through the vacant slips. Mistake. The ball wobbled off the face of the bat to right of Matt Prior who dived to take a good one-handed catch. Sehwag tucks the bat under his arm and walks off. The crowd... you know what they would have done, don't you... 46/1 |
| SR Tendulkar | c Yardy b Anderson | 120 | 170 | 115 | 10 | 5 | 104.34 |
| 38.2 135.8 kph, Tendulkar falls! He was looking to the leg side once again, but went a touch too early at the ball and a leading edge loops gently to cover. Anderson strikes, no doubt with great relief! What an innings that was for Tendulkar, he's set his team up for a massive total 236/3 |
| G Gambhir | b Swann | 51 | 95 | 61 | 5 | 0 | 83.60 |
| 29.4 87.2 kph, gone! Against the run of play Swann has got the breakthrough. It was a good ball, biting into the pitch and spinning past what was another very lazy nurdle from Gambhir. It looked like he was trying to get it down to third man, but the feet went nowhere. Poor shot, and it's got England back into the game 180/2 |
| Yuvraj Singh | c Bell b Yardy | 58 | 76 | 50 | 9 | 0 | 116.00 |
| 45.6 108.5 kph, and gone. Stadium goes quiet for a moment, just a moment. Short and Yuvraj just got it off the bottom of the bat out to deep midwicket where Bell held a simple catch. No great celebration from England, hardly surprising really. Good work from Yuvraj and crucially for India as the tournament goes on, he's found his form 305/4 |
| MS Dhoni*† | c sub (LJ Wright) b Bresnan | 31 | 38 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 124.00 |
| 46.1 138.3 kph, Dhoni falls now! Two in two for England. Shortish ball that Dhoni swung hard at but straight to Luke Wright at deep midwicket. 305/5 |
| YK Pathan | c Swann b Bresnan | 14 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 175.00 |
| 48.1 99.7 kph, Swann gets this one right, Pathan again swinging wildly but the slower ball meant he mistimed it and it looped out to mid-off 327/6 |
| V Kohli | b Bresnan | 8 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 160.00 |
| 48.2 139.3 kph, and another! Bresnan getting good reward for being England's best bowler. Yorker length, Kohli gives himself room, too much room in fact and it thuds into the base of off stump. Here comes Zaheer 327/7 |
| Harbhajan Singh | lbw b Bresnan | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 48.4 139.7 kph, Three in four for Bresnan to give him his 5th wicket! Full, swinging in late and striking Harbhajan on the back boot right in front of the stumps. Harbhajan reviewed but it was still very out. That's also Bresnan's career-best ODI figures. England finishing well, just the first 46 overs that cost them 328/8 |
| Z Khan | run out (Bresnan/†Prior) | 4 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 80.00 |
| 49.5 from Anderson, India innings ends with a whimper, but there was plenty of bang for most of it. England ended up bowling India out as Zaheer tries to steal a second after pulling the ball to midwicket. And Munaf Patel has not placed the bat inside the crease during the first run. One short. And hence no runs this ball 338/10 |
| PP Chawla | run out (Anderson) | 2 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| 49.4 from Anderson, free hit ends underwhelmingly as Chawla bunts straight back to Anderson, sets off for a run that would never happen and Anderson takes the bails off 338/9 |
| MM Patel | not out | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
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| Extras | (lb 3, w 7, nb 5) | 15 |
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| Total | (all out; 49.5 overs; 233 mins) | 338 | (6.78 runs per over) |
| Fall of wickets1-46 (Sehwag, 7.5 ov), 2-180 (Gambhir, 29.4 ov), 3-236 (Tendulkar, 38.2 ov), 4-305 (Yuvraj Singh, 45.6 ov), 5-305 (Dhoni, 46.1 ov), 6-327 (Pathan, 48.1 ov), 7-327 (Kohli, 48.2 ov), 8-328 (Harbhajan Singh, 48.4 ov), 9-338 (Chawla, 49.4 ov), 10-338 (Khan, 49.5 ov) |
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| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
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| JM Anderson | 9.5 | 0 | 91 | 1 | 9.25 | (1nb, 1w) |
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| 38.2 to Tendulkar, 135.8 kph, Tendulkar falls! He was looking to the leg side once again, but went a touch too early at the ball and a leading edge loops gently to cover. Anderson strikes, no doubt with great relief! What an innings that was for Tendulkar, he's set his team up for a massive total 236/3 |
| A Shahzad | 8 | 0 | 53 | 0 | 6.62 | (2w) |
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| TT Bresnan | 10 | 1 | 48 | 5 | 4.80 |
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| 7.5 to Sehwag, Bresnan takes out Sehwag, with a little bit of help from Prior. It was a back of length delivery outside off, it came pretty slowly off the track, Sehwag thought ok then, I see some width, let me steer it through the vacant slips. Mistake. The ball wobbled off the face of the bat to right of Matt Prior who dived to take a good one-handed catch. Sehwag tucks the bat under his arm and walks off. The crowd... you know what they would have done, don't you... 46/1 46.1 to Dhoni, 138.3 kph, Dhoni falls now! Two in two for England. Shortish ball that Dhoni swung hard at but straight to Luke Wright at deep midwicket. 305/5 48.1 to Pathan, 99.7 kph, Swann gets this one right, Pathan again swinging wildly but the slower ball meant he mistimed it and it looped out to mid-off 327/6 48.2 to Kohli, 139.3 kph, and another! Bresnan getting good reward for being England's best bowler. Yorker length, Kohli gives himself room, too much room in fact and it thuds into the base of off stump. Here comes Zaheer 327/7 48.4 to Harbhajan Singh, 139.7 kph, Three in four for Bresnan to give him his 5th wicket! Full, swinging in late and striking Harbhajan on the back boot right in front of the stumps. Harbhajan reviewed but it was still very out. That's also Bresnan's career-best ODI figures. England finishing well, just the first 46 overs that cost them 328/8 |
| GP Swann | 9 | 1 | 59 | 1 | 6.55 | (2w) |
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| 29.4 to Gambhir, 87.2 kph, gone! Against the run of play Swann has got the breakthrough. It was a good ball, biting into the pitch and spinning past what was another very lazy nurdle from Gambhir. It looked like he was trying to get it down to third man, but the feet went nowhere. Poor shot, and it's got England back into the game 180/2 |
| PD Collingwood | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 6.66 |
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| MH Yardy | 10 | 0 | 64 | 1 | 6.40 | (2w) |
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| 45.6 to Yuvraj Singh, 108.5 kph, and gone. Stadium goes quiet for a moment, just a moment. Short and Yuvraj just got it off the bottom of the bat out to deep midwicket where Bell held a simple catch. No great celebration from England, hardly surprising really. Good work from Yuvraj and crucially for India as the tournament goes on, he's found his form 305/4 |
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| England innings (target: 339 runs from 50 overs) | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
| AJ Strauss* | lbw b Khan | 158 | 188 | 145 | 18 | 1 | 108.96 |
| 42.5 141.8 kph, this match is alive! Zaheer has flipped it on its head again. What a delivery! Searing yorker, swinging in late and it's crashed into Strauss's boot in front of middle. Ends an innings of the highest highest quality but will it be in vain? 281/4 |
| KP Pietersen | c & b Patel | 31 | 45 | 22 | 5 | 0 | 140.90 |
| 9.3 137.4 kph, Hello Hello! This is a Youtube moment from Munaf. KP had smashed a full delivery back to Munaf, who put his hands out, to catch and more to save his face i reckon, even as he slipped to the ground. The ball popped up of his palm and gravity took it right back to Munaf, now sitting on the ground, who puts his left hand up and pouches it very calmly. KP can't believe it. The crowd love it. And for some reason, Munaf even throws in an appeal! 68/1 |
| IJL Trott | lbw b Chawla | 16 | 30 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 84.21 |
| 16.4 83.2 kph, Chawla strikes! It was so plump Trott pretty much walked. Went back to play across the line, should have been forward, missed it and India have their second 111/2 |
| IR Bell | c Kohli b Khan | 69 | 108 | 71 | 4 | 1 | 97.18 |
| 42.4 139.8 kph, Powerplays always cause trouble and Bell has gifted his wicket away! Struggling with cramp perhaps, he's tried to clear the field with a real heave, skews it off the edge and it loops to mid-off. Wild celebrations, this is far from over 281/3 |
| PD Collingwood | b Khan | 1 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| 44.3 119.7 kph, Zaheer is the man! Collingwood down the track to try and swing to leg but Zaheer slipped it in slower, such smart bowling, gripped off the pitch as well and pegged back off stump. Incredible spell this. India are favourites again! Is there are influential player than Zaheer? Take him out the India attack and it's threadbare. Good luck Michael Yardy... 285/5 |
| MJ Prior† | c sub (SK Raina) b Harbhajan Singh | 4 | 15 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| 45.2 86.0 kph, The crowd erupts! Harbhajan has Prior now, the light fading for England. Prior tried to mow this out of the ground over midwicket, Harbhajan always gets that extra bounce though and it found an edge and soared high in the air for midwicket to pouch 289/6 |
| MH Yardy | c Sehwag b Patel | 13 | 17 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 130.00 |
| 47.3 124.9 kph, Yardy is out, and England must be as well now. Strauss has his head in his hand, he deserved more. Yardy tried to flip this over short fine leg but couldn't get enough on the slower ball and it spooned straight to the man 307/7 |
| TT Bresnan | b Chawla | 14 | 18 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 155.55 |
| 48.6 Chawla strikes back! One way and another this match is going! Bresnan tried again to to find the boundary, he had to, but it's quicker and flatter and through him onto off stump 325/8 |
| GP Swann | not out | 15 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 166.66 |
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| A Shahzad | not out | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 300.00 |
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| Extras | (b 1, lb 7, w 3) | 11 |
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| Total | (8 wickets; 50 overs; 229 mins) | 338 | (6.76 runs per over) |
| Fall of wickets1-68 (Pietersen, 9.3 ov), 2-111 (Trott, 16.4 ov), 3-281 (Bell, 42.4 ov), 4-281 (Strauss, 42.5 ov), 5-285 (Collingwood, 44.3 ov), 6-289 (Prior, 45.2 ov), 7-307 (Yardy, 47.3 ov), 8-325 (Bresnan, 48.6 ov) |
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| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
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| Z Khan | 10 | 0 | 64 | 3 | 6.40 | (1w) |
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| 42.4 to Bell, 139.8 kph, Powerplays always cause trouble and Bell has gifted his wicket away! Struggling with cramp perhaps, he's tried to clear the field with a real heave, skews it off the edge and it loops to mid-off. Wild celebrations, this is far from over 281/3 42.5 to Strauss, 141.8 kph, this match is alive! Zaheer has flipped it on its head again. What a delivery! Searing yorker, swinging in late and it's crashed into Strauss's boot in front of middle. Ends an innings of the highest highest quality but will it be in vain? 281/4 44.3 to Collingwood, 119.7 kph, Zaheer is the man! Collingwood down the track to try and swing to leg but Zaheer slipped it in slower, such smart bowling, gripped off the pitch as well and pegged back off stump. Incredible spell this. India are favourites again! Is there are influential player than Zaheer? Take him out the India attack and it's threadbare. Good luck Michael Yardy... 285/5 |
| MM Patel | 10 | 0 | 70 | 2 | 7.00 | (1w) |
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| 9.3 to Pietersen, 137.4 kph, Hello Hello! This is a Youtube moment from Munaf. KP had smashed a full delivery back to Munaf, who put his hands out, to catch and more to save his face i reckon, even as he slipped to the ground. The ball popped up of his palm and gravity took it right back to Munaf, now sitting on the ground, who puts his left hand up and pouches it very calmly. KP can't believe it. The crowd love it. And for some reason, Munaf even throws in an appeal! 68/1 47.3 to Yardy, 124.9 kph, Yardy is out, and England must be as well now. Strauss has his head in his hand, he deserved more. Yardy tried to flip this over short fine leg but couldn't get enough on the slower ball and it spooned straight to the man 307/7 |
| PP Chawla | 10 | 0 | 71 | 2 | 7.10 | (1w) |
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| 16.4 to Trott, 83.2 kph, Chawla strikes! It was so plump Trott pretty much walked. Went back to play across the line, should have been forward, missed it and India have their second 111/2 48.6 to Bresnan, Chawla strikes back! One way and another this match is going! Bresnan tried again to to find the boundary, he had to, but it's quicker and flatter and through him onto off stump 325/8 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 10 | 0 | 58 | 1 | 5.80 |
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| 45.2 to Prior, 86.0 kph, The crowd erupts! Harbhajan has Prior now, the light fading for England. Prior tried to mow this out of the ground over midwicket, Harbhajan always gets that extra bounce though and it found an edge and soared high in the air for midwicket to pouch 289/6 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 7 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 6.57 |
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| YK Pathan | 3 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 7.00 | |
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