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Sunday, March 6, 2011

World Cup: India defeat Ireland by 5 wickets

Yuvraj Singh
(TOI)
BANGALORE.
An Indian victory at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday was never in doubt and so their five-wicket win did not come as a surprise to anyone. But the fact is that Ireland ran India somewhat close, far closer than they should have been allowed to. Too many wickets were lost, too many overs were used up while chasing 208 for victory against an attack that was honest at best.
Yes, the Indians did collect full points in the end but then these matches against the qualifiers should be more about making a point or two. And who knows, had the big Trent Johnston, who picked up two early wickets, not gone off injured after five overs, it could have been even closer.
Yuvraj Singh, though, will take such a match everyday. The left-hander starred with the ball and his showing with the bat later justified his skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's call to chase after he had won the toss.
That Yuvraj was India's unlikely bowling hero goes without saying. It was his maiden five-wicket haul that pushed back the Irish cause a long way. The visitors were dismissed for a paltry 207, barely three days after they had chased down more than 300 against England.
The Indians in turn stuttered a bit, losing Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir cheaply and then Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Dhoni all in their 30s but then were well served by Yuvraj the batsman as the target was reached with four overs to spare, setting off wild celebrations in the packed stadium.
That little cushion in the end was chiefly because of Yusuf Pathan, the only Indian batsman, apart from the composed Yuvraj (50 not out, 75b, 3x4), to make a statement. Pathan (30 not out, 24b, 2x4, 3x6) walked in and straightaway got going with the big hits to ensure that Ireland didn't come too close to causing a second upset in this edition of the World Cup.
In the afternoon, the pitch afforded some turn early on but it was a factor neither Piyush Chawla nor Harbhajan Singh, India's frontline spinners, could exploit. Yuvraj, with his part-time left-arm spin was easily the best on view, as his figures (0-0-31-5) reflect. He bowled all ten in one go.
The early damage was done by Zaheer Khan, who should have had Ireland skipper William Porterfield before he had got off the mark had Pathan held on to the edge at second slip of just the third ball of the innings. Porterfield (75, 104b, 6x4, 1x6) went on to anchor the innings and give it some respectability before that man Yuvraj struck.
Following the twin strikes by Zaheer, it was a sensible, 148-ball 113-run third wicket stand between the left-handed pair of Porterfield and Niall O-Brien that shored up the Ireland innings. The duo was also helped by some terrible bowling by leg-spinner Chawla, who even sent down two no-balls, the resultant free hit off the first handing the momentum to the Irish innings.
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score card
Ireland innings (50 overs maximum) R M B 4s 6s SR
WTS Porterfield* c Harbhajan Singh b Yuvraj Singh 75 146 104 6 1 72.11
PR Stirling b Khan 0 2 1 0 0 0.00
EC Joyce c †Dhoni b Khan 4 8 5 1 0 80.00
NJ O'Brien† run out (Kohli/†Dhoni) 46 93 78 3 0 58.97
AR White c †Dhoni b Yuvraj Singh 5 8 10 0 0 50.00
KJ O'Brien c & b Yuvraj Singh 9 14 13 1 0 69.23
AR Cusack lbw b Yuvraj Singh 24 49 30 3 0 80.00
JF Mooney lbw b Yuvraj Singh 5 19 17 0 0 29.41
DT Johnston lbw b Patel 17 38 20 2 0 85.00
GH Dockrell c †Dhoni b Khan 3 19 10 0 0 30.00

WB Rankin not out 1 5 1 0 0 100.00

Extras (lb 4, w 8, nb 6) 18











Total (all out; 47.5 overs; 205 mins) 207 (4.32 runs per over)
Fall of wickets1-1 (Stirling, 0.4 ov), 2-9 (Joyce, 2.3 ov), 3-122 (NJ O'Brien, 26.5 ov), 4-129 (White, 29.1 ov), 5-147 (KJ O'Brien, 33.4 ov), 6-160 (Porterfield, 37.1 ov), 7-178 (Mooney, 41.5 ov), 8-184 (Cusack, 43.4 ov), 9-201 (Dockrell, 46.6 ov), 10-207 (Johnston, 47.5 ov)










Bowling O M R W Econ

Z Khan 9 1 30 3 3.33 (1w)
MM Patel 4.5 0 25 1 5.17 (1w)

YK Pathan 7 1 32 0 4.57


Harbhajan Singh 9 1 29 0 3.22 (1w)

PP Chawla 8 0 56 0 7.00 (2nb, 3w)
Yuvraj Singh 10 0 31 5 3.10 (1w)









India innings (target: 208 runs from 50 overs) R M B 4s 6s SR
V Sehwag c & b Johnston 5 5 3 1 0 166.66
SR Tendulkar lbw b Dockrell 38 91 56 4 0 67.85
G Gambhir c Cusack b Johnston 10 18 15 2 0 66.66
V Kohli run out (Dockrell/KJ O'Brien) 34 82 53 3 0 64.15

Yuvraj Singh not out 50 108 75 3 0 66.66
MS Dhoni*† lbw b Dockrell 34 68 50 2 0 68.00

YK Pathan not out 30 23 24 2 3 125.00

Extras (lb 4, w 5) 9











Total (5 wickets; 46 overs; 200 mins) 210 (4.56 runs per over)
Did not bat Harbhajan Singh, PP Chawla, Z Khan, MM Patel
Fall of wickets1-9 (Sehwag, 1.1 ov), 2-24 (Gambhir, 5.2 ov), 3-87 (Tendulkar, 20.1 ov), 4-100 (Kohli, 23.4 ov), 5-167 (Dhoni, 40.1 ov)










Bowling O M R W Econ


WB Rankin 10 1 34 0 3.40 (2w)
DT Johnston 5 1 16 2 3.20 (1w)
GH Dockrell 10 0 49 2 4.90


JF Mooney 2 0 18 0 9.00


PR Stirling 10 0 45 0 4.50 (2w)

AR White 5 0 23 0 4.60


KJ O'Brien 1 0 3 0 3.00


AR Cusack 3 0 18 0 6.00

World Cup: Anderson, Broad script England's incredible win over South Africa

Ravi Bopara
(TOI)
CHENNAI.
If there's one team that has been brilliant the advertisers of one-day cricket in this World Cup, it's England. A tie, a last-over loss to a lower-ranked team, and now an incredible six-run win over favourites South Africa, Andrew Strauss' men have done it all in the course of a week.
The skipper may have grown a few grey hairs in the process, but he knows that the ghost of Bangalore has been exorcised and his side will go to Chittagong riding high on confidence.
Even on a rank turner at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, 172 wasn't exactly a big ask for South Africa. But the England pacemen James Anderson (2/16) and Stuart Broad (4/15) produced a couple of inspired spells when it looked all dead and buried for the T20 world champions. It had been set up, though, by off-spinner Graeme Swann, who stuck to a brilliant line and removed Graeme Smith with a beauty that took the South African skipper's glove.
The decision was referred, the third umpire took an eternity to give Smith out, but when he did, England saw a glimmer of hope.
Still, with the likes of Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers in the line-up, South Africa believed that they were pretty much in the drivers' seat. The England captain threw the ball to Broad, who was coming back from an injury, but the paceman worked up a lively pace on a hot and humid day Sunday. The inconsistent bounce, too, helped him as Amla dragged one onto the stumps and South Africa started to feel the heat.
Broad, along with Anderson, got the ball to reverse as well on a worn-out track as Kallis, De Villiers and Duminy got out in quick succession. But when Dale Steyn and Morne Van Wyk got involved in a 33-run eighth-wicket partnership, the South Africans again started fancying their chances. A stumping was missed, a catch was floored, and the tension rose among the handful of English fans.
With 12 more to go, the Proteas would surely have thought that things would go their way, when Tim Bresnan removed Morne Van Wyk. Strauss changed Broad's end, brought him from the pavilion end, and the paceman removed Steyn and Morne Morkel in the same over with some excellent exhibition of reverse swing to snatch an English victory from the threshold of disaster.
It looked all so incredible, taking into account all that happened right from the first over of the day when Robin Peterson removed Strauss and Kevin Pietersen to have England at 5/2.
It was down to Jonathan Trott (52) and Ravi Bopara (60) to do the rebuilding act. Just when it seemed that a total of 225 was possible, Imran Tahir came to the party.
But then, that was just half the story as Strauss' boys scripted a brilliant comeback win four hours later.

Young India's spirit is about soul

(TOI)
What's the S-word again? Not sex, style, six-packs or six-figure salaries. For the young, educated Indian, it's soul, spirituality and solace. Most college students in India's metros have faith in God — and family — firmly in place, an exclusive Speaking Tree-IMRB survey across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad has found. An overwhelming majority of respondents — 91% — are practising believers, i.e. they have faith and regularly visit a place of worship, especially during stressful times like exam week. More than two-thirds admit to praying at least once a week and 26% say they pray, but only on special occasions.
What's more, 95% seek their parents' blessings before embarking on a new and important task. Most prefer to follow the religion they were born into and only 6% would like to explore other faiths. Unsurprisingly, the family is acknowledged as the biggest influence in matters of faith by 91% of respondents, with friends considered important by just 5% and the Internet ranked high by just 1%.
In response to the question " How spiritual are you?", 16% said very, 49% said moderately, 28% said slightly and a mere 7% responded not at all. Three-fourths (77%) preferred to call themselves spiritual rather than religious. Feeding the poor is rated high among 77% as a spiritual activity. Most question the relevance of rituals and 67% say they wouldnt 'fast for religious reasons'.
Interestingly, the majority do not see sex as an expression of spirituality and only 18% connected the two.
So who's wearing their spirituality on their sleeve? Equal numbers (40% and 41% respectively) preferred to keep it hidden from peers than discuss it openly.
(But young people in the national capital are exceptions with a massive 74% admitting they freely discuss their spiritual life with others.)
The poll was conducted among 757 students, of which 490 were from elite and 267 from middle-rung colleges in the six metros where The Speaking Tree on Sunday newspaper is published.

Gaddafi's envoy to India given key post by rebels

(TOI)
NEW DELHI.
Ali Al Essawi, former ambassador to India and one of the first Libyan diplomats to have raised the banner of revolt against Muammar Gaddafi, is the rebels' choice to reach out to the world. The Libyan National Council, which has emerged as the main representative of Libyan people, has appointed Essawi in-charge of foreign affairs.
Essawi is a member of a Crisis Committee formed by the Benghazi-based Council, which met on Saturday to chalk out the path ahead for the revolutionaries and help in decision-making. The committee has two other members, including a head of military affairs.
Essawi, who had shifted to a hotel in Delhi after resigning from his post last month, has said that while the Opposition does not want international troops in Libya, it does want the international community to save Libyans. To prevent air strikes against the rebels, he called for the UN to impose a no-fly zone over Libya. He also alleged that foreign mercenaries were being hired to fight on behalf of the regime.
After his resignation, Essawi continued to work with the council leaders and others in the diplomatic community to resist violence being perpetrated by the Gaddafi regime. Despite the presence of Gaddafi, the council's legitimacy as the main Opposition body continues to increase, with countries such as France siding with its objectives.
As the rebels continue to march towards Tripoli, India is breathing a sigh of relief as two-thirds of its citizens have been brought home safely. The foreign ministry said a record number of more than 2,300 Indian nationals were evacuated from Libya in the past 24 hours. Three special Air India flights from Tripoli and one from Sebha, and Red Star One ferry carried out the task. The ministry said in a statement that more than 12,000 Indians would have been pulled out of Libya by Sunday evening.
The second Boeing 747 sortie brought home 400 passengers from Sebha (Libya) to Mumbai. Daily sorties have been scheduled to evacuate all the remaining persons from Sebha over the next few days.
"In the second round, MV Scotia Prince picked up all the remaining 972 of our nationals from Benghazi and is headed to Alexandria, where it is expected to reach on Monday afternoon. These passengers will be flown back to India on four special flights (one of them IL 76) on Tuesday and Wednesday," the statement said.
MV Red Star One ferry commenced its return journey to Malta from Misurata (Libya) on Saturday evening, with all 301 Indians desirous of leaving Libya and 29 foreign nationals on board, including six from Bangladesh.