da betobet： © CricInfo The odds must have been heavily stacked against India when theywere 141/4 – Sachin Tendulkar (1) among the men dismissed – inthe 28th over while chasing an imposing target of 272
Erapalli Prasanna30-Jun-2002
© CricInfoThe odds must have been heavily stacked against India when theywere 141/4 – Sachin Tendulkar (1) among the men dismissed – inthe 28th over while chasing an imposing target of 272. But aremarkable display of determination and intelligent batting byRahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh helped India to a comprehensivesix-wicket win over England.I have always admired the grit and determination of Dravid, andon Saturday at Lord’s, he batted like a man in complete control,pacing his innings very well and sealing the win with a flourish.It was so good to see the experience of Dravid and the exuberanceof Yuvraj Singh combining so well to put together the matchwinning unbeaten 131-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Afterall, it is partnerships that make a huge difference when chasinga big total.Perhaps, the English were a bit complacent after their victoryover Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge the other day. They seemed to haveunder-estimated the strength of the Indian batting.Nasser Hussain’s strategy of batting first must have been to putthe psychological pressure on the tourists after piling on a bigscore. This was a good idea given the fact that he has only asecond-string pace attack after both Darren Gough and AndyCaddick were rendered hors de combat.The plan seemed to be working to perfection, with the two openersMarcus Trescothick and Nick Knight batting confidently andscoring ever so freely. The Indian tour selection committeeplayed into their hands by playing just two fast bowlers.I was shocked to see Ashish Nehra dropped from the squad. Nehrais one bowler who has the ability to swing the ball both ways andto have sacrificed him to play an extra batsman was a bigmistake.Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar were all over the place with the newball and the only way India could have got a breakthrough at thatearly stage was through a run out – and that was exactly whathappened. Agarkar, it might be observed, is a much better bowlerwith the old ball when he can generate reverse swing. It will beprudent to look back to the fact that England could only score 29runs off the final five overs, when Zaheer Khan and Agarkarbowled exceptionally well. That made a huge difference to thetarget India were finally asked to chase.England definitely were guilty of not driving home their earlyadvantage. Andrew Flintoff, Hussain and Graham Thorpe were allguilty of throwing their wickets away. England finished with 271,which clearly looked to be about 20-25 runs less than what theycould have scored on a belter of a track. And the limited bowlingoptions at their disposal meant that they had to pay a heavyprice for it in the afternoon.Virender Sehwag is a batsman in form and the English bowlers musthave already noted that fact. The way he eased into playing thestrokes was a sheer joy to watch. Ganguly also complemented theyoung dashing batsman well and runs kept flowing at a rapid pace.The English attack was made to look very ordinary indeed asLord’s witnessed one of the best exhibitions of stroke-making.Ashley Giles showed the pundits that the spinners have a pivotalrole to play in limited-overs cricket. The basic principle forany spinner is to get the ball to turn in the first place; oneneeds to only look at the success of Muttiah Muralitharan andShane Warne to accept this fact. Giles got the ball to grip andturn on a flat track; he used the bowlers’ footmarks cleverly tohis advantage. Apart from his first and last over of his tenovers-spell, Giles had a very good evening with the ball.
© CricInfoSo too did Ronnie Irani, who showed how difficult it is for thebatsman to score if the ball moves off the wicket. Irani with hisdisciplined bowling thoroughly deserved the wicket of Tendulkar.I am very pleased that the Indians did not end up grabbing defeatfrom the jaws of victory on this occasion. I should commend bothYuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid for their brilliant performance,which ensured that India got off to a winning start to the triseries campaign. The smiles that broke out on the Lord’s balconyat the end of the evening were pointers to the fact that themorale is quite high in the Indian camp after this magnificentvictory.