Tuesday, November 29, 2011

All eye on Rohit as India in tight chase

Cuttack: Ashwin also did not last long as he was run out for just 6.


Rohit Sharma marked his return to the ODI fold with a fifty under tremendous pressure. He needed 62 balls to reach the milestone with the help 3 fours and a six.

Kieron Pollard finally made the breakthrough when he ended Ravindra Jadeja’s resilient knock of 38, thus making the game wide open again.

Jadeja played cautiously and his 62-ball knock consisted of just 3 fours. But it was Jadeja, along with Rohit Sharma, pulled India out of the wood with a fighting 83-run stand.

Despite losing 5 wickets early, India rebuilt their innings through a patience partnership between Rohit Sharma and allrounder Ravinder Jadeja. They put up a fifty-run stand off 73 balls to help India cross 100.

Suresh Raina became the fifth Indian batsman to fall as he was fooled by an Andre Russell slower delivery that was taken at mid-off by Bravo. Raina made 5 off 7 balls. India were in deep trouble losing half the side for just 59 runs.

Skipper Virender Sehwag’s eventful stay at the crease came to an end as he was bowled by Andre Russell for 20.

Sehwag was looking visibly upset by the movements behind the sightscreen before he was cleaned up by Russell. He hit three boundaries during his 29-ball 20 knock.

Kemar Roach was on fire as he sent down a superb delivery to clean bowl Virat Kohli for 3. Kohli, who just joined Sehwag in the middle after the twin dismissal, was shocked by a fast delivery that came sharply from the off stump to disturb his stumps.

Parthiv Patel wasted another opportunity to cement his place in the Indian team as he threw away his wicket once again. Parthiv’s 13-ball 12 came to an end when he tried to cut an outside off-stump delivery from Kemar Roach over cover only to be caught at point by Anthony Martin.

Roach again struck in the same over as he dismissed No. 3 Gambhir for 4 off another outside off-stump delivery.

A fine performance by the Indian bowlers coupled with some terrible batting by the West Indian batsmen helped the hosts restrict the tourists for a below par 211/9 in the first ODI at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack on Tuesday. 



On paper every Indian bowler bowled well but Umesh Yadav (2/33) and R Ashwin were exceptional from the word go. Yadav bowled with a lot of fire and Aswin with guile to put West Indies in the back-foot.

Apart from them, Vinay Kumar (1/27), Varun Aaron (2/37), Ajay Jadeja (1/42)- all bowled well with Jadeja and Aaron being a touch expansive.

From the West Indies camp, the fast-improving Darren Bravo was the only batsman to put up a real resistance against the clinical Indian bowlers.

Darren Bravo continued his good show with the bat as he scored yet another half-century in the series. Bravo’s fifty came from 56 balls with 6 classical hits to the fence.

After losing 3 wickets for just 52, talented Darren Bravo and Danza Hyatt gave the West Indies innings a much-needed stability and helped them cross the hundred-run mark. They handled both pace and spin well and kept on stealing singles and doubles in between.

Bravo was more fluent of the two as he attacked the Indian spinners whenever they erred in line and length. Indian spinners also kept a tight line.

Ashwin (1/30) was again economical in his initial overs, giving no rooms to the batsmen to free their arms.

Just when it seemed that Bravo and Hyatt would take WI to safety and lay an ideal platform for them to put up a big score, Hyatt got out, courtesy of a terrible misunderstanding while going for a second run which resulted in his run-out. Hyatt played really well for his 54-ball 31 which consisted of 2 fours and a six off Jadeja.

Part-time off-spinner Suresh Raina then got the most important wicket as he sent the dangerous Darren Bravo to the pavilion for 60. Bravo’s 74-ball innings came to an end when he tried to drive a fastish delivery from Raina which slipped past the inner half of his bat and hit the off-stump.

Much was expected of Kieron Pollard, but he flattered to deceive again. His patience finally ran out as he tried to loft one straight over the head of long-off fielder but was holed out by Kohli at the boundary off R Ashwin.

Pollard played the shot immediately after Bravo’s departure and got out for 33-ball 13. This has been the tragedy of the T20 specialists like Pollard all over the world. They never understand the importance of building an innings in an ODI game!



Earlier in the day, Vinay Kumar drew the first blood for India as he dismissed Adrian Barath with a perfect outswinger for 17 after Sehwag won the toss and elected to field first. Kumar’s delivery kissed the outside edge of Barath’s bat and landed in the safe hands of wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel.

Barath was looking aggressive during his 13-ball stay at the crease. He hit 3 fours.

Varun Aaron started in a sensational manner, getting Marlon Samuels with his very first ball of the match for just 10. Samuels, who was trying to force the pace ever since he joined Lindl Simmons in the middle, was bowled by the new pace sensation of Indian cricket.

Yadav, who was bowling consistently close to 150 kmp/h mark, made the life difficult for all the top-order West Indies batsmen. The pressure he created from one end also resulted in the fall of two wickets from the other.

Teams 

West Indies (Playing XI): Lendl Simmons, Adrian Barath, Danza Hyatt, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin(w), Darren Sammy(c), Andre Russell, Anthony Martin, Kemar Roach

India (Playing XI): Virender Sehwag(c), Parthiv Patel(w), Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Vinay Kumar, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav


Source: http://zeenews.india.com/sports/cricket/cuttack-odi-live-all-eye-on-rohit-as-india-in-tight-chase_733066.html

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