How India thrashed England by 90 runs
Indian bowlers led by Harbhajan Singh's four wickets left England in tatters and with a 90-run defeat to ponder on. A look at how the match panned out.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: September 23, 2012 10:37 PM IST
Indian bowlers led by Harbhajan Singh's four wickets left England in tatters and with a 90-run defeat to ponder on. A look at how the match panned out.
14.5 overs: And it's all over. Yuvraj Singh rolls his arms over, the final wicket falls: India emerge as winners by 90 runs. Defending champions all-out on 80.
12.4 overs:Boundary from Jade Dernbach. Helps England surpass the lowest T20 total ever scored. He is helping himself to some powerful boundaries. The last pair though now for England.
11.4 overs:Harbhajan now ON FIRE! Butler and Swann fall in the space of three deliveries. England in ruins now and that lowest-ever total is looking more of a possibility than ever before. Bhajji's figures: 4 overs for 12 and 4 wickets! And as the words flow, another man falls. Nine down now!
10 overs:What is that lowest score again? England of all teams, in free fall against the might of Indian spin. Harbhajan now with two as Tim Bresnan falls. England 54/6. Just for the record: Lowest T20 total ever is Kenya's 67!
8.1 overs:Trial by spin this! Chawla takes his second. Kieswetter was looking good but to Indian fans, he is now looking perfect with his back to the field.
7 overs:There is a party here in Colombo. English batsmen are invited but are being made to walk back in a hurry as well. Piyush Chawla gets into the act and 'tastes' the whiff of timber left behind by Jonny Bairstow.
5.2 overs:Harbhajan Singh is back and what a return! He claims a wicket in his first over and points to a shattered stump to prove he still has what it takes. Eoin Morgan the victim.
4 overs: The initial few overs has been all about Irfan Pathan. He has struck twice to cut any signs of an early English attack, into pieces. Criag Kieswetter batting with Eoin Morgan. England struggling a bit at 30/2.
1.4 overs: It is Irfan again! He may have been spanked beyond as he began his second over but returns to remove Luke Wright. The batsman was not too happy with the decision but umpire Simon Taufel had has mind made up. Two early strikes now for India.
2 overs:Alex Hales may have fallen to a bad shot selection to a ball which was aimed well at him. No such error from Criag Kieswetter - the other opener- who dispatched L Balaji for a six and a boundary - both proper cricketing shots - to get England away in the run-chase.
England's innings: Irfan Pathan opened the batting and returned to do the same with the ball. He was rewarded with the shattered stumps of Alex Hales.
0.6:Innings update: India set a target of 171 for England after being asked to bat. The going for the batsmen was not all bang-bang but the final total will be seen as reasonable as long as the Indian bowlers manage to trouble the opposition. The room for error though is rather narrow as the pitch is holding up well. India have the services of Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla tonight.
For India, Gambhir (45), Kohli (40) and Rohit Sharma (55 ) tried to cut loose. Sharma even managed to hit a massive six and a boundary in the final over to accelerate the rate of scoring.
For England, Steven Finn had two wickets to show for his efforts but it was the superb spin of Swann that put the brakes on India. His four cost just 17 and he even managed a wicket.
18 overs: Hard hitting, brilliant fielding and a comedy of sorts - all in a span of two overs. Rohit Sharma cut lose to thrash Stuart Broad to the fence twice before his third aerial shot was plucked and thrown back in by Bairstow. The following delivery got stick in MS Dhoni's pads and a run-out chance at the bowlers end was avoided as Broad had to retrieve the ball from that very spot! Next over: Dhoni changes his bat and it works. He dispatches Dernbach to the boundary followed by a half-hearted helicopter shot worth two. India: 143/3
15.5:Steven Finn ends Gambhir's innings on 45. The Indian batsman was looking exhausted. He tried to negotiate a slower ball from the bowler but ended up giving a faint edge. Kieswetter behind the wickets had failed to stump him before and was not letting him have a second life. Gambhir's 45 came off 38 balls with five boundaries. Dhoni replaces him.
14 overs:Indians being peppered with the short ball. Gambhir has looked at ease playing the pull as a reply but has not found boundaries. Runs coming mostly in singles with the occasional double interjecting play. England have a strategy and they are sticking to it, led by Broad with the short-ball. 100-mark reached. India: 106/2 in 14 overs
12 overs: Rohit Sharma had a good knock against Pakistan in the warm-up match and he has brought the confidence out today. A short-arm jab sends the ball flying to the fence off Dernbach's bowling. India however, slightly behind where they would have wanted to be. Three-figure mark yet to come though.
10.3:Swann removes Kohli on 40! He has been a thorn of sorts in the Indian flesh. The first ball of the 11th over goes through Gambhir but the keeper misses a chance to stump. A single and Kohli gets on strike. He swings twice, misses and skies the third for the fielder at deep mid-wicket. In walks Rohit.
10 overs:India play spin well and have played Swann fine. It is just that only singles have come off his bowling which is not of much worth much in T20 cricket. Swann's two have cost 14. Bresnan, bowling from the other end though, has a slightly different tale. Kohli smashed his second ball of the 10th over with casual arrogance. The bowler cost 7 in his opening over but his second went for two more. India: 80/1 in 10
8 overs:Graeme Swann bowled the seventh over and was able to get some respect from Gambhir and Kohli. Both batsmen negotiated the bowler with singles. Stuart Broad bowled his second and the 8th over. He tested the batsman with some short deliveries but not too much trouble for Indians. Kohli even managed to take the aerial route which went through the hands of a jumping Swann, and all the way to the fence.
6 overs: Gambhir seems to be determined to take the attack to the opposition. Slaps Finn for 11 runs in the sixth over. Virat Kohli at the other end is also getting his eye in and should, as seen before, firing soon.
4 overs:Gambhir is at the crease with in-form Virat Kohli. Kohli's bat has been silent so far though he has only faced a couple of deliveries. Tim Bresnan walks in for the fifth.
2.4:Irfan Pathan falls to Steven Finn. He cut Finn with brilliance when the over began but the bowler replied by knocking the stumps
2 overs: Gautam Gambhir looks in fine touch. He has taken Jade Dernbach to the fence a couple of times in the second over of the innings. India open with a big bang. Gambhir has Irfan for company.
0.0 overs: Irfan, Gambhir open vs England. Finn with the opening over.
At toss: England won the toss and opted to bowl first against India in the final Group A match, here on Sunday.
Tim Bresnan replaces Samit Patel for England while India make four changes. Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, R Ashwin and Manoj Tiwary sit out for India with Ashok Dinda gets to play.
With both teams having won their respective opening clashes at Afgnistan's expense, the clash is of no consequence as far as advancing in the tournament is concerned. It however is expected to be a good test of how the two teams stack-up against each other and if they have the firepower to last till the title clash.
England were more convincing in their win against Afghanistan, compared to India. Luke Wright smashed his way to an unbeaten 55. India's reply with the bat though will be from Virat Kohli's bat who also struck a fifty in the opening match and is good form.
Squads:
India: G Gambhir, V Kohli, SK Raina, Yuvraj Singh, RG Sharma, MS Dhoni, IK Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, PP Chawla, AB Dinda, L Balaji
England: C Kieswetter, AD Hales, LJ Wright, EJG Morgan, JC Buttler, JM Bairstow, TT Bresnan, SCJ Broad, GP Swann, ST Finn, JW Dernbach