Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Sehwag, Kohli help India beat Bangla by 87 runs

It may have been sweet revenge for Team India which crushed Bangladesh by 87 runs (in World Cup 2007 India was beaten by the Bangla team) in the first match of Group B as well as the tournament, courtesy Virender Sehwag and Virat Kohli, but India needs to pull up its socks to arrest the shoddy fielding and even the bowlers, especially the seamers, need to be more destructive on the field to see a win against England on February 27 (Sunday).

However, in the first match, India has showed that its batting line up could turn out to be virulent.

But Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said that at least 10 crucial runs will have to be saved in every match before Team India can aspire to beat the top teams and wrest the World Cup.

In today’s match, India opened with its favourite pair - Sachin Tendulkar and Sehwag. India started accelerating at a strong pace right from the start, with the opening duo setting the tone at 60 for no loss, when it was felt that India would have a huge score.

But just when Tendulkar looked strong, he was run out after a shot to mid on. He scored 28. Gautam Gambhir, who was picking up runs steadily, was bowled out cheap at 39.

Then came in Kohli, who scored a century (100 not out), and Sehwag (who was out for 175, becoming the second-highest Indian scorer after Sourav Ganguly in a World Cup).

India notched a total of 370 for four wickets.

India’s bowling was hardly impressive. Bangladesh was off to a flying start at 51 for no loss only after five overs. From then on, wickets fell at regular intervals.

Despite some useful partnerships, India’s total was beyond Bangladesh’s reach. Munaaf Patel notched (4 wickets for 48 runs), Zaheer Khan (2/40) and Harbhajan Singh (1/41) and Yousuf Pathan (1/49) but Sreeshanth’s failed to click.

Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal scored 70 along with skipper Shakib Al Hasan 55 were the top scorers and runs by Imrul Kayes (34) and Junaid Siddique (37) were also useful.

Bangladesh managed to score 283 for nine in 50 overs. But the man of the match was awarded to Sehwag.

But the match against England will be a bigger test India. England not only managed a 67-run win against Pakistan in a practice match but its key batsman and captain Kevin Pietersen is in good form and its players to watch are off-spinner Graeme Swann and batsman Jonathan Trott, who is in top form.

Unlike Bangladesh, England will be different ballgame and can Sehwag play another aggressive knock, considering England’s bowling line-up is not as strong as its batting and fielding, giving Indian batsmen another chance to come out of the pitch and have another go?

No comments:

Post a Comment