Thursday, December 20, 2012

Yuvraj all-round helped India 1st defeat England

Pune: Man-of-the-Match Yuvraj all-round performance helped India beat England by 5 wickets in the 1st T20 match, at the Subrata Roy Sahara stadium here on Thursday.

Chasing 158 for a win, Gautam Gambhir and Ajinkya Rahane took India off to a rousing start, putting 42 on board in a jiffy, with the latter taking the plan by striking meaty sixes off Bresnan and Dernbach. Their whirlwind partnership was though brought to an end, after Gambhir was caught by Hales while trying to clear the deep square leg boundary. Rahane was lucky to be dropped by Meeker who grassed a sitter at short fine leg, but failed to make use of the life, using a dreadful stroke to give Bresnan his 2nd wicket. India 44/2.

Yuvraj came in and struck some lusty blows, singling out Danny Briggs for particular attention, smashing the left-arm spinner for 2 sixes and a four in over no.7. Yuvraj would go on to make 38, hitting a six before being caught by Meeker off Wright, as going for a big shot. Virat Kohli (21) with whom Yuvraj put together a 49-run stand, played well before comatose the ball onto the stumps.

Suresh Raina (26) and MS Dhoni (22) then took India closer to the target score, before the former was run out by Eoin Morgan with 10 runs still left to get. The Indian captain took the wicket in his stride, taking his side past the end line, by bringing up the winning runs off Stuart Meeker.

Earlier, India win the toss and elected to field first. Ashok Dinda made the mistake of bowling short, and was punctually punished by Alex Hales, who pulled him for 2 fours to the main wicket fence. Ashwin negated the surge with a maiden, to bring debutant Parvinder Awana in, for his 1st international over. The 26-year old was baptized by fire, giving away 12 runs, with Hales contribution him no sympathy. Michael Lumb fell leg-before-wicket to Ashwin, as India picked up their 1st wicket.
Hales looked hale and energetic at the crease, using his feet and the long handle to put the ball away. Luke Wright was also keen to match his partner, and he chose to take on Piyush Chawla. The former missed a run-out chance after failing to get at the back the stumps for the throw from R.Ashwin. Soon, England was cursing at 89/1 after 10 overs.

Yuvraj provided the get through after Luke Wright came down to hit the ball straight into Ajinkya Rahane’s hands at long off. India did a excellent job of bottling up the batsmen, and it wasn’t long before Alex Hales lost his middle stump to Yuvraj. One ball later, Eoin Morgan played away from his body, hitting in the air, only to give Rahane his 2nd catch of the match. Yuvraj was India’s best bowler final with figures of 3/19.

With 2 new batsmen at the crease, India decided to slow things down, and brought the match back on their terms. Ashwin however came up with a poor over, conceding 15 runs, as England moved closer to the 140-run mark after 17 overs. Dhoni then brought back Dinda, who sent back Samit Patel and Tim Bresnan. Awana was brought back for the last over, only to find out that his torrid run would continue, as he gave away 17 runs, with Buttler striking 2 sixes, as England recovered to post 157/6.

The second T20 will be held at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 22nd.

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