Sachin, Rahul star in India's 9-run win
Posted on Aug 24, 2007 at 18:32 | Updated Aug 25, 2007 at 18:59
64 Comments
New Delhi: Despite a sterling performance by the batsmen, the Indians managed to scrape past England by nine runs to square the series 1-1 in the second One-Day International of the NatWest Series at Bristol on Friday.
A vintage 99 from Sachin Tendulkar and a quickfire 92 from just 63 balls from skipper Rahul Dravid guided India to 329 for seven, before England matched with equal force only to fall short at the last hurdle.
Replying to India's massive total, England openers Alastair Cook (36) and Matt Prior (33) got off to an excellent start, putting on a quickfire 76 runs together in 10.5 overs.
The opening pair hit 14 boundaries in 10 overs but then Munaf Patel got the breakthrough for India and saw off both the openers in consecutive balls to bring the visitors back on top.
England, meanwhile, had their share of luck with a number of straightforward catches as well as tough went down. Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen were both dropped and managed to put on 50 in 43 balls.
Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla then struck a double blow as he bowled out Pietersen with his second delivery for 25, and then ended skipper Paul Collingwood's stay in the same fashion for 27, leaving the English chase on 176-4.
Ramesh Powar, too, got into the act as he dismissed Andrew Flintoff for nine, as England were reduced to 185-5.
England, however, kept pace as Ravinder Bopara and Ian Bell accounted for quick runs to take up their tally to 220, before Bopara departed in the form of Munaf Patel's third wicket for 17.
Bell, who scored a century in the first game, managed 64 runs before he was caught in the deep off Piyush Chawla to leave the hosts with the lower order exposed.
Dimitri Mascarenas got England within striking distance of the Indian total, as the all-rounder brought up a 50-run eighth wicket partnership in just 36 balls. Mascarenas' efforts, though, came to a halt in the 49th over with England still needing 31 runs.
Stuart Broad slammed two sixes in the last over off Munaf Patel, but the visitors managed to hold on and keep England out by a mere nine runs.
Earlier, Indian captain Rahul Dravid won the toss for the second time in the series and elected to have a bat, after his decision to bowl first was hotly debated as India were crushed at Southampton.
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Total Comments: 64
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Posted By madhusudhan
Well... Mr. Mnaoj, you are high lighting only the failures but why you didn\''t notice the victories..
You said that rahul
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Posted By manoj.src
HI BCCI ,
I was wondering why we have dravid as a captain. he is the worst among the captain we
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Posted By S.ANANTH
Why only coach? isnt it time we go in for a foreign captain? and for that matter, why not a
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Posted By jainarain
This is strange to note that Gora officials have different opinion for the similar incidences. Do these people still maintain
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Posted By Ayaskanta
Please take a look at the career strike rates of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar in One Dayers.It will help
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