Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Ind vs Ned: Yuvraj helps India beat Netherlands by 5 wickets

NEW DELHI: As twilight merged into night at Ferozeshah Kotla, the din became louder. The party was on and the raucous crowd was having its fill as Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag tore into the modest Netherlands attack. Just 190 needed to wrap this one up against the minnows, it was celebration time. Suddenly, the grand march towards victory became a painful lurch towards the post as profligate Indian batsmen gave new sheen to the expression, "cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties."


Sehwag, Tendulkar and Pathan sacrificed their wickets while trying to finish the game before the waiters stopped serving evening tea in the dressing room. Virat Kohli's expansive drive only helped the ball hit the off-stump and Gautam Gambhir was unlucky to see his leg-stump clipped around his legs.

From 69 without loss to 99 for four and then 139 for five was almost surreal. The tension in the air was palpable, just as it was in the last game against Ireland. The old firm of Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni then took charge and sanity was restored. India won the World Cup Group B game on Wednesday by five wickets with more than 13 overs remaining, also making to the quarterfinals in the process. But with tougher tests coming up, doubters would still be shouting from the roof tops, such was the display overall.

Yuvraj turned in another remarkably saviour-like, man-of-the-match performance to soothe nerves and see India home. He was nagging with ball (9-1-43-2) and resolute with the bat (51 not out, 73 balls, 7x4). One was reminded of what Dhoni said on Tuesday in the pre-match press meet: "I'm a great fan of Yuvraj Singh."

In the first half of the day, the script went the way India's spin doctors would have wanted it to. A web of spin on a low, slow and turning Kotla track, not your 'ideal' One-day wicket by any means, suffocated the life out of Dutch batsmen. The visitors huffed and puffed their way to 189 all out in 46.4 overs after winning the toss and batting first.

That spin would be the order of the day was established quite early when Pathan replaced Ashish Nehra after the comeback man had bowled just one over of his medium pace. Star off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was in operation by the seventh over and soon, Piyush Chawla too was creating confusion in the Dutch ranks with his assortment of leg-spinners, googlies and flippers.

All this while, Yuvraj, fresh from a five-wicket haul in the last game against Ireland, was rubbing his hands in anticipation. It was not long before he also got his chance to make hay in the sun, which he did immediately by picking up a wicket in his first over.

The medium-pacers, especially Zaheer Khan, also benefited from the pressure applied by the spinners. Zaheer picked up three in his second spell to help India wrap up the innings in a hurry. The Netherlands essay, which had a promising start, began misfiring as soon as the tweakers came on. The Dutch batsmen did not have the wherewithal to counter quality spin in these conditions. Thus, the 56-run opening stand proved a flash in the pan as wickets fell at regular intervals.

It was left to skipper Peter Borren to launch a late riposte with a breezy 38 off 36 balls. He crashed Yuvraj for two fours in the 42nd over of the innings and then whack two sixes off Chawla in the 43rd to bring some substance to the total.

Chawla finally found a track where he could turn the ball and hoodwink the batters. Of course, the Dutch could not exert too much pressure on him but his confidence would have got a fillip nonetheless. He could even turn his googlies which normally do not turn much.

A wickets, though, eluded Harbhajan once again, despite the sardar bowling his full quota. In the field, the hosts looked flat. They might be saving the fire for the bigger tests. But it's fielding which exhibits the collective attitude of a group. And since skipper Dhoni has himself thrown the towel — he said India's fielding can't improve — one cannot hope for anything better. Besides a lack of quality effort from many in the field, two return catches were fluffed, one each by Chawla and Yuvraj, though both were tough ones.

In tight games, this lack of intent may cost India dearly.

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Tendulkar first to reach 2,000 World Cup runs

NEW DELHI: Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday became the first batsman to score 2,000 World Cup runs, reaching the mark by hitting three consecutive fours in front of legions of fans in New Delhi.

Tendulkar opened the batting with Virender Sehwag at Ferozeshah Kotla stadium, and they put on 69 for the first wicket in reply to the Netherlands' total of 189 before Sehwag was out for 39.

Tendulkar was dismissed for 27 off 22 balls, caught near the long-off boundary by Bradley Kruger off the bowling of Pieter Seelaar.

The 37-year-old, playing his 40th match at his sixth World Cup, made his bow at cricket's showpiece tournament in 1992.

Before Wednesday's match he had hit five centuries and 13 fifties in World Cups.

The next player on the list is Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, who has 1,577 runs in 42 matches.

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Spain lead FIFA rankings, Argentina head Brazil

ZURICH: World Cup-winner Spain stays atop the FIFA monthly rankings and Argentina rises above Brazil to be South America's best.

Spain leads an unchanged all-European top three from the Netherlands and Germany. Argentina is up one place at no. 4 and Brazil slips to no. 5.

Argentina was rewarded for a 2-1 victory over Portugal in a friendly, while Brazil lost 1-0 to France.

Croatia climbs one to no. 8, trading places with Portugal. Greece completes the top 10.

Italy rose two to no. 11 and Asian champion Japan is also up two at no. 15.

Ghana leads African countries at no. 16. The United States dropped one to no. 19 but still leads CONCACAF region teams.

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Gautam Gambhir

Country: India

IPL Team: Kolkata Knight Riders

Cover (Rs crore): 32.4

Gautam Gambhir from Kolkata Knight Riders is getting the highest individual insurance of 32 crore.

Ind vs Ned: Netherlands opt to bat against India

NEW DELHI: Netherlands captain Peter Borren won the toss and chose to bat against India in their World Cup clash at Ferozeshah Kotla in New Delhi on Wednesday.

India have rested Munaf Patel and brought in Ashish Nehra.

Indian captain MS Dhoni said they would have batted first as the track is expected to go slow. But quickly added it is nice to get exposure for chasing runs. Regarding team change, he informed Nehra is back in the side in place of Munaf. Further he said that they would look to improve on their fielding and also added that they have to bowl well initially and in the Powerplay overs.

Dutch skipper Borren said that chasing has not been good for them and they will try to do the same thing that they did against England. Added they need to be disciplined in their bowling against the powerful Indian batting.

This match affords India just about the last chance to hammer out strategies and gameplans before big battles become the order of the day. After this tie, India play South Africa and West Indies, two formidable opponents, in their final group matches before the knock-outs begin.

India, who have eyes firmly fixed on the quarterfinal spot, would like to finish on top of the group to facilitate an 'easy' outing in the last eight. A victory over the Dutch, the underdogs, will serve that purpose nicely.

India are the only team who have yet to taste defeat in their group and that record is unlikely to be broken against the under-performing Dutch who have still to register a win.

A strong performance against the Dutch will not only give India a strong net run rate but also pave their way to the knockout round.

The only weak link for the Indians has been their bowling which has been exposed time and again.

India's frontline bowlers failed to find much success against a spirited Ireland and had it not been for a five-wicket haul by part-time spinner Yuvraj Singh, they could have been in trouble.

The home side are unlikely to be tested against the Netherlands, who ran England close in their opener, thanks to a sparkling 119 from Ryan ten Doeschate, but have since struggled.

The Dutch scored an impressive 292 against England but slumped to a huge 215-run defeat to the West Indies and lost by 231 runs against South Africa.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra.

Netherlands: Peter Borren (Capt.), Eric Szwarczynski, Wesley Barresi, Tom Cooper, Ryan ten Doeschate, Alexei Kervezee, Bas Zuiderent, Tom de Grooth, Bradley Kruger, Mudassar Bukhari, Pieter Seelaar.

TOI

India vs Netherlands: Online ticket struggle

NEW DELHI: While for cricket enthusiasts around the world, watching the World Cup is a dream, spectators for the India-Netherlands match on Wednesday were bitter and aggrieved. For 26-year-old Vishal Patel, who had flown in from London with his parents Mukesh and Pallavi especially to watch four matches after booking tickets six months in advance, getting tickets from the online ticket collection counter was an arduous task on Tuesday.

"I had booked tickets for four matches in Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and Nagpur. While tickets for the Chennai match, which is the last match of these four, were mailed to us while we were still in London, I had to mail the online ticketing agency repeatedly before getting any indication as to what would happen to the rest of our tickets. We were finally told just days before we left that the tickets would be available at the different venues. But when we reached Ferozeshah Kotla stadium on Tuesday, we were told that our tickets had been mailed to our London address on Monday. This is ridiculous."

The family then had to allegedly argue with the ticketing counter representative for a long time before he finally agreed to give them their tickets. "We have all our papers, passports and everything they had asked for in the confirmation email sent by the ticketing agency. However, the tickets were given to us only after much argument and we were made to pay an added "entertainment tax" even though there was no such mention in the confirmation of the tickets or the later correspondence we had with them. This is just a money-making scheme. When we picked up the tickets in Bangalore's ticketing counter, there was no such problem nor were we asked for any extra money," said an incensed Mukesh Patel.

The family had arrived in Bangalore on March 5. Vishal has a mehendi tattoo on his right forearm showing off his cricketing enthusiasm which his sister Kajal had drawn for him.

TOI

Cricket-Netherlands elect to bat v India

Netherlands captain Peter Borren won the toss and elected to bat against India in their World Cup Group B match on Wednesday.

India are aiming to maintain their unbeaten run at the event after beating Bangladesh and Ireland and tying with England, while Netherlands are seeking their first win in four matches.