India Defeat UAE Comfortably

Despite an early scare, India comfortably defeated UAE with a solid all round performance. Rahul Dravid once again scored another crucial century and the Indian bowlers skittled the inexperienced UAE batting side with good sharp bowling.

India won the toss and elected to bat and all eyes were on Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. Sehwag, who had targeted a ODI double century against the minnows got off to the worst possible start as Sehwag was run out for 0 and India had lost their first wicket.

Some Tendulkar magic followed, albeit breifly as Tendulkar was out for just 18 as Asim Saeed bagged Tendulkar's wicket and US$1000. Sourav Ganguly had his fair share of luck, being dropped a couple of times. Laxman looked dangerous as he lashed out at the inexperienced UAE bowling attack.

However a slower delivery got Laxman spooning a delivery back to Mohammad Tauqir as Laxman departed for 14 and India were in trouble at 3/65. Enter Rahul Dravid, the man for any crisis situation against any type of opponent.

Dravid solidified his status as arguably India's and the world's best batsman as he masterfuly displayed his class at the expense of the UAE bowling attack. At the other end, Sourav Ganguly was steady yet solid and provided pivotal support for Dravid at the other end.

The two put togheter a 88 run partnership as Ganguly reached a slow half century. However, the UAE struck back as India were down to 4/153 as Ganguly departed for 56 off 102 balls. Dravid continued his domination and raced past his half century as well.

Yuvraj Singh tried to lift the run rate and blasted his way to a quickfire 22 before he was dismissed by UAE captain Khuram Khan. In the final overs, Mohammad Kaif and Dravid put away good balls and bad balls to the boundary as India's run rate increased dramatically.

Dravid registered his century off just 90 balls and soldified his status as the man to count on when in a crisis. Dravid alongside Kaif got India past the 250 mark before Dravid was dismissed for a fine 104 as he was bowled by Rizwan Latif.

Mohammad Kaif finished up on 30 as India gathered 260 runs for the loss of 6 wickets, a total that UAE's inexperienced batting lineup would find hard to chase down.

UAE began in poor fashion and continued going down a dark tunnel. Irfan Pathan terrorised the UAE top order as Arshad Ali was gone for 0 caught behind by Dravid. With the score at 26, Irfan had Asim Saeed dismissed for 12 and next ball had Naeemuddin Aslam lbw for 0.

No respite came at the other end either as Balaji settled down and had Fahad Usman lbw for 9. Balaji got another lbw, this time of UAE skipper Khuram Khan as UAE slumped to 5/36. After the initial spells of Irfan Pathan and Balaji came to an end, Zaheer Khan was bought on and had instant success.

Zaheer captured the wicket of Syed Maqsood (5) as UAE slipped down the tunnel of defeat and were 6/45. Asghar Ali and Mohammad Tauqir provided the much needed resistance that UAE required. With Ali as the anchor and Tauqir as the aggressor, the two compiled a valuable 52 run partnership.

Asghar Ali however was out for just 14 as he was trapped in front to the veteran Anil Kumble. Tauqir however played a lone hand as wickets continued to tumble around him. Tendulkar had wicketkeeper Abdul Rehman bowled for 1 as UAE looked headed for certain defeat.

However, the bright shining light of this display was Mohammad Tauqir. Tauqir registered his first ever ODI half century, but the joy didn't last too long as Tauqir was stumped by Dravid and dismissed by Tendulkar for 55. Sachin Tendulkar wrapped up the UAE innings as he dismissed Rizwan Latif (0) as India won their Asia Cup opener by 116 runs.

Brief Score Summary:

India: 6/260 (Dravid 104, Ganguly 56, Rizwan Latif 2/69, Asim Saeed 1/25)

UAE: 144 All Out (Mohammad Tauqir 55, Asghar Ali 14, Irfan Pathan 3/28, Tendulkar 3/21, Balaji 2/28)

Cricket Web Player of the Match: Rahul Dravid (IND)

Posted by Sangrah