Second ODI: Cricket Web XI vs India
at PDV Dome
Scorecard
Ball By Ball
All too easy for the Webheads, who despite tossing away the new ball soared to victory on Pickup's turns and a solid top order effort. Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag got India off to a good start at 78 for no loss, but from then on, their fortunes turned.
Fuller got the first breakthrough, with Sehwag dragging on a ball that pitched in line - a very similar ball had gone down the leg side just before. Gambhir was given a life shortly afterwards, but went down feebly, and when Halsey had Ganguly stumped and the score was 126 for four, India needed to take stock.
As such, they never really got away. Despite Rose bowling three more expensive overs to continue a horror series thus far, Pickup struck twice in the 46th over to end with four wickets in the match, and India wobbled to 217 for six. It was a drab chase - the overs from Harbhajan and Sreesanth in the middle was the highlight for the crowd, as Chaulk and Cloete added 52 in six overs and cut the required rate to 3.5. Butler played foil to Cloete from then on, and the team got home with two overs to spare.
India 217 for six (50)
Yuvraj 43*; NS Pickup 4/34
Cricket Web XI 218 for two (48)
AP Chaulk 84, A Cloete 81*; Z Khan 2/33 (9)
Cricket Web won by eight wickets
Man of the Match: N. S. Pickup (Cricket Web XI)
Third ODI to come in 9-10 hours. I can reveal, though, that Kev Gough pulled his hamstring in the late stages of the game and will miss the remainder of the series.