England crushed again

Yurvraj Singh’s outstanding display of batting, on a tricky pitch, provided the platform for a clinical Indian victory at Goa today. His effort helped India reach 294-6 from their 50 overs, almost 100 more than the average score batting first at the ground – despite a gritty and fluent 93 from Paul Collingwood, England never looked like mounting a serious challenge.

Yuvraj’s stunning 103 came from only 76 balls, and he was well-supported by 61 from young gun Suresh Raina, as the England bowlers toiled in hot, humid conditions. England captain Andrew Flintoff picked up three wickets, but the rest of his attack were unable to find much control at crucial points in the innings, as the Indian run-rate increased with every passing over.

The day began with the news that England would be missing Kevin Pietersen due to a stomach virus – joining him in the sick bay was Matthew Hoggard, who had looked set for a recall at the expense of Kabir Ali. India recalled bowling all-rounder Ajit Agarkar at the expense of opener Gautam Gambhir as they looked for a reliable fifth bowling option.

Rahul Dravid chose to bat on winning the toss, despite the slow, up-and-down nature of the pitch – he walked out to open the innings himself with Virender Sehwag, a good decision given the nature of the pitch. Dravid’s watertight technique was perfectly suited to the conditions, and he racked up an invaluable 46 from 59 balls, despite the early loss of Sehwag for just 15.

England’s new-ball bowlers, James Anderson and Sajid Mahmood in only his second ODI, struggled to take full advantage of the conditions early on. Despite picking up the wicket of Sehwag, Anderson failed to threaten, and Mahmood fared even worse than he had in his first international outing. Dravid and new number three Irfan Pathan calmly took their side past the 100 mark, with Pathan taking time out from their careful approach to hoist Ian Blackwell’s left-arm spin for six.

Dravid’s innings came to an end shortly after the score passed 100, however, as he chopped a delivery from the innocuous Paul Collingwood onto his stumps. Pathan then moved his score on to 36 from 63 balls before failing to clear the infield off the bowling of Flintoff. 130 for 3 soon became 131 for 4, as Mohammad Kaif snicked Liam Plunkett through to Geraint Jones for a duck – India suddenly found themselves in trouble.

The fall of the fourth wicket brought the hero of Faridabad, Suresh Raina, to the crease, and he continued exactly where he had left off, playing in compact and organised fashion. With Yuvraj beginning to find his feet at the other end, the two set about building a partnership that would ultimately prove a match-winner.

Yuvraj had started edgily, struggling to adjust to a pitch that was proving a nightmare for the batsmen. The lack of bounce was such that even the tallest of bowlers would have struggled to get the ball to bounce above knee height – there was also sufficient wear and tear for even the part-time off-breaks of Vikram Solanki to gain some serious grip and turn.

The partnership between the two left-handers began to slowly take shape, however, and Yuvraj progressed to a classy half-century at roughly a run a ball, while Raina steadily accumulated singles at the other end. Once the final push approached, however, Yuvraj came into his own, hammering his way from 50 to 100 in only 24 balls. He butchered the hapless Mahmood in the 44th over, taking 22 runs from it, including two sixes – the second of which was a mighty blow into the top tier of the midwicket stand. Mahmood’s figures of 8-0-66-0 leave him having conceded 122 wicketless runs in only 15 overs of international cricket.

He perished soon after reaching a stunning century, lofting Flintoff to mid-off, but Raina had since passed his own fifty, and had lofted a six of his own as the runs began to flow freely. Mahendra Dhoni joined Raina at the wicket for the final few overs and did as Dhoni does – hitting 13 not out off only six balls, including a monstrous topspin forehand for six off Anderson.

Raina was bowled off his pads by Flintoff in the final over of the innings, but by then the damage had been done – India had racked up 294-6, a good 70 runs more than what they would have estimated as a winning total before the toss.

England’s reply began inauspiciously, with Andrew Strauss falling early to an Irfan Pathan slower ball – he was the first of four victims for this delivery in the innings, as timing the ball became increasingly difficult on a wearing pitch. England sent Ian Blackwell in at number three in an effort to provide some quick runs – after slapping one powerful boundary through point, he soon reverted to type and was bowled playing an aimless swish.

Owais Shah and Andrew Flintoff came and went, the former to another Pathan slowie, the latter holing out as the required run rate rose rapidly. Matt Prior had accumulated a solid 37 before stupidly running himself out going for a single that didn’t exist. This preceded Flintoff’s dismissal, and with England teetering on 83-5 once the captain departed, the game looked up.

The game looked even more up once Vikram Solanki had departed for ten – after biffing Harbhajan Singh over long-off – and with the score on 100 for 6, Paul Collingwood and Geraint Jones had plenty of work to do. To their credit, they stuck to the task well, and were content to let themselves get acquainted with the pitch early on – the Indian bowlers’s intensity visibly eased off slightly, allowing the two of them to settle at the crease.

Both batsmen looked relieved to be batting with the pressure off a little – their team were not expected to win the game with a required run rate which stood at 11.6 in the 41st over – and set about getting their side to a position of respectability. Collingwood improvised well and played the spinners with relative ease during his innings, while Jones looked more comfortable than he had in a one-day knock since his match-saving 71 against Australia last year.

However, with the final few overs approaching, and with nothing left to lose, the two began to launch a short-lived attempt at an unlikely victory. Collingwood swept at Pathan and was dropped in the deep by Powar, before Jones attempted to smear the same bowler over midwicket and was not so lucky, Sehwag gratefully pouching the catch.

Collingwood proceeded to attack where possible, but the pressure of having to score at roughly two runs a ball was too much, and he too was caught at deep midwicket, unselfishly denying himself an opportunity for a century. Liam Plunkett and Sajid Mahmood were soon cleaned up by Ajit Agarkar, and despite a spirited lower-order fightback led by Collingwood, the match ended in a convincing win for the home side.

The effect that Kevin Pietersen’s absence had on the tourists was palpable – his presence at the crease makes any total chaseable – but that does not excuse the repeated failures of the England top order. India’s top order has its problems too, but while the home side continue to back up a deep batting order with a penetrative bowling attack, they will remain the superior one-day side. In the meantime, this leaves the majority of the England side with some serious work to do.

India 294-6
Yuvraj Singh 103, Suresh Raina 61, Rahul Dravid 46
Andrew Flintoff 3-56

England 245
Paul Collingwood 93, Matt Prior 37, Geraint Jones 32
I Pathan 4-51, A Agarkar 2-34, Harbhajan Singh 2-47

India won by 49 runs

Cricket Web Man of the Match
Yuvraj Singh