da bet nacional： Yuvraj Singh did a Garry Sobers on his way to an astonishing 12-ballhalf-century and though England’s response was a hard-hitting one India held on for an 18-run victory
da doce： The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran19-Sep-2007
Scorecard and ball-by-details
How they were out
Done and dusted: Yuvraj Singh did a perfect demolition job with six sixes off six balls © International Cricket Council
Yuvraj Singh did a Garry Sobers on his way to an astonishing 12-ballhalf-century as India’s batsmen eviscerated the English bowling atKingsmead. England’s response was a hard-hitting one, but with no one ableemulate Yuvraj, India held on for an 18-run victory that kept alive theirhopes of a place in the semi-finals. Vikram Solanki, Kevin Pietersen andPaul Collingwood tilted at the windmill for a while, but a fine spell fromIrfan Pathan ensured that England went home with no wins in the SuperEights.India finished with 218 for 4, with Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhiralso making fifties, but everything that went before was eclipsed by thepenultimate over in which Yuvraj came out swinging against a haplessStuart Broad. There had been an altercation of sorts with Andrew Flintoff at theend of the previous over, and Yuvraj took out his ire on the white ball.The first ball was sent soaring over midwicket and nearly out of theground, and the second flicked behind square. After an effortless loftover extra-cover and another biff behind point off a poor full toss, youcould sense the frisson of excitement around the ground.Paul Collingwood and Broad had a chat, but it didn’t help, as anon-bended-knee effort over midwicket was followed by another huge swipeover wide mid-on. Six balls, six sixes, 36 runs, and utter humiliation foran English team that had already exited the tournament.They hadn’t started badly, with James Anderson, Flintoff and Broad bowlingtidily early on as India struggled to force the pace. There was onemajestic pull for six by Gambhir off Broad’s bowling and the singles camealong often enough though, but it was the introduction of the lesserbowlers that precipitated a ruthless assault.Sehwag pulled Dimitri Mascarenhas for four and then walloped a six overcover as 15 came from the over, while Chris Tremlett was greeted with atop-edged slash for six to third man. Running out of options, Collingwoodbrought himself on. The impact was nearly immediate, but the miscue fromSehwag was put down by Mascarenhas at short fine leg. The enormity of thatlapse was brought home with a cut over point for six and a crunchedcover-drive that got Sehwag to 50 in just 38 balls.Gambhir wasn’t idle either, cracking Tremlett down the ground and thentaking Darren Maddy for two fours in an over as he got to his half-centuryin just 36 deliveries. After they had added 136 in just 14.4 overs, Sehwagfell, moving too far across his stumps in an effort to work Tremlett downto fine leg.Gambhir’s dismissal was as tame, paddling Maddy to short fine leg, andwhen Robin Uthappa was bowled on the walk by Tremlett, a wobble waspossible. But with Mahendra Singh Dhoni largely a spectator at the otherend, Yuvraj proceeded to play the most remarkable innings ever seen inTwenty20 cricket.
Virender Sehwag found his groove and gave India a rollicking start © International Cricket Council
Everything that followed was an anticlimax. Solanki gave it a real go atthe top of the order, cutting and pulling with immense power, and therewas 29 from Darren Maddy as the first-wicket pair kept up with the askingrate. Joginder Sharma, playing his first game of the tournament, couldhave had both, but Rudra Pratap Singh fluffed a chance at deep third manand Yuvraj Singh a sitter at point to leave poor Joginder with thedistinctly unflattering figures of 0 for 56.Kevin Pietersen mowed a couple of shots down the ground and targetted theshort midwicket boundary ruthlessly. Solanki departed for 43, caught inthe deep, and Pathan and RP Singh then increased the pressure with acouple of tight overs. The clincher was the dismissal of Pietersen, astunning return catch by Harbhajan, for 39, and the Indians celebrated asthough the match was already in the bag.It wasn’t quite. Owais Shah and Collingwood flailed away for a while tocreate some anxiety in the Indian camp, but a brilliant over from RP Singhsettled nerves, as Shah skied one and Collingwood was bowled behind hislegs. After that, the task was beyond even Flintoff, and India couldreflect on a job well done and a Yuvraj blitz that fairly shifted the ground from beneath English feet.
