Murli Vijai

Vijay and Hussey hit sparkling half centuries en-route to the 159-run opening stand and gave Chennai a quick start which laid the foundation of the mammoth score of 205. 

CSK had reached their 50 in 5.1 overs with a six from Murli and the score-board later went on to read hundred in just 10.3 overs. The 159-run opening partnership was broken when Hussey played a lofted shot off Syed Mohammad over long-on and was caught by Mithun. 

Dhoni scored 22 runs and then lit up Chepauk with his two sixes but he and Vijay fell to S Aravind in consecutive deliveries. Vijay 95, fell just five runs short of his century while Dhoni departed in quest of quick runs. Vijay stroked four boundaries and six towering sixes in his 52-ball knock.

For RCB, Aravind and Gayle picked two wickets apiece while Syed picked one. Bravo then hit a six off the last ball to take the total to 205 runs.

In reply to Chennai Super Kings score, RCB lost  wickets at regular intervals and half of their side was back in the dug-out after 10 overs, making it a totally one-sided final. Shadab Jakati bowled well in tandem with Ashwin to pick up his two wickets. 

Victory was in sight right in the first over when the Off-spinner Ashvin removed Chris Gayle for a duck. Gayle edged the moving-away ball into the gloves of Dhoni who carefully pouched it. Mayank Agarwal was soon bowled for 10 runs in the next over. 

India’s future – Virat Kohli, infused some life into the score of RCB which showed some sanity at 48 for3 in seven overs. He was later removed by Jakati who bowled extremely well. 

Jakati then added another wicket to his tally when he lapped up a top edge from Luke Pomersbach to leave the RCB innings in complete shambles. And to add fuel to the fire, part-time bowler Suresh Raina removed Virat Kohli for 35 runs. Kohli was given out lbw to Raina and RCB was in total disarray then. 

Later, de Villiers who played a few big shots was trapped by Shadab Jakati. 

Bangalore missed their opportunities and there were three instances of fielders succumbing to pressure and indulging in needless throws; one, from Saurabh Tiwary, even went to the boundary. Pomersbach could have done a better job in seizing that chance from Vijay in the 10th over. 

Aravind messed up an opportunity to run out Hussey in the 12th over. Vijay, the non-striker, had called Hussey for a risky single and Aravind, the bowler who picked up the ball at short mid-on, flung it wide at the non-striker’s end. There was another instance in the 11th over when the bowler, Mohammad, flung himself full stretch to his right but couldn’t hang on to a difficult chance offered by Vijay. 

Things just didn’t go right for Bangalore and everything went according to script for Chennai. 

Dhoni went on to win the IPL also immediately after winning the World Cup for India last month when CSK managaed to restrict RCB to a small score of 147 for 8 in the  allotted 20 overs. 

PRESENTATIONS. 

DLF Maximum Sixes – Murli Vijai – Rs. 1,00,000/- and a medallion. 

Karbonn Kamaal Catch – M.S.Dhoni – Rs. 1,00,000/- and a medallion. 

Max Mobile Man Of the Match – Murli Vijai – Rs. 10,00,000/- and a Trophy. 

City Bank Rising Star – Iqbal Abdullah – Rs.10,00,000/- and a medallion. 

King of Karbonn Kamaal Catches – Kieron Pollard – Rs. 1-,00,000/- (Nine Catches in IPL). 

Volks Wagon Individual performer – Paul Valthaty of Kings XI – VW Passat Car. 

Orange Cap Leading Scorer – Chris Gayle – Rs.10,00,000/- and a Trophy. 

Purple Cap Highest Wicket Taker – Lasith Malinga – Rs.10,00,000/- and a medallion. 

Fly Kingfisher Fair-Play Award – Chennai Super Kings – M.S.Dhoni received the Trophy. 

Golden Player of the Tournament – Ghris Gayle – Rs.10,00,000/- and a Trpphy. 

The Losing team players received the medals. 

The winning team players received the medals. 

M.S.Dhoni received the Winnner’s IPL Trophy and cheque for Rs.Ten Crores.

Ravi Matah.

M. S. Dhoni

It was the determined effort from Gautam Gambhir who scored 97 runs and a chanceless 91* from M.S.Dhoni which paved the way for India’s victory over Sri Lanka. This helped India overhaul the score of 274 set by Sri Lanka for India to win the title and it is the highest ever run chase in the World Cup final. 

For Sri Lanka Jayawardane scored 103* and Sangakara 48 runs. 

Dhoni had promoted himself up the order to No. 5 ahead of Yuvraj Singh just to prove his critics wrong regarding his batting performances. He slammed a chanceless 91* and when victory was in sight he hit 2 consecutive boundries and hit a six over long-on to send the spectators on the ground and millions across the country into raptures.

Yuvraj Singh

For the first time in a World Cup Final, the toss had to be taken twice as the umpire could not hear the call given by Sangakara. Then Zahir Khan sent down three consecutive maiden overs and it appeared that India had held Sri Lanka by the scruff of it’s neck.

India’s fielding had a totally different look as everyone was pouncing upon the ball with tremendous energy. Yuvraj Singh did a Jonty Rhodes at the point region when he flew in the air to pounce upon a shot by Sangakara which was sure to have fetched him 4 runs. 

Despite the fielding standards set by Indian eleven, Sri Lanka rose from 63 in the first power play to 274 for 6 and this was surely a fighting total. 

Lasit Malinga did the initial damage when he sent back Sehwag who was out lbw and Sachin Tendulkar caught by Sangakara and the Indian score read a pathetic 31 for 2. Sehwag was out only on the second ball he had faced. 

Since India lost two early wickets and and were 31 for 2, this match was not left for the weak hearted. The world was impatiently waiting for the Century of centuries from the little master on Saturday but that was not to be. 

Gautam Gambhir

But Gautam Gambhir and young Virat Kohli had other ideas. They were in no mood to surrender and together they took upon themselves the herculean task of rebuilding the innings brick by brick. Their third wicket contrition of 83 runs laid the foundation of India’s victory. Kohli fell on a personal score of 35 runs made from 59 balls and was caught single-handedly by Dilshan off his own bowling. 

In came Dhoni at the fall of Kohli ahead of Yuvraj Singh and together they contributed a 109 run stand. Gautam Gambhir was at 97 and was desperate to reach his first century in the World Cup encounters, but that was not to be. He stepped out to hid Perera and Sangakara did the rest. But by that time Gambhir and Dhoni had brought India to the door steps of victory. Gambhir had hit nine fours during his stay at the crease and his can be said to be a patient knock. 

 However, when Kohli was brilliantly caught by Tillakaratne Dilshan for 35, India were 124 for 3 after 25 overs, needing another 151 to secure the crown for the first time in 28 years. 

The decision to omit both Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath, whose combined efforts had been so effective against England and New Zealand, is one that will haunt Sri Lanka for years to come. 

In the final match of his career, Muttiah Muralitharan was held back until the 19th over, and though he started with a long-hop that was cut straight to point, he might have made the breakthrough from his second ball, as Gambhir galloped back for a second run to third man only for Sangakkara to fumble the shy as it bounced awkwardly in front of him. 

In the end it was 97 runs of Gautam Gambhir and a splendid knock of 91* from Dhoni  spelt doom for Sri Lanka and brought laurels to team India. 

M.S.Dhoni was declared Man of the match.

Yuvraj Singh was declared the Man of the tournament. 

During the presentations ceremony Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni silenced  the critics of his team, saying that the World Cup triumph has answered them. He said that a couple of decisions taken by him in Saturday’s summit showdown against Sri Lanka could have been criticised had his side not won the World Cup.

 ”I always wanted to give chance to to younger players by sending them up the order. Today, I thought I would take the responsibility myself. It was more like proving myself and not to others,” he said. 

“A few decisions I have taken today, including why I brought in S Sreesanth instead of Ravichandran Ashwin and why I promoted myself in the batting order ahead of Yuvraj who has been in great form. It could have been that the decisions cost the match,” he said at the post-match presentation after India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets. 

He praised Gautam Gambhir (97) and Virat Kohli (35) for keeping the team on track after the early dismissal of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.

Ravi Matah.

But that was not to be as Sehwag got out on 38 runs played with his usual gusto and Tendulkar also helped in building up the Indian innings with lady-luck sitting on his right shoulder.

Tendulkar was on 60 with Virat Kohli on 9, and India had reached 140 for 2 at the halfway point of their innings, with 300-plus total in sight. Pakistan had only them to blame for Tendulkar’s good fortune, after Misbah-ul-Haq put him down at midwicket on 27 and Younis Khan spilled a regulation chance at cover when Tendulkar had 45. 

 He was droped on four occassions at 27, 45, 70 and 81 and finally Shahid Afridi caught him at covers off a full-blooded shot from him.

Riaz was the man who Afridi had to thank for keeping Pakistan in the contest after India made a strong start and reached 114 for 1 off their first 18 overs. After Gautam Gambhir was stumped dancing down the pitch against Hafeez, Riaz grabbed two wickets in two balls – Virat Kohli caught at backward point and Yuvraj bowled by a yorker length low full toss for a duck. 

Gautam Gambhir was stumped off the bowling of Mohammad Hafeez for 27 when he advanced down the pitch.

Sehwag certainly looked at his best early, taking 21 off Umar Gul from the third over of the innings. India had chosen Ashish Nehra to replace R Ashwin.

In the end, India’s 260 for 9 was enough as their bowlers did a fine job, but had Pakistan helped themselves, the target could have been so much more gettable.

MS Dhoni was put down once and Wahab Riaz bowled very well and got five wickets. Umar Gul wilted under the pressure of a World Cup semi-final.

Indians displayed  a far more professional approach but for a moment it seemed that the decision of having three seamers and only one specialist spinner could backfire, but Ashish Nehra bowled superbly, particularly in the death overs where he gave away only one run and also took a wicket in an over.

Munaf Patel picked up two victims and Yuvraj Singh made up for his duck with a pair of wickets, but the most important breakthrough came when Harbhajan Singh bowled Umar Akmal for 29. It was a superb good-length delivery which sneaked through the gap between bat and pad and rattled the furniture.

Earlier, Akmal had struck a pair of sixes off Yuvraj, driving him over the sight screen and pulling him over midwicket, and anything was possible while he was at the crease. But Dhoni called on Harbhajan to replace Yuvraj, and with the first ball of his spell he came around the wicket and pushed one across Akmal, taking the off stump when the batsman played for the spin. Those were the few moments when it appeared that the match was in Pakistan’s grip.

But Shahid Afridi trying to accelerate the runs fell to Harbhajan when he skied a catch off a full toss, and it was only Misbah-ul-Haq left to take charge. He found it difficult trying top bat at both ends and was the last man out, caught on the boundary for 56 in the final over.

It was a disappointing end for Pakistan after their top order gave them hope. Mohammad Hafeez made an encouraging 43 before a string of eight dot balls from Munaf brought a brain-fade as Hafeez tried a premeditated paddle sweep from outside off stump and edged behind to Dhoni.

Soon after, the loss of Asad Shafiq brought the Mohali crowd to life, when he tried to cut a Yuvraj delivery and the middle stump was knocked back.

Every cricket lover was hoping to see the Century of centuries being made at MOhali ground by Sachin Tendulkar, but that was not to be. Tendulkar might be the finest batsman of his generation, but today he was the luckiest, being dropped four times. 

Before he had any of those lives, Tendulkar had survived two very tight calls on 23: an lbw decision that was given out by Ian Gould but on review proved to be spinning down leg, and a near-stumping the next delivery when he just got his back foot down in time after losing his balance reaching outside off. When Tendulkar was finally taken at cover by Afridi off the bowling of Ajmal, Pakistan’s relief was evident.

Nobody looked as fluent as the crease as Sehwag, who took 21 off Gul (0 for 69) from the third over of the innings. What looked like a 300-plus total in those early overs became 260 when Suresh Raina helped them recover from their middle-order failures.

Sachin Tendulkar was named the Man of the match.

Ravi Matah.

Yuvraj Singh

Despite Ponting’s century, Australia were able to score 260 runs only. R.Ashwin Harbhajan Singh did not give anything away to the opposition and Zahir Khan stuck at will.

For Indian batting, Tendulkar had made the base by his half-century required for the rest of the team to stand on but it was Yuvraj alone who stole the show. With his single handed determination India managaed to eliminate the Aussies in the quarter final. India has now  been set up with a spine-chilling encounter with Pakistan in the semi-final.

India was heading into the jaws of defeat upto the 40th over but by then Yuvraj had ensured the turn-around of things for the Indians. Suresh Raina gave him ample suppport and in the 41st over Bret Lee was bludgeoned to the fences for 14 runs.

Yuvraj’s glance through the slip cordon to the boundry line off a Bret Lee yorker was perhaps the best shot of the day and Bret Lee looked at him with total disbelief.

Had Yuvraj not taken over the reigns of the match, India were surely doomed in the 30th over when Virat Kohli was out caught at mid-wicket. Dhoni was stumped while attempting and missing a mighty heave and Gautam Gambhir was itching to go back to the stadium by committing suicide on three occassions. He was successful the third time when Yuvraj played the ball to the mid-wicket and Gautam ran off for a non-existent run and was stranded half-way.
 
The batting Powerplay was the final hurdle, but Raina, who gave admirable support to Yuvraj after Dhoni’s exit, walloped the first ball from Lee over long-on and Australia’s fight evaporated with that shot.

India required 93 runs from 101 balls at that stage, but they slipped further into the abyss as MS Dhoni got out after looking edgy. He nearly got involved in a run out, had a big swing and a miss against Lee and perished next delivery, cutting to point to leave India needing 74 from 75 balls. It was then that Yuvraj decided to play the World Cup innings of his life.

Before Yuvraj, India’s chase revolved almost entirely around Sachin Tendulkar. It was a slow pitch, but Tendulkar played some shots that defied the nature of the track.  Tendulkar was going great guns but he edged a delivery from Tait to Hadin to do the rest. The Motera Stadium went into a stunned silence as everyone was expecting the Century of the centuries fron  the master-blaster.

Ponting played one of his best knocks but this will not be remembered for long because of the three times Champions defeat in the quarter-finals. The entire Aussies batting revvolved around him. He was cautious as well as aggressive and at times played his shots with utmost ease and at times he even controlled his aggression. Since the pitch was a slow one, he had shown great technique to encounter the spin of the India trio of Harbhajan, R.Ashvin and Yuvraj Singh.

Australia’s down-slide in the middle overs began with the shot from Michael Clarke, who top-edged a slog-sweep against Yuvraj to long-on in the 31st over. Zaheer dismissed Michael Hussey with the slower ball to leave Australia at 140 for 4 in the 34th over. Ponting and David Hussey took the batting Powerplay in the 44th over and added 44 vital runs without losing a wicket.

Ponting must have thought he had done all he could to ensure Australia remained in the competition and sailed to semis but he did not till then know the spellings of Yuvraj.

Yuvraaj Singh was named the Man of the match for his half century and two wickets.

Scores – India 261 for 5 (Yuvraj 57*, Tendulkar 53, Gambhir 50) and Australia 260 (Ponting 104, Haddin 53, Ashwin 2-52, Yuvraj 2-44)

Yuvraj Singh

India defeated Netherlands at the Feroz Shah Kotla with more than 14 overs to spare though the margin of victory couldn’t mask a lacklustre performance from the home side. The Indian bowling was just about tidy against some dour Netherlands batting, and their bunch of big hitters came unstuck for a while against the left-arm spin of Pieter Seelaar in a low-intensity match.

In the Netherlands batting, there were a couple of avoidable run-outs as well, but the dismissal that was most embarrassing for Netherlands was Alexei Kervesee’s; he swiped a long hop from Chawla, expertly picking out Harbhajan Singh at deep midwicket.

Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to reach 2000 World Cup runs with a hat-trick of boundaries in the fifth over, and Virender Sehwag backing that with three more fours in the sixth.

The hard hitting and lofty shots were enjoyed by the Delhi crowd, and when Sehwag carved Seelaar over extra cover for six and then hit him for  a four, India were 69/0 in the eighth over. The chase of 190 runs looked a lot easier at that stage as it appeared that India was already over the hill.

Seelaar, though, ensured that there was lot of excitement in the match for the spectators even though Sehwag was caught at the point boundry, and then he dismissed both Tendulkar and the promoted power-hitter Yusuf Pathan in the 10th over to rein in India.

Why did Dhoni have to promote Yusuf Pathan at one-down position? Sunil Gavaskar who was running the commentry then, said that this is a practice match and Pathan has been sent up to practice some batting and finish the match early. Not a mature statement, I must say. The moment he uttered this, Tendulkar was caught at long-on,Yusuf Pathan was caught and bowled and India were in dire straits at that moment. 

Virat Kohli didn’t last too long before being bowled by Peter Borren, but Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh steadied the innings. They added 40 runs before Gambhir was bowled round his legs.That was a superb delivery and that bowled round his legs seemed impossible to believe. It was left to Yuvraj and MS Dhoni, India’s finishers over the past few years, to steer India to victory with Yuvraj getting his third half-century in a row.

The Netherlands captain, Peter Borren, had spoken of playing brave cricket before this game, and it was his adventurous hitting that lifted his side towards 200. He warmed up by lashing Yuvraj for a couple of powerful fours in the 42nd over, before taking the batting Powerplay and damaging Chawla’s figures with a couple of muscular hits over long-on. Mudassar Bukhari joined the fun, swinging two sixes over the leg side before both he and Borren were dismissed by Zaheer in the same over to wrap up the innings.

Yuvraj Singh was declared Man of the Match for his two wickets for 43 runs and a brillianat and patient knock of half-century.

The win puts India top of the table, but they are through with their easy outings in the tournament, with only South Africa and West Indies remaining in the league phase before the knockouts.

Yuvraj Singh

Earlier  Ireland  has successfully  chased  327 against England and this could also have prompted Dhoni’s decision to bowl first instead of setting a target.

Munaf Patel and Zaheer Khan were bowling in tandem and Dhoni’s decision of  removing Munaf Patel at that moment and asking Yusaf Pathan to bowl with the almost new ball was very surprising.

Part-time spinner Yuvraj Singh grabbed a five-wicket haul as India restricted Ireland to 207 in their Group B encounter when he rattled the Irish batting with his slow left arm bowling.

Ireland skipper William Porterfield contributed with 75 runs while Niall O’Brien, who played second fiddle to his captain in the 113-run stand, also scored 46.

And though, the pitch offered enough assistance to the Indian spinners, none except Yuvraj proved effective.

Porterfield showed his positive intent from the beginning as he punished the Indian bowlers if they strayed even slightly in their line and length.

Niall O’Brien, too, punished the Indian bowlers with any given opportunity.

Virat Kohli threw the ball brilliantly to Dhoni who brought the bails down in a flash of a second which gave India their third wicket as the 22-year-old sent O’Brien back with a run out.

Another strike, Andrew White’s wicket, by Yuvraj brought Ireland’s man of the moment Kevin O’Brien on the crease.

But the big-hitting player couldn’t replicate his last innings heroics and gave a simple catch to Yuvraj off his own bowling.  And the tall all-rounder completed his five-wicket haul with the wickets of Alex Cusack and John Mooney.

Chasing a target of 208 runs India Lost Sehwag very early when he edged a Jhonson’s ball back to him and that caught and bowled brought the entire stadium to a dumb silence. Gautam Gambhir was out meddling with a wide-ball outside the leg stump and was caught in the leg slip area. The score read 51 for 2 wickets.

Sachin was out adjudged lbw for 38 runs and soon Virat Kohli was run out trying to steal a non – existant single and a bit of misunderstanding with Yuvraj. His contribution was a valuable 34 runs. At this stage the  match was evenly poised.

However good piece of luck was going India’s way as a bat-pad-edge from Dhoni flew high upwards but fell in no-man’s land between 3 Ireland’s fielders. Later India lost their 5th wicket as skipper MS Dhoni fell to Dockrell on a individual score of 34 runs.

Dhoni and Yuvraj had done a splended rebuilding job for India with their fifty-run partnership. Uptil then, runs were coming in one’s and two’s only and boundrys had totally dried out.

With the departure of M.S.Dhoni Yusuf Pathan arrived at the crease and that changed the complexion of the game. He struck a lofted boundary which crossed the rope one-bounce and followed it up with two towering sixes in the same over sending the crowd into raptures.

Yusuf Pathan’s these two sixes and a four off George Dockrell tilted the match in India’s favour.

This is the first time in World Cup history that a player has taken a five wicket haul and also slammed a half-century and Yuvraj Singh was aptly adjudged the Man of the Match.

Ravi Matah.

Sachin Tendulkar

Zaheer Khan bowled exceptionally well and helped India snatch a point from England after a pathetic display from Indian bowlers and fielders led to team’s failure in defending a huge target of 338 as the Group B match ended in a tie at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bangalore on Sunday.

Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat on Sunday in front of a packed  stadium against England in their second World Cup fixture. Sachin Tendulkar delighted the spectators there and millions watching all over the world, with his five sixes and struck his 47th ODI century. This was his 98th century in International cricket.

When Sehwag was going great guns, Sachin was suppporting him with calm and ease and almost stood there watching Sehwag score. Sehwag got 35 runs though he could have been out twice during this period.

England made the early breakthrough, when Sehwag edged a ball from Tim Bresnan which landed safely in  Matt Prior’s gloves. The Chinnaswamy Stadium immediately descended into the sort of silence. Sehwag tried to guide a short ball down to third-man but did not get quite enough bat on it and was well-caught by a diving Matt Prior.

Andrew Strauss

Then Sachin covered his ground in his stand with Gautam Gambhir and also hit two consecutive sixes off Swan which brought the entire stadium into ecstasy. Sachin slammed five sixes and ten fours in what can be termed as one of his best ODI centuries.

Gambhir was aggressive in his approach and diverted England’s attention whereas Tendulkar’s  approach began to reap its rewards. He had reached 28 from 47 balls before he changed his bat to a heavier bat and having hit Swann back over his head for four, he turned to destruct the bowling of Paul Collingwood.

Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni took England bowlers on after Sachin Tendulkar’s departure but England pulled things back a little bit by removing Yuvraj and Dhoni in successive balls.

Even so, Yuvraj had added his team’s third half-century from only 46 balls and shared a stand of 69 with his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to help plunder 91 in the last 10 overs.

First to go was Dhoni, who while trying to hit a six on midwicket boundary, picked out the substitute Luke Wright. Thereafter, Yusuf Pathan, Virat Kohli and Harbhajan Singh were all dispatched in the space of four deliveries, courtesy of a slower ball and two yorkers. Consecutive run-outs then followed in Anderson’s final over.

Anderson had the worst bowling figures or we can say England’s most expensive World Cup figures of 9.5-0-91-1.

Later, England skipper Andrew Strauss hit a captain’s knock of 158 off 145 balls, which set the tone for England’s chase.

Strauss and Kevin Pietersen came out with an aggressive intent to kick off England innings after their bowlers were hammered by Indian batsmen

Munaf Patel, who pulled out a stunning reflex catch off his own bowling, sent back Pietersen at the personal score of 31 runs. Jonathan Trott, who could only score 16 runs and fell lbw to Piyush Chawla.

But right when the 170-run stand looked to take the match away from India, Strauss chose to take the batting powerplay in which India took four wickets for just 25 runs.

That proved to be the turning point of the match as Zaheer Khan bowled a magnificent spell to dismiss  Strauss, Bell (69) and Paul Collingwood (1).

Wickets continued to tumble until Tim Bresnan (14) hit Chawla for two sixes to bring the match in balance; however, Chawla bowled him out in the same over.

Needing 14 runs off the last Munaf Patel over, Ajmal Shahzad hit a six out of nowhere to stun the crowd into silence. Two runs were needed from the last ball, off which Swann could hit only one run, which ended the match in a tie.

Munaf Patel and Piyush Chawla took two wickets each but gave away 70 and 71 runs respectively.

However, India’s performance in the field and bowlers’ failure to defend such a big total put serious question marks over India’s ‘favourites’ tag in this World Cup. Even Zaheer Khan, who was the most successful Indian bowler with four wickets, went for 64 runs.

Andrew Strauss was adjudged the Man of the Match.

If India is not able to defend a huge total of 338 runs, they cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be expected to lift the World Cup 2011. They are desperately in need of  a genuine fast bowler to meet the challanges of this tournament.

India play their next match against Ireland on 6th of March.

Ravi Matah

Sehwag started the tournament with the usual flurry of shots. He sent the first ball of the match to the long-on boundary. Shafiul offered Sehwag width again and watched the final ball speed to the cover boundary. In his second over, Shafiul erred by offering Sachin Tendulkar two deliveries on the pads: both were flicked to the boundary. 

In between those overs, Rubel Hossain had conceded two boundaries as well, and India raced to 36 after four overs. That  forced Shakib to turn to his premier spinner, Abdur Razzak, in the fifth. 

Bangladesh looked clueless as to where to bowl to Sehwag. He drove the first ball off the bowling Powerplay to the long-on boundary and followed it up with an inside-out drive. And then they had some good fortune. A mix-up during which both Tendulkar and Sehwag were ball watching left both batsmen at one end, and the Mirpur crowd found its voice again. 

Sehwag reached his fifty with a six off Razzak over long off and India reached the 100 mark in the 15th over. 

In came Gautam Gambhir who looked well prepared for the occasion but later perished on a personal score of 39 runs. 

Thereafter it was on the shoulders of Virendra Sehwag and Virat Kohli to ensure that India made a good fighting total, which they eventually did. Virendra Sehwag picked his spots with ease and despite suffering from cramps in the later part of his innings compiled a neat 175 runs. 

Virat Kohli drove superbly reaching upto the pitch of the ball and piercing the fielders with utmost ease and managed to complete his century in his first World Cup match in the penultimate ball of the Indian innings. 

Bangladesh, however, took the mammoth task with guts and Imrul Kayes attacked from the outset after which Tamim Iqbal and Shakib took charge. They brought cheer to their supporters. However they could not bat as long as Sehwag and Kohli did. 

The pitch quickened in the evening, making shot-making easier, and the dew greased the outfield, making the ball harder to grip. But Bangladesh’s bowlers had conceded too many runs for their batsmen to regain. They tried, though, and the initial assault on the Indian bowlers was fierce. 

The highlight of that brief blitz was the attack on Sreesanth. Kayes edged, flicked, pulled and drove him for boundaries, and a wayward wide contributed to Bangladesh taking 24 runs off the fifth over. They were 51 for 0. Kayes then tried to force the slower pace of Munaf Patel, who replaced Sreesanth, through the off side and played on, ending the opening partnership at 56. 

Zaheer Khan’s control and the introduction of spin resulted in an increase in dot balls and a reduction in boundaries, and by the half-way stage the asking-rate was already rising upwards of 9 runs per over. 

Tamim and Shakib completed aggressive half-centuries and the rest of the batsmen also struck the ball fluently during a heartening display. 

Virender Sehwag was declared he Man of the Match.

Ravi Matah.

Yusuf blasted a century off 68 balls and at that stage less than 50 runs were required for India to win the match and chaos was evident in the South African team. But after completing his century Yusuf gave a catch and was out much to the relief of South African team as well as the spectators.

The bowlers ran through the India’s top six in the batting order and apart from Parthiv Patel, 38 runs,  there was no one to shoulder the responsibility.

Rohit Sharma was bowled by Lonwabo Tsotsobe going for a loose drive; Dhoni edged to first slip; Yuvraj Singh edged two boundaries to third man before giving a soft to JP Duminy at point; Suresh Raina smashed a couple of fours before an upper cut sailed to third man.

India were 74 for 6 in the 14th over, and their only hope of saving the series were the clouds over the stadium which brought massive downpour which almost washed away the match before the 20th over.

Then came Yusuf Pathan to the crease. He went about his job in an attacking manner  but the wickets kept tumbling at the other end and India slid to 119 for 8. With Zaheer Khan adopting a cautionary approach, the end seemed near but he settled down after some initial scares and kept rotating the strike over to Yusuf.

Yusuf suddenly changed gears when he was at 58 and pounded three sixes and three fours in the next three overs to race to his century. A 21-run over from Tsotsobe brought the required-rate below five. Yusuf skied another attempted boundary and du Plessis latched on to it to settled South African nerves.

Once Pathan was gone, some ongoing efforts by the ever-capable Zaheer Khan kept India’s hopes alive, but he eventually fell to Tsotsobe for a decent 24 runs.

India ended their innings on 234 all out.

Morne Morkel ended with figures of 4 wickets for 52 runs, with Dale Steyn 2 wickets for 32 runs, Robin Peterson 1 wicket for 47 runs, Lonwabo Tsotsobe 2 wickets for 57 runs and Johan Botha 1 wicket for 33 runs offering excellent support.

India went in with only two quick bowlers, and their spinners didn’t pose too many questions to the South African batsmen. South Africa glided to 113 for 1 before Yuvraj plucked a spectacular caught-and-bowled to send back van Wyk, and had AB de Villiers stumped with a sharply turning delivery.

For South Africa, Hashim Amla scored a fine 116 runs and their batting was ably supported by pace bowlers Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn, as well as seamer Lonwabo Tsotsobe and spinners Robin Peterson and Johan Botha.

Amla and Duminy revived South Africa with a 102-run stand. Amla’s innings was the punctuated with a dab to third man, perfectly timing the ball as he opened the face to pick up several boundaries, one of which brought up his century.

With today’s loss, India failed to realise their dreams of recording first ever ODI series win on South African soil besides ending the nearly  tour on a losing note. The three- match Test series  had already ended in a 1-1 draw.

South Africa won the match by 33 runs and has won the ODI series 3-2.

South Africa won the toss and elected to bat in the 4th ODI on Friday against India being played at Port Elizabeth. South Africa piled up a score of 266 for the loss of seven wickets thanks to the half centuries by JP Duminy and Hashim Amla.

JP Duminy

South Africa were cruising along comfortably at 100 for 1 after which they lost four quick wickets, two of which were needless run-outs. Then came JP Duminy to the crease who, alongwith Botha steadied the SA ship and added 70 runs along with him.

Amla took his time to settle down in the early overs, but soon unfurled his full range of strokes to pick up plenty of boundaries. All the three Indian pacers Zahir Khan, Munaf Patel and Ashish Nehra were punished by Amla.

Harbhajan Singh also strayed in line and length and Amla capitalised by working him through the gaps in the leg side. A slash to third man off Yuvraj Singh brought Amla his 12th half-century.

While Amla was cruising along comfortably it was Graeme Smith who perished trying to hit uppishly and holed out to Harbhajan at mid-off.

Morne van Wyk was caught at first slip off Yuvraj Singh who managed to turn one to take his out-side edge.

South Africa were 106 for 2, but with Amla scoring effortlessly. That changed in the next over, when a mistimed pull from Amla trickled towards short fine leg, just outside the inner circle. Amla went for a suicidal second run and it ended in suicide, as he was well short of the crease.

The worries increased when Yuvraj got the wicket of AB de Villiers in the very next over. de-Villiers was adjudged caught behind but though it was unclear whether he edged the ball, he can’t complain much as he was stumped as well off that delivery.

To add salt to the wounds of SA, Faf du Plessis lost his cool and set off for a single though the non-striker Duminy didn’t budge. The ball went only as far as Virat Kohli at midwicket, and his throw easily beat a desperate dive from du Plessis.

Duminy and Johan Botha then set about ensuring South Africa built a competitive score. Duminy continued to rotate the strike as he nudged the ball around for singles, while Botha hit a series of leg-side boundaries, the pick of which was an effortless flick off Zaheer, to keep South Africa afloat. Yuvraj ended that stand at 70, getting his third wicket with a tossed-up delivery that beat Botha’s sweep. 

Duminy, meanwhile, had brought up his fourth half-century in five innings with a gorgeous off-drive. South Africa managed to accumulate 266 for 7 wickets in the allotted 50 overs.

India sent in Parthiv Patel and Rohit Sharma to open the innings. This move back-fired as Rohit was out caught by JP Duminy and bowled by Lonwabo Tsotsobe for 1 run. It is due to lack of form that Rohit Sharma has not been included in the World Cup squad. 
 
Parthiv Patel was playing well but missed a delivery from Tsotsobe and was adjudged out lbw.

Kohli was the bright spot of the day for India, playing one of his finest international innings. He started with a couple of classy extra cover drives and was rarely troubled on a track where most found shot-making difficult. He was a touch tied down against the quicks , but opened out against the amiable left-arm spin of Peterson. Kohli hammered Peterson for 32 runs off 21 deliveries, including two effortless sixes over long-off.

While Kohli was crafting a stunning innings which will further his case for a starting spot in the World Cup, the rest of the middle-order stuttered. Yuvraj fell to an outstanding diving catch from Smith after top-edging a paddle-sweep, Suresh Raina hung around for a while without really convincing , before missing an arm-ball from Peterson.

For quite sometime now, M.S.Dhoni has not played a Captain’s match-winning knock. India’s lost the hope of winning this match and the series when Dhoni was out soon and Yusaf Pathan last only eight balls.