ID :
30360
Sat, 11/15/2008 - 20:48
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Yuvraj stars as India rout England to take 1-0 lead
S S Ramaswamy
Rajkot, Nov 14 (PTI) Yuvraj Singh marked his return to
form with a swashbuckling unbeaten 138 as India recorded its
biggest victory by runs against England by spanking the
hapless visitors by 158 runs in the series-opening cricket
one-dayer here Friday.
After rattling up a record total of 387 for five at home,
the hosts then bundled out England for 229 in 37.4 overs in a
lop-sided contest to take a 1-0 lead in the seven-match
series.
India's previous best victory margin by runs against
England was 86 at Sydney in 1985 and their biggest margin is
257 runs against Bermuda at Port of Spain in 2007.
Yuvraj's ninth One Day International (O.D.I.) hundred
spurred India to post its second-highest ODI total ever --
well behind their 413-5 against Bermuda in the 2007 World Cup
but ahead of its previous home record of 376-2 against New
Zealand in 1999.
Clobbered by the in-form Indian bastmen, the English
attack conceded more runs than ever in one-dayers, surpassing
the 353-6 against Pakistan at Karachi in 2005. India's highest
previous total against England was 329-7 at Bristol in August
2007.
Yuvraj defied a troublesome back to roar back into form
in great style as he plundered runs at will, belting as many
as 16 boundaries and six sixes during his 78-ball massacre.
The dashing Virender Sehwag (85), Gautam Gambhir (51),
Suresh Raina (43) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (39) were
the other notable performers after England captain Kevin
Pietersen put India in to bat on a belter of a track at the
Madhavrao Scindia stadium.
England could never really recover from a disastrous
start as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals with
only Pietersen standing bravely amidst the ruins with a
belligerent 63 and Ravi Bopara (54 not out) hitting some lusty
shots.
But with the asking rate climbing steeply, the game
gradually slipped out of England's reach even before the
halfway stage of the game.
The two teams will now travel to Indore for the second
match to be played on Monday.
Yuvraj, batting with a belt around his waist and with
Gautam Gambhir as his runner for the major part of his
dazzling knock, reached his hundred off just 64 balls with 11
fours and four sixes, narrowly missing out on overhauling
Mohammed Azharuddin's 62-ball century record.
The 26-year-old batsman, struggling in Ranji Trophy after
a poor run in the Challenger Series prior to this tie, got to
his second fifty off only 22 balls with six fours and two
sixes. His effort powered India to its best-ever score at this
ground, overtaking New Zealand's 349 for nine made against
hosts in November 1999.
But before his arrival to the crease the Indian innings
was given a rapid-fire start by in-form openers Sehwag, who
slammed 85 in 73 balls with 10 fours and three sixes, and
Gautam Gambhir (51).
The power-hitting by Yuvraj, even when he was handicapped
by his back problem, set the visitors a stiff asking rate of
7.7 to win the match.
Sehwag and Gambhir provided a flying start as they
stitched together a partnership of 127 in less than 20 overs.
After their departure, Suresh Raina (43) and Yuvraj added
89 runs in only 12.5 overs.
Yuvraj and skipper Dhoni made mincemeat of the visiting
team's largely one-dimensional attack to rattle up a stand of
105 runs in only 58 balls for the fifth wicket. The lone
batsman to fail was Yousuf Pathan (0), who lasted only two
balls.
A total of thirteen sixes were clobbered off the England
bowlers by the hosts to leave the visitors shell-shocked and
helped India to their highest-ever O.D.I. total against a
Test-playing nation.
England captain Pietersen rung in quick changes and
called on experienced duo of Andrew Flintoff and Steve
Harmison to stem the flow of runs from Sehwag and Gambhir.
But they also failed to apply the brake and Pietersen
turned to left arm spinner Samit Patel, who could not make any
impact.
Faced with a stiff target, the England innings never
really took off with Matt Prior (4) falling prey to Munaf
Patel while Zaheer Khan accounted for Owais Shah (0) to reduce
the visitors to 17 for two by the fifth over.
The dismissal of the hard-hitting Andrew Flintoff (4),
trapped leg before by Zaheer, came as a huge setback for
England who desperately needed him to click to entertain hopes
of overhauling the target.
Paul Collingwood (19) also could not survive for long
with Harbhajan Singh taking his wicket and the off-spinner
struck a few minutes later by evicting Samit Patel much to the
delight of his teammates. PTI SSR
DEP
NNNN
Rajkot, Nov 14 (PTI) Yuvraj Singh marked his return to
form with a swashbuckling unbeaten 138 as India recorded its
biggest victory by runs against England by spanking the
hapless visitors by 158 runs in the series-opening cricket
one-dayer here Friday.
After rattling up a record total of 387 for five at home,
the hosts then bundled out England for 229 in 37.4 overs in a
lop-sided contest to take a 1-0 lead in the seven-match
series.
India's previous best victory margin by runs against
England was 86 at Sydney in 1985 and their biggest margin is
257 runs against Bermuda at Port of Spain in 2007.
Yuvraj's ninth One Day International (O.D.I.) hundred
spurred India to post its second-highest ODI total ever --
well behind their 413-5 against Bermuda in the 2007 World Cup
but ahead of its previous home record of 376-2 against New
Zealand in 1999.
Clobbered by the in-form Indian bastmen, the English
attack conceded more runs than ever in one-dayers, surpassing
the 353-6 against Pakistan at Karachi in 2005. India's highest
previous total against England was 329-7 at Bristol in August
2007.
Yuvraj defied a troublesome back to roar back into form
in great style as he plundered runs at will, belting as many
as 16 boundaries and six sixes during his 78-ball massacre.
The dashing Virender Sehwag (85), Gautam Gambhir (51),
Suresh Raina (43) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (39) were
the other notable performers after England captain Kevin
Pietersen put India in to bat on a belter of a track at the
Madhavrao Scindia stadium.
England could never really recover from a disastrous
start as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals with
only Pietersen standing bravely amidst the ruins with a
belligerent 63 and Ravi Bopara (54 not out) hitting some lusty
shots.
But with the asking rate climbing steeply, the game
gradually slipped out of England's reach even before the
halfway stage of the game.
The two teams will now travel to Indore for the second
match to be played on Monday.
Yuvraj, batting with a belt around his waist and with
Gautam Gambhir as his runner for the major part of his
dazzling knock, reached his hundred off just 64 balls with 11
fours and four sixes, narrowly missing out on overhauling
Mohammed Azharuddin's 62-ball century record.
The 26-year-old batsman, struggling in Ranji Trophy after
a poor run in the Challenger Series prior to this tie, got to
his second fifty off only 22 balls with six fours and two
sixes. His effort powered India to its best-ever score at this
ground, overtaking New Zealand's 349 for nine made against
hosts in November 1999.
But before his arrival to the crease the Indian innings
was given a rapid-fire start by in-form openers Sehwag, who
slammed 85 in 73 balls with 10 fours and three sixes, and
Gautam Gambhir (51).
The power-hitting by Yuvraj, even when he was handicapped
by his back problem, set the visitors a stiff asking rate of
7.7 to win the match.
Sehwag and Gambhir provided a flying start as they
stitched together a partnership of 127 in less than 20 overs.
After their departure, Suresh Raina (43) and Yuvraj added
89 runs in only 12.5 overs.
Yuvraj and skipper Dhoni made mincemeat of the visiting
team's largely one-dimensional attack to rattle up a stand of
105 runs in only 58 balls for the fifth wicket. The lone
batsman to fail was Yousuf Pathan (0), who lasted only two
balls.
A total of thirteen sixes were clobbered off the England
bowlers by the hosts to leave the visitors shell-shocked and
helped India to their highest-ever O.D.I. total against a
Test-playing nation.
England captain Pietersen rung in quick changes and
called on experienced duo of Andrew Flintoff and Steve
Harmison to stem the flow of runs from Sehwag and Gambhir.
But they also failed to apply the brake and Pietersen
turned to left arm spinner Samit Patel, who could not make any
impact.
Faced with a stiff target, the England innings never
really took off with Matt Prior (4) falling prey to Munaf
Patel while Zaheer Khan accounted for Owais Shah (0) to reduce
the visitors to 17 for two by the fifth over.
The dismissal of the hard-hitting Andrew Flintoff (4),
trapped leg before by Zaheer, came as a huge setback for
England who desperately needed him to click to entertain hopes
of overhauling the target.
Paul Collingwood (19) also could not survive for long
with Harbhajan Singh taking his wicket and the off-spinner
struck a few minutes later by evicting Samit Patel much to the
delight of his teammates. PTI SSR
DEP
NNNN
