Zeenews BureauRajkot, Nov 14: India turned on a complete all-round performance to inflict a massive 158 runs defeat on England in the first ODI at Rajkot on Friday. After Yuvraj Singh propelled India to a massive 387/5 with a majestic 138 off just 78 balls, Zaheer Khan rattled England’s top-order with 3 early wickets to put the match beyond the tourists’ reach.
Ravi Bopara waged a lonely battle, slamming a valiant unbeaten 54 off 38 balls, until he ran out of partners.
Earlier in the day, battling a back spasm, batting with a runner for most of his innings and plagued with lack of form, Yuvraj silenced his critics once and for all, with a belligerent century, putting the English bowlers to the sword with some breathtaking strokeplay. His 9th ODI century, coming off just 64 balls, was instrumental in India putting up a daunting 387/5 in their allotted 50 overs after being put into bat by Kevin Pietersen in the first of the seven one-dayers. Yuvi eventually ended unconquered on 138 runs of just 78 balls, slamming 16 fours and 6 sixes during his stay.
As Yuvraj tore into the opposition ranks, plundering runs at will with boundaries flowing thick and fast off his willow, all the England bowlers were rendered helpless to such an extent that each of them conceded runs in excess of 6 runs per over. Infact, the most economical bowler for the Poms was James Anderson, who ended with figures of 0/52 off 8 overs.
After Gambhir provided the initial impetus to the Indian innings, Sehwag took over from his Delhi teammate, blasting away Paul Collingwood’s first two deliveries for consecutive sixes. Having negotiated England’s swing bowlers- Stuart Broad and James Anderson with consummate ease, the duo brought up the first 50 runs for India in the 10th over itself, forcing England captain Kevin Pietersen to introduce Andrew Flintoff and Harmison in his bid to provide the much needed breakthrough.
England got the much-needed respite when Gambhir chipped a Samit Patel delivery into the safe hands of Owais Shah at long-off. Gambhir made a fluent 51 runs off 63 balls, a knock sprinkled with 8 sweetly timed hits to the fence.
Just when Sehwag had seemingly overcome Gambhir’s dismissal and was looking set for a century, Patel played ‘spoilsport’ yet again. Having already scored 16 runs off first 5 balls of Patel’s over, Sehwag succumbed to the guilty pleasure of excesses, dragging outside off-stump as Ian Bell took a brilliant catch at mid-wicket to spell the Delhi Dasher’s doom for 85 runs. The 'Sehwag storm' lasted 73 balls and was punctuated with 10 fours and 3 sixes.
Undeterred by Sehwag’s demise, southpaws Yuvraj and Raina continued in the same vein, plucking runs at a brisk clip as India waltzed past the 200 run mark in the 32nd over. Their 89 run association came of just 77 balls, laying a firm foundation for a brutal slog over assault.
India seemed to be moving into a position of having batted England out of the match when visitors got a double break as Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan, who came in after his dismissal sacrificed their wickets in their quest for quick runs in the power play. While Pathan could not even open his account before scooping a simple catch to Ian Bell off Harmison, Raina scored a 44 ball 43, striking 3 sixes in his cameo.
India, who amassed a whopping 124 runs in their final 10 overs, boomed past the 300 run barrier, midway through the 44th over. Along with captain MS Dhoni, Yuvraj ensured that the momentum stayed with India throughout their 105 run partnership, coming off just 58 balls. Runs continued to flow off Yuvraj’s blade at lightening speed even after Dhoni’s consolation dismissal as none of the England bowlers seemed to have any clue as to what hit them.
England got off to worst possible start, when Matthew Prior and Owais Shah departed in a quick succesion. Munaf Patel had Prior caught by Virender Sehwag at the first slip, while Shah fell to Zaheer Khan, again caught at first slip by Sehwag.
In pursuit of the massive 388 run target set by India, England innings spiraled from bad to worse as Zaheer Khan ripped through their top order, removing Ian Bell and Andrew Flintoff in the same over to leave them reeling at 38/4. After inducing an edge from Bell to an ecstatic Dhoni, Khan trapped Flintoff LBW to put India in the drivers seat.
Comeback man RP Singh nipped the budding partnership between Pietersen and Collingwood in the bud, when the latter poked a 'straighter' delivery to MS Dhoni for just 19 runs. With half their side back in the hut in the18th over for just 76 runs, the odds were heavily in favour of India.
A rearguard action from captain Kevin Pietersen in the company of Samit Patil came to an end when Harbhajan Singh foxed him with a ‘doosra’. Patil was stumped, failing to reach to the pitch of the ball and was caught short of the crease for a run-a-ball 28. His association with Pietersen, besides yielding 71 runs of just 51 balls, provided a semblance of respectability to the otherwise spineless batting display from the visitors. Soon after, Pietersen too made his way back to the pavilion, a run-out victim of Rohit Sharma. He scored 63 from 56 balls, hitting 7 fours and 2 sixes.