Yesterday's was as much a fascinating game of Cricket - a nail-biter in every sense - as was it a harsh lesson for both the teams. It was as much a match that nobody deserved to lose as was it one that nobody deserved to win. And it, quite fascinatingly, was a tie indeed.The match featured everything that an ODI could boast about - two dissimilar yet stunning hundreds, 18 wickets, half-hearted chances, dropped catches, mindless slogging, decisions and blunders, and the rarest of the results.
It started with Sehwag winning three lotteries in the first over, then smashing a few 
all over the place, giving a chance to England each time a ball was bowled at him, and finally getting caught behind in a fine over by Tim Bresnan. Gambhir moved his feet around beautifully to Graeme Swann establishing the Indian superiority over any kind of spin. At the other end was, as Nassir Hussain called him, the great Sachin Tendulkar who had placed his innings with his unmatchable talent and incomparable wisdom. Sachin started rather slow - though solid as ever - while he watched Sehwag gambling at the other end, and soon accelerated in such style and quality that is known only to the master. Sachin, too, picked on Swann, soon after Gambhir charged at him, and hit two consecutive sixes. I don't hold anything against Swann. He was not bowling bad at all but as Shane Warne once said, "You have to decide for yourself if you are bowling well or not. He (Sachin) is going to hit you for fours and sixes anyway." Paul Collingwood, for some inane reason, thought of teasing the master with a fast offspinner which was rightly sent where it truly belonged - in the stands. England watched as Sachin raced to 120 of 115 balls to become the most prolific century maker in world cup cricket before mistiming an on-drive.
Yuvraj scored a quick fifty before the Indians collapsed like a pack of cards to get bowled out for 338 with one ball to spare. The damage done was so much that at that moment they just didn't seem bothered about having not scored the 30-odd extra runs they should have easily managed in the last 5-10 overs. However, India, as expected, had batted like champions and 339 was a paramount task for England who were unlikely to even come close to the target on a pitch that had turned like cracked soil in the warm-up game against Australia, and the Indians assumed a win at the innings break.
When England started chasing, most Indian players were lazy in the field and the bowlers were way off the mark. The Indian bowlers decided to play great hosts to the visitors as Peterson - a strong led-side player - was bowled onto his pads and Andrew Strauss was offered enough room and consistently bowled short at. There was nothing much in the pitch for the bowlers as it was an absolute belter, and I don't expect them to stun the batsmen time and again. But they failed to bowl at the stumps, never found the right length, and advertised the indiscipline in Indian bowling. Munaf luckily got Peterson caught and bowled and that was one of the few moments that the Indians were to enjoy in the second innings of the match. Piyush Chawla equalled, and at times even surpassed, the standard of indiscipline that his fast-bowler friends had set. And soon, when the alarms started ringing as England cruised to 132 for 2 in 20 overs, the Indians found themselves aweful in the field and too defensive in their approach. Dhoni, whose shrewdness is usually an asset to Indian cricket, seemed to be consistently getting the field wrong. There was no midwicket for Andrew Strauss, there were too many people covering the wrong boundaries and the worst of them all - the thing that allowed Strauss to form that remarkable 170 run partnership with Ian Bell - was the singles and the couples were too easily available. One would just have to nudge the ball anywhere around him to pick up a single. This helped England keep the pressure off them since there was no point throughout the innings when the runs were not easy to score. Andrew Strauss batted like a champion and played what they call a captain's knock, leading his team from the front. I don't want to take the credit away from that superb partnership, nor do I want to get into the controversies but the infamous review of Ian Bell's LBW looked plumb to me at the first go itself and the hawk-eye just confirmed it. Had it even been 5 meters away from the stumps it was out, and should have been given out to make the game fairer.
England kept cruising towards a dream win and at the end of the 42nd over, it looked all over for India as England were 280/2. The 43rd over, however, produced a huge twist in the tail as England took the powerplay and Ian Bell launched at the wrongest of the Indian bowlers in Zaheer Khan to get caught off a thick outside edge. Zaheer was the only one getting some kind of movement off the ball and Bell could have hit that shot to anyone else but him. The very next ball, however, was an absolute beauty by Zaheer Khan to york Staruss and trap him plumb in front of the stumps. Strauss's 158 of 145 balls was an innings worth applauding by fans of either side as he not only hit 18 fours and a six but also constantly kept the scoreboard ticking by rotating the strike and most importantly formed that game-changing partnership of 170 with Ian Bell.
The 44th over started a drama of wickets and slogging. The Indians suddenly got charged up in the filed. The balance of the game kept shifting towards either side before India seemed to have a strong advantage when England needed 29 from 2 overs. Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan both swung their bats in the air against Piyush Chawla and both cleared the boundary once as England scored 14 from the second last over. 15 from the last over, too, looked difficult for England as Munaf had been bowling well. But Ahmed Shehzad hit a six straight over Munaf's head off the third ball of the over and brought it down to 2 runs needed off the last ball. Munaf bowled one right on the length. England ran 1 and a fascinating game of cricket ended in a tie.
The game, undoubtedly, was a thriller. It was one of the kind that can bring fans back to One Day Cricket. From an English point of view, the result might look disappointing in the end but I guess, they would have taken it before the game. They have shared equal points with India, and not because of the rain but due to equally powerful performances and equally lethal mistakes. They shall be bathing in confidence yet tattered by the feeling of not walking that extra mile.
As far as India are concerned, they must know that you cannot not be able to defend 338 on any pitch and if you really can't then you cannot win the world cup. I can't think of a side that has won any major tournament only because of their batting. India are the best batting side in the tournament and they are playing like that, but the bowling has to pick up from here for them to stay in the hunt. I don't know why the Bangalore track suddenly betrayed the spinners. Our slow bowlers, some of whom have been match-winners, have bowled lousily till now. Harbhajan Singh is an unacceptably defensive bowler in ODIs. He must get some flight on the ball without worrying about the batsmen attacking him, and try and pick up wickets. In these conditions, India cannot expect much from Zaheer Khan, and Harbhajan should stand up for his team before, in one of the major matches, a mountain of runs crumbles like a house of paper and destroys the Indian hopes of a second world cup win.
all over the place, giving a chance to England each time a ball was bowled at him, and finally getting caught behind in a fine over by Tim Bresnan. Gambhir moved his feet around beautifully to Graeme Swann establishing the Indian superiority over any kind of spin. At the other end was, as Nassir Hussain called him, the great Sachin Tendulkar who had placed his innings with his unmatchable talent and incomparable wisdom. Sachin started rather slow - though solid as ever - while he watched Sehwag gambling at the other end, and soon accelerated in such style and quality that is known only to the master. Sachin, too, picked on Swann, soon after Gambhir charged at him, and hit two consecutive sixes. I don't hold anything against Swann. He was not bowling bad at all but as Shane Warne once said, "You have to decide for yourself if you are bowling well or not. He (Sachin) is going to hit you for fours and sixes anyway." Paul Collingwood, for some inane reason, thought of teasing the master with a fast offspinner which was rightly sent where it truly belonged - in the stands. England watched as Sachin raced to 120 of 115 balls to become the most prolific century maker in world cup cricket before mistiming an on-drive.Yuvraj scored a quick fifty before the Indians collapsed like a pack of cards to get bowled out for 338 with one ball to spare. The damage done was so much that at that moment they just didn't seem bothered about having not scored the 30-odd extra runs they should have easily managed in the last 5-10 overs. However, India, as expected, had batted like champions and 339 was a paramount task for England who were unlikely to even come close to the target on a pitch that had turned like cracked soil in the warm-up game against Australia, and the Indians assumed a win at the innings break.
When England started chasing, most Indian players were lazy in the field and the bowlers were way off the mark. The Indian bowlers decided to play great hosts to the visitors as Peterson - a strong led-side player - was bowled onto his pads and Andrew Strauss was offered enough room and consistently bowled short at. There was nothing much in the pitch for the bowlers as it was an absolute belter, and I don't expect them to stun the batsmen time and again. But they failed to bowl at the stumps, never found the right length, and advertised the indiscipline in Indian bowling. Munaf luckily got Peterson caught and bowled and that was one of the few moments that the Indians were to enjoy in the second innings of the match. Piyush Chawla equalled, and at times even surpassed, the standard of indiscipline that his fast-bowler friends had set. And soon, when the alarms started ringing as England cruised to 132 for 2 in 20 overs, the Indians found themselves aweful in the field and too defensive in their approach. Dhoni, whose shrewdness is usually an asset to Indian cricket, seemed to be consistently getting the field wrong. There was no midwicket for Andrew Strauss, there were too many people covering the wrong boundaries and the worst of them all - the thing that allowed Strauss to form that remarkable 170 run partnership with Ian Bell - was the singles and the couples were too easily available. One would just have to nudge the ball anywhere around him to pick up a single. This helped England keep the pressure off them since there was no point throughout the innings when the runs were not easy to score. Andrew Strauss batted like a champion and played what they call a captain's knock, leading his team from the front. I don't want to take the credit away from that superb partnership, nor do I want to get into the controversies but the infamous review of Ian Bell's LBW looked plumb to me at the first go itself and the hawk-eye just confirmed it. Had it even been 5 meters away from the stumps it was out, and should have been given out to make the game fairer.
England kept cruising towards a dream win and at the end of the 42nd over, it looked all over for India as England were 280/2. The 43rd over, however, produced a huge twist in the tail as England took the powerplay and Ian Bell launched at the wrongest of the Indian bowlers in Zaheer Khan to get caught off a thick outside edge. Zaheer was the only one getting some kind of movement off the ball and Bell could have hit that shot to anyone else but him. The very next ball, however, was an absolute beauty by Zaheer Khan to york Staruss and trap him plumb in front of the stumps. Strauss's 158 of 145 balls was an innings worth applauding by fans of either side as he not only hit 18 fours and a six but also constantly kept the scoreboard ticking by rotating the strike and most importantly formed that game-changing partnership of 170 with Ian Bell.
The 44th over started a drama of wickets and slogging. The Indians suddenly got charged up in the filed. The balance of the game kept shifting towards either side before India seemed to have a strong advantage when England needed 29 from 2 overs. Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan both swung their bats in the air against Piyush Chawla and both cleared the boundary once as England scored 14 from the second last over. 15 from the last over, too, looked difficult for England as Munaf had been bowling well. But Ahmed Shehzad hit a six straight over Munaf's head off the third ball of the over and brought it down to 2 runs needed off the last ball. Munaf bowled one right on the length. England ran 1 and a fascinating game of cricket ended in a tie.
The game, undoubtedly, was a thriller. It was one of the kind that can bring fans back to One Day Cricket. From an English point of view, the result might look disappointing in the end but I guess, they would have taken it before the game. They have shared equal points with India, and not because of the rain but due to equally powerful performances and equally lethal mistakes. They shall be bathing in confidence yet tattered by the feeling of not walking that extra mile.
As far as India are concerned, they must know that you cannot not be able to defend 338 on any pitch and if you really can't then you cannot win the world cup. I can't think of a side that has won any major tournament only because of their batting. India are the best batting side in the tournament and they are playing like that, but the bowling has to pick up from here for them to stay in the hunt. I don't know why the Bangalore track suddenly betrayed the spinners. Our slow bowlers, some of whom have been match-winners, have bowled lousily till now. Harbhajan Singh is an unacceptably defensive bowler in ODIs. He must get some flight on the ball without worrying about the batsmen attacking him, and try and pick up wickets. In these conditions, India cannot expect much from Zaheer Khan, and Harbhajan should stand up for his team before, in one of the major matches, a mountain of runs crumbles like a house of paper and destroys the Indian hopes of a second world cup win.
