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Southampton, August 22: Skipper Rahul
Dravid's decision to bowl backfired badly as India slumped to a
comprehensive 104-run defeat in the first cricket one-dayer
against England at the Rose Bowl here yesterday. Alastair Cook
and Ian Bell made the most of a true pitch under a relatively
clear sky to hit classy centuries and propel England to a
commanding 288 for two. India's seasoned batsmen were then found
wanting against the moving white ball under the lights and ended
up with 184 to let the hosts go 1-0 up in the seven-match
series. Opener Cook made a well paced 102 while Bell hit an
aggressive 126 not out as the England top order batsmen exposed
the inexperienced Indian attack.
Scorecard
India's chase was all but over once they were
reduced to 34-4 by the 12th over with James Anderson, England's
best bowler in the three-Test series, ripping the top order
apart while finishing up with figures of 4 for 23. Dravid, top
scorer with 46, and vice-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (19) then
led a minor recovery with a 68-run stand, but once the two fell
in the space of seven balls, the issue was sealed. Cook and Bell
put on 178 runs for the second wicket that set up the match for
the hosts.
For 23-year-old Cook, it was his maiden
hundred in limited overs cricket, his runs coming from 126 balls
with eight fours. Interestingly, Cook had also notched up his
first Test century against the Indians, on his debut at Nagpur
last year. Bell, who struggled with the bat in the Test series,
redeemed himself with an attacking knock, scoring his runs from
118 balls with 10 fours and a six. So, Kevin Pietersen was not
required to unleash his big hits. Yet, his 33 came off only 25
balls. The unbroken third-wicket stand between Bell and
Pietersen was worth 67 runs and 78 came off the last 10 overs.
All Indian bowlers without exception were expensive.
Zaheer Khan, whose first eight overs had
decent figures of 1-33, went for 16 runs in the last two overs.
Ajit Agarkar, the other seasoned specialist seamer, conceded 65
without any returns. Rudra Pratap Singh and Sourav Ganguly too
went for five runs an over. And with part-timers Sachin
Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh too costing heavily, Dravid was left
wondering if he was right in inserting England in. India's chase
was never really on. Sourav Ganguly was the first man to go, run
out to a deft piece of fielding by Monty Panesar when he
attempted a second run and was sent back by Sachin Tendulkar in
the third over.
The southpaw made two and lasted six balls.
Gautam Gambhir then chased an away delivery from Anderson and
ended up nicking it to wicketkeeper Matt Prior. The lefthander
made three. Anderson then removed Tendulkar and Yuvraj in the
space of five balls in the 12th over. Tendulkar, who was
repeatedly troubled by the darting new ball, flicked the right
arm seamer straight to Ravi Bopara at midwicket. His 17 came off
33 balls and contained one four. Yuvraj then poked at an
outswinger and his outside edge was taken one-handed by Alastair
Cook in the slip cordon.
It could have been easily five down but
Andrew Flintoff's searing short-pitched delivery, which Dhoni
skied it up to Prior, was ruled 'no-ball'. Tendulkar too had a
reprieve when on eight. The master batsman was completely beaten
by an incutter from rookie seamer Stuart Broad, and the ball
clipped his front pad on its way to the keeper. Television
replays, however, showed that the ball also brushed the top of
off-stump but the bails weren't dislodged. Neither the batsman
nor the fielders, nay the umpires seemed to be aware of it.
Dhoni, however, was repeatedly beaten by
Andrew Flintoff who, returning from an injury lay-off, bowled
with energy and pace. Flintoff finally had his man in his second
spell when Dhoni tried to hook his bouncer and ended up edging
it to Prior. Dravid then fell to Dmitri Mascarenhas, leaving the
team on the brink at 105 for six in the 32 over. The flop of the
top order meant England could get away with a four-pronged
attack. The teams now move to Bristol for another day-night
clash on Friday.
Scorecard (Agencies)
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