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S Ganguly
Man of the Match |
Leeds, Sept 2: India broke their losing
streak with a morale boosting 38-run victory on Duckworth-Lewis
method in the must-win fifth one-dayer to keep their hopes alive
in the seven-match cricket series here today.
Sachin Tendulkar (71) at the top and Yuvraj
Singh (72) in the middle order led a perfect batting performance
with aggressive half-centuries as India put up a commanding 324
for 6 in the rain-curtailed match at Headingley.
The inclement weather made things even worse
for England as the target was revised to 311 in 45 overs after
successive rain-interruptions.
India's bowling hero, however, was Sourav
Ganguly who, after making a well paced 59 at the top, picked the
two vital wickets of Matt Prior and Ian Bell to put the skids
under England's scoring. After being reduced to 104 for 4 in the
16th over, when players went off the field after the second of
three stoppages, England were always lagging behind the par
score on the D-L chart.
And so, despite a fighting 91 not out from
skipper Paul Collingwood, England ended up with 242 for 8 in 39
overs, well below the required 280, when the rains forced a
third and final halt to proceedings. Earlier, Tendulkar hit a
59-ball 71 and shared a 116-run opening stand with Sourav
Ganguly (59) while Yuvraj Singh struck a hurricane 72. Gautam
Gambhir came up with a valuable 51 at number three and featured
in a useful 94-run stand with Yuvraj.
Both Tendulkar, who struck 13 fours in his
ferocious knock, and Ganguly overcame a slow start to flay the
England bowlers to all parts of the field. Ganguly changed gears
smoothly as he smashed seven fours and two sixes in his 79-ball
innings. The duo's 118-ball association was their 19th century
stand for the first wicket.
Overall, this was the 24th century stand
between the seasoned pros and it gave their team a rollicking
start. Yuvraj Singh, with 10 fours and two sixes, then piled on
the misery for England with a sizzling knock. Gambhir thrived on
two dropped catches to become the fourth batsman in the innings
to record a half century. Play was interrupted, for the first
time in the day, after the 47th over by strong drizzle. England
rued the absence of Andrew Flintoff, who was ruled out because
of a knee injury, while India were lucky to see Zaheer Khan pass
hit fitness test after injuring his left ankle in the previous
game.
England overcame the early loss of Alastair
Cook to make a strong start with Prior (46) and Bell (44) going
after the Indian bowlers. Butter fingers, which had undone them
in the previous matches, continued to haunt India as Prior was
dropped by Tendulkar at first slip early in his innings and Bell
was put down by Ganguly at the same position off the first ball
he faced.
The duo were going great guns, England 97 for
1 in just 13 overs, when Ganguly struck. The 'Prince of Kolkata'
beat Prior with his swing and Mahendra Singh Dhoni came up with
a smart stumping, the first of his world record six dismissals.
Zaheer Khan then had Kevin Pietersen, caught behind for nought,
before Ganguly struck his second blow. The right-arm part-time
medium pacer induced a faint nick from Bell and Dhoni came up
with another superb glovework that put England firmly on the
back foot.
From there on, it was always a tough task for
England. Collingwood continued to wage a lone battle but wickets
kept tumbling at the other end. Dhoni made the most of the
situation adding Owais Shah and Jon Lewis to his list of scalps.
The Jharkhand player became the first Indian wicketkeeper to
effect six dismissals in a ODI, Australian Adam Gilchrist being
the other stumper to hold the record. England still lead the
series 3-2 and the teams move to England where they would play
the last two matches, at The Oval (Sept 5) and Lord's (Sept 8).
Scorecard (Agencies)
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