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S Tendulkar
Man of the Match |
London, Sept 6: Robin Uthappa played a
marvellous innings to guide India to a thrilling two-wicket win
with two balls to spare in the sixth cricket one-dayer against
England at The Oval here yesterday. Uthappa hit an unbeaten 47
that capped a brilliant collective batting performance and his
innings helped India overhaul a challenging England target of
317 and level the 7-match NatWest Series 3-3. The 21-year-old
right-hander from Bangalore, who normally opens the batting,
came in when India were 234 for 5 and needed another 83 from the
last nine overs. The youngster combined with Mahendra Singh
Dhoni (35) to take the fight to the England camp, and despite
the loss of his more illustrious partner, kept his cool to hit
the winning runs in the final over.
The visitors needed 8 runs from the four
balls off Stuart Broad and Uthappa scooped a full toss to fine
leg boundary before driving a volley to long off, triggering
wild celebrations among the Indian players and fans. The
Indians, however, owed their win to Sachin Tendulkar (94) and
Sourav Ganguly (53) gave India a flier of a start as they put on
150 runs for the opening stand. The two batsmen's dismissals in
the space of six runs slowed down the Indian run rate. Tendulkar
batted through the last stages of his innings in pain after
hurting himself in a collision with Ganguly while taking a
single. Gautam Gambhir (47) then rose to the occasion, taking
the scoring baton while Tendulkar struggled and as Yuvraj Singh
took time to settle down.
 Gambhir
and Yuvraj added 54 runs for the third wicket, but three quick
wickets again hampered their chase. It was then left to Dhoni
and Uthappa and they took on the England bowling gamely, until
the former fell with two overs to go. The teams now await the
decider at Lord's on Saturday. Earlier, India's bowling
inadequacies were brutally exposed as England overcame a poor
start to post a daunting 316 for 6. Middle order batsman, Owais
Shah, hit his maiden century to lead England's recovery and
debutant Luke Wright distinguished himself with a quicksilver
half-century. Shah made an unbeaten 107 from only 95 balls with
11 fours and two sixes while 22-year-old Wright needed just 39
balls for his 50.
The duo put on 106 runs for the sixth wicket
which lifted England from 137 for 5 in the 31st over. But it was
utility all-rounder, Dimitri Mascarenhas, who produced the real
pyrotechnics of the closing stages as he smashed five sixes off
the last five balls of the innings bowled by Yuvraj Singh. That
meant the unbroken seventh wicket stand between Shah and
Mascarenhas fetched England 73 runs off 34 balls. Captain Rahul
Dravid's decision to ask Yuvraj Singh, who went for 59 runs from
just five overs, would be questioned, but he might have been
helpless after Ajit Agarkar conceded 63 from his quota of 10
over for one wicket.
Kevin Pietersen (53) and Ian Bell (49) were
the other notable contributors as they put on 59 runs for the
third wicket after Alastair Cook (0) and Matt Prior (6) had
fallen for 20 runs on the board. The England innings was also
marked by the controversial run out of skipper Paul Collingwood.
Home Peter Hartley remained unmoved after a throw from
substitute Dinesh Kaarthick caught Collingwood short of the
crease, but decided to refer it to the third umpire after the
giant screen at the ground showed the television replay.
Pietersen and Wright were also run out, highlighting an improved
fielding performance by the Indians. Zaheer Khan (1-43), Piyush
Chawla (1-44) and Ramesh Powar (0-44) were the impressive
bowlers for India.
Scorecard (Agencies)
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