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England beat India; Flintoff sparkles
London, Sept 4: India plunged to a new low with
another pathetic display as England thrashed them by 70 runs in the
second one-day international to clinch the three-match NatWest Challenge
at the Oval here yesterday. After Andrew Flintoff's blitzkrieg of a 99
from 93 balls propelled England to 307 for five, the Indian batsmen
proved they had no stomach to make a fight of it and were all out for
237 in 46.3 overs. Except for winning the toss, nothing went right for
Sourav Ganguly whose team has spiralled from one defeat to another since
the Asia Cup final in July.
If Virender Sehwag's continuing failure, in his 100th
ODI, at the top has become a major concern, the confusion that resulted
in Ganguly's run out was an old problem revisiting the team at the wrong
time. VVS Laxman and Mohammad Kaif once again wasted their good starts
but Rahul Dravid's atrocious slash outside off to gift his wicket
cheaply was most un-Dravid like. A new 10th wicket partnership record of
64 runs between Harbhajan Singh (41 no) and Lakshmipathy Balaji (18) was
too little and too late in the day for any kind of consolation.
On other hand, Michael Vaughan is enjoying one of his
best summers in his career. England came into the series with three
successive Test series wins over the West Indies and New Zealand, and
the triumph over India should help them overcome any self doubts about
their capabilities as a one-day team. Man of the match Flintoff, who has
been central to England's resurgence, lived upto his growing reputation
as the number one all-rounder with a hurricane knock.
The 26-year old Lancashire batsman hit four sixes and
nine fours as he sent the Indian bowlers on a leather hunt. Paul
Collingwood with 79 from 85 balls provided the right support to the
burly right hander. The two added a record 174 runs, which was England's
best against any team for the fifth wicket, improving upon the 143 Robin
Smith and Graham Thorpe had put on against Australia at Edgbaston in
1993. Their association helped England overcome a brief slump early in
the innings when they lost four wickets for 34 runs. Harbhajan Singh,
coming in place of Anil Kumble, claimed two for 14 from his 10 overs on
the trot to put the brakes on the England run flow. The Turbanator, in
combination with part-time off spinner Virender Sehwag (2-51), had the
England batsmen dancing to his tune after Marcus Trescothick and Vikram
Solanki had give them a rousing start.
Rahul Dravid took sharp catches down the leg standing
upto the spinners and the wheels seemed to come of the England innings
before Flintoff and Collingwood wrested the initiative back from the
Indians. Ganguly might have tossed it away when he decided to bowl on a
benign pitch. The decision smacked of decline in his confidence of his
batsmen after a series of failures beginning with the Asia Cup final.
Though the Oval track helped seam movement, its true bounce and carry
was perfect for strokemaking. And if there was any juice on the fresh
pitch, the generous Indian seamers helped the England openers settle
down quickly.
The first 10 overs saw 65 runs, mainly through
boundaries. Solanki, who had made his statement in the first one-dayer
on Wednesday, drove and flicked with elegance for a sparkling 48 with
eight fours. It was not until the introduction of the spinners in the
12the over that the Indian bowling showed any sign of stopping the run
flow. Harbhajan Singh struck in his very third ball when Trescothick
(27), trying to take on the spinner, top edged a sweep to Lakshmipathy
Balaji at deep square leg. Dravid then brought up his first catch to
dismiss rival skipper Michael Vaughan (4) off Harbhajan. Solanki's
flourish gave way to edges and thuds on the pads. Trying to turn Sehwag
down the leg, he was brilliantly caught by Dravid who got the ball stuck
to the left webbing.
Strauss was ill at ease from the outset and fell
while trying to sweep Sehwag, as England slid from 71 for no loss to 105
for four. Then, as Harbhajan finished his quota, began the Flintoff
assault. The makeshift bowlers Rohan Gavaskar and Yuvraj Singh proved to
be inadequate to handle the storm. Flintoff, having struck Sehwag for
two huge sixes on the leg side, seemed to reserve his best for the
seamers. A straight six into the stands off Balaji marked his top form
and the misery for the 22-year old Indian touched the height when he
dropped the batsman off Pathan the next over. But just one run short of
his third one-day hundred, the big man edged Ajit Agarkar to give Dravid
his third catch of the match.
As India began the chase of a daunting total, Ganguly,
when on seven, drove to mid-off and took off only to find to his horror
his partner VVS Laxman running straight into him. The impact of Laxmans
threw Ganguly off the ground, his bat was jerked out of his grip and
Flintoff threw down the non-strikers stumps with a direct hit. Their was
a brief resistance as Kaif and Laxman put on 89 from 89 balls for the
third wicket. Kaif, promoted to number four, slammed some good shots in
front of the wicket but his dismissal off an ill-timed sweep wiped out
any hopes India had. Darren Gough took 4 for 50 and is now only one shy
of completing a haul of 200-wickets in one-day internationals.
(Agencies)
Published: Saturday, September 04, 2004
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