Yuvraj leads India to 3-0 lead
Yuvraj Singh played an inspired innings after Rahul Dravid won an important toss on a sluggish pitch as India posted a mammoth 294 and overwhelmed England by 49 runs to take an impressive 3-0 lead in this seven-match series.
Dravid went into open the innings with Sehwag and and realised that protecting his stumps was priority No.1 with the ball being up and down. Another thing that worked for India was pushing Irfan Pathan up the order. His uncomplicated technique worked well, and a partnership of 78 for the second wicket set things up nicely before Dravid (46) dragged Paul Collingwood back onto his stumps.
Soon England sniffed a chance as Pathan failed to clear the infield and the out-of-form Mohammad Kaif tickled one to the keeper and India wobbled at 131 for 4. What they would not have accounted for was Yuvraj Singh playing as superbly as he did, using his power and free-stroking ability to best effect on a pitch where run-making was desperately difficult. Suresh Raina chipped in with a vital half-century
Yuvraj's knock of 76-ball 103 that included 10 fours and 3 sixes, made a mockery of the tough batting conditions. He was assisted by Raina, who shared in a 142-run partnership in making 61 very compact runs of his own, Yuvraj had taken India to a score that would take some getting on a flat deck, forget about a slow crumbler. Mahendra Dhoni had his say in the few balls that he faced and India ended very comfortably placed.
With a big score on the board India only had to bowl sensibly given the conditions to put the pressure firmly on England. Pathan showed that he was the man for the job, his well-disguised slower deliveries proving to be the undoing of the top order. With the ball gripping the surface all Pathan had to do was put the ball in areas where a mistake in timing would create problems and he did just that.
Three slower deliveries accounted for Andrew Strauss, who tickled one to the 'keeper, Ian Blackwell, who was bowled playing and missing early, and Owais Shah, who failed to get to the pitch of the ball and chipped to point. Matt Prior had battled hard for 37 and when he was run out in a mix up with Andrew Flintoff, England were in deep trouble at 48 for 4.
Collingwood batted well for his 93 but there was just too much for him to do after the top-order had failed. After he holed out going for a big one England folded for 245 and India closed out the match by 49 runs.
Dravid went into open the innings with Sehwag and and realised that protecting his stumps was priority No.1 with the ball being up and down. Another thing that worked for India was pushing Irfan Pathan up the order. His uncomplicated technique worked well, and a partnership of 78 for the second wicket set things up nicely before Dravid (46) dragged Paul Collingwood back onto his stumps.
Soon England sniffed a chance as Pathan failed to clear the infield and the out-of-form Mohammad Kaif tickled one to the keeper and India wobbled at 131 for 4. What they would not have accounted for was Yuvraj Singh playing as superbly as he did, using his power and free-stroking ability to best effect on a pitch where run-making was desperately difficult. Suresh Raina chipped in with a vital half-century
Yuvraj's knock of 76-ball 103 that included 10 fours and 3 sixes, made a mockery of the tough batting conditions. He was assisted by Raina, who shared in a 142-run partnership in making 61 very compact runs of his own, Yuvraj had taken India to a score that would take some getting on a flat deck, forget about a slow crumbler. Mahendra Dhoni had his say in the few balls that he faced and India ended very comfortably placed.
With a big score on the board India only had to bowl sensibly given the conditions to put the pressure firmly on England. Pathan showed that he was the man for the job, his well-disguised slower deliveries proving to be the undoing of the top order. With the ball gripping the surface all Pathan had to do was put the ball in areas where a mistake in timing would create problems and he did just that.
Three slower deliveries accounted for Andrew Strauss, who tickled one to the 'keeper, Ian Blackwell, who was bowled playing and missing early, and Owais Shah, who failed to get to the pitch of the ball and chipped to point. Matt Prior had battled hard for 37 and when he was run out in a mix up with Andrew Flintoff, England were in deep trouble at 48 for 4.
Collingwood batted well for his 93 but there was just too much for him to do after the top-order had failed. After he holed out going for a big one England folded for 245 and India closed out the match by 49 runs.
