| Netherlands innings (50 overs maximum) | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
 | ES Szwarczynski | b Chawla | 28 | 59 | 42 | 4 | 0 | 66.66 |
| 15.2 89.9 kph, at long last, Piyush Chawla's much feted and much hyped googly has made its presence felt. Anil Kumble would have called that a flipper, but this is Chawla's googly, it is generally shorter in length than the leggie, and skids along with the angle, with slight inward turn. The delivery's hopes of striking hinge on the batsman's propensity to cut. Eric did just that, ambitiously setting himself up for the square cut by getting back and looking to come down on it. He saw it sliding in and tried to arrest the shot and cover the line. Too late. The ball hurries through and thuds into middle and leg. Chawla looks relieved, big break this for him. 56/1
|
| W Barresi† | lbw b Yuvraj Singh | 26 | 67 | 58 | 2 | 0 | 44.82 |
| 18.6 77.8 kph, Barresi reviews an lbw call. Yuvraj gets one of those innocuous pies to land on off from wide of the crease, and straighten enough to hit middle stump. Umpire Davis did not take long to uphold the appeal. The only bone of contention was whether it hit bat before hitting the pad. Replays show it his the front pad first alright. A 100 ODI wickets for Yuvraj. 64/2
|
| TLW Cooper | c †Dhoni b Nehra | 29 | 52 | 47 | 2 | 0 | 61.70 |
| 29.1 Nehra's struck immediately. He's got this oldish ball to nip away from a full length. Was that reverse swing or a good old offcutter? In any case, it was Nehra at his crafty best. Replays indicate it was an offcutter. He bustles in from over the wicket, lands it full and outside off, inviting the drive and then moving off away towards the off side. The deviation is enough to induce an outside edge as Cooper goes for the big cover drive. Dhoni holds the low catch easily. Netherlands are fumbling here. 100/4
|
| RN ten Doeschate | c Khan b Yuvraj Singh | 11 | 29 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 39.28 |
| 28.2 81.7 kph, Yuvraj does it again. Best spinner in this team? He's done in Netherlands' best batsman with a bit of old-school left-arm spinner's guile. He's got this to dip on RTD after inviting him out of the crease for the loft down the ground. RTD did not realise he wasn't to the pitch of it, until too late, and decided to go through with the shot. He was looking to go leg side, but the extra spin meant that it went off the lower half of the bat, getting a bit of outside edge in the process. He ended up scooping it higher than he wanted, compromising for distance, and playing to towards long off as the bat turned in his hand. Zaheer at long off makes a tough catch look easy, taking it a foot in front of the ropes. 99/3
|
| AN Kervezee | c Harbhajan Singh b Chawla | 11 | 45 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 47.82 |
| 38.1 and Chawla has a wicket first ball. He looks almost embarassed. Harbhajan at midwicket takes the catch at midwicket and must be wondering why he's not getting these freebies. That was dropped in Chawla's half. It was a miracle it did not bounce again before Kervezee hit it. He flat-batted the pull with such blinding ferocious intent that he forgot to place it. He picked out Harbhajan at deep midwicket. 127/7
|
| B Zuiderent | lbw b Khan | 0 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 30.6 127.4 kph, Zaheer has nailed him, but Zuiderant has reviewed it. Sleight of hand from Zaheer, he's got the ball to do everything except turn back towards him. He runs in with the ball hidden in his hands, not giving away how he's holding it. This one lands back of a length and curls into Zuiderant, who has thrust his front pad forward and in front of the stumps. Danger signs. The ball comes in enough to miss the bat that was hanging in hope next to the pad. Replays vindicate Steve Davis. The seamers have come into their own with the old ball. Maybe India should just open with spinners and use the fast bowlers after 25 overs. 101/5
|
| TN de Grooth | run out (Chawla/†Dhoni) | 5 | 14 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 45.45 |
| 34.2 Yuvraj Singh to Kervezee, de Grooth is run out. This innings is a complete shambles now, and the packed stands in Kotla will be concerned they won't get to see much of a chase. There was no single there. Kervezee works Yuvraj towards short midwicket and takes off. Chawla at mid-on runs in, collects with one hand and lets rip a throw at Dhoni. It wasn't the best of throws, but it was such a madly judged run that Dhoni had a year to collect and break the stumps. de Grooth started running really late, he knew it was suicidal. 108/6
|
| PW Borren* | c Nehra b Khan | 38 | 46 | 36 | 3 | 2 | 105.55 |
| 46.1 120.3 kph, Borren summons his inner Dilshan, and plays his own version of the pick-up shot. Or the ramp shot if you will. Pre-meditated though, and that led to his undoing. Back of a length from Zaheer as Borren set himself up for a full delivery. As a result, instead of scooping, he ended up lapping it off the lower end of the bat. Hence it went higher rather than far. Instead of clearing Nehra, it landed in his hands at short fine leg. Good innings from the captain. 189/9
|
| BP Kruger | run out (Kohli/†Dhoni) | 8 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 66.66 |
| 42.2 from Chawla, Another run out, this time Kruger is gone. Chawla lands it this time, but too full and there for the drive. Kruger times the shot well as he advances and flows through the shot, but picks out Kohli inside the circle at cover. He promptly returns to Dhoni who is quick with the collection and removes the bails in a flash. 151/8
|
| Mudassar Bukhari | b Khan | 21 | 20 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 116.66 |
| 46.4 132.3 kph, Zaheer has arrested the bleeding and finished off the innings. Despite the late flourish, Netherlands end short of an average score. The fast searing yorker angles across the batsman, there's not much you can attempt with that ball, except the squeezed single to the off side, or a tough-to-pull-off delicate dab to third man. Bukhari just went for the big swipe across the line even as he backed away. Ended up getting an inside edge that clattered onto off stump. India need 190 to win. 189/10
|
| PM Seelaar | not out | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| |
| Extras | (b 6, lb 3, w 2, nb 1) | 12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|  |
|
|
|
|
|
| Total | (all out; 46.4 overs; 191 mins) | 189 | (4.05 runs per over) |
No comments:
Post a Comment