Yuvraj Singh scored a match-winning unbeaten 51 as India pulled off a five-wicket win against Netherlands.
Chasing 190 under lights, India were reeling at 99 for four after a three-wicket burst by left-arm spinner Pieter Seelaar, but scraped through with 81 balls to spare. Yuvraj, who also grabbed two key wickets, has come to India’s rescue twice in as many games after starring with both the bat and the ball. The win maintained India’s near-perfect run in the tournament and virtually assured them of a quarter-final berth. The hosts are now on top of Group B with seven points following three wins and a tie.
‘Improvement needed’
India captain MS Dhoni felt that his side needed improvement in certain areas despite the win.
“I don’t mind chasing or batting first as long we win,” said Dhoni, “There are some areas we need to improve like the Powerplay overs.”
India began their chase in style with Sachin Tendulkar (27) belting three fours in a row off Ryan ten Doeschate. Virender Sehwag scored a typically aggressive 39 off 26 balls before slicing Seelaar to point where he was caught by Alexei Kervezee. The left-armer struck twice in his next over to remove Tendulkar and Yusuf Pathan in the space of four balls. The maestro tried to smash the bowler to the long-off boundary but Bradley Kruger took a fine catch while Pathan offered a simple return catch, stunning the capacity crowd into silence. The hosts appeared in deep trouble after Virat Kohli was bowled by Borren but Yuvraj and Gautam Gambhir put on 40 runs for the fifth wicket to arrest the slide.
Dutch batting capitulates after fine start
Earlier, spinners Piyush Chawla and Yuvraj shared four wickets while fast-bowler Zaheer Khan grabbed three for 20 as the Dutch slipped from a healthy 99 for two to be bowled out for 189 after electing to bat.
Borren offered the only resistance with a late cameo of 38 runs off 36 balls, containing three fours and two sixes. The Dutch were off to a steady start with openers Eric Szwarczynski and Wesley Barresi negotiating India’s bowling attack with surprising ease in the first 15 overs. Szwarczynski hit Zaheer for two fours in an over and looked composed until he was bowled by Chawla. Yuvraj struck in his first over when he had Barresi trapped leg before for his 100th wicket in One-Day Internationals. He gave India another breakthrough when ten Doeschate (11) offered an outside edge which was superbly caught by Zaheer. It was downhill for the Dutch from there on, with Tom Cooper (29) edging to Dhoni in Ashish Nehra’s second spell and Bas Zuiderent trapped lbw by Zaheer for a duck.
Netherlands captain Peter Borren took heart from his team’s spirited display in the field.
“At 99 for four, you never know, sneak a couple of wickets but I am proud of my boys. We have two matches coming up which are big games for us. Tonight will give us confidence.”
Davis umpires 100th match
Meanwhile, Australian umpire Steve Davis stood in his 100th One-Day International (ODIs) when he officiated in the match. Davis, 58, made his international debut on December 12, 1992 in a match between Pakistan and West Indies in Adelaide and has also stood in 31 Tests and 14 Twenty20 Internationals.
Tendulkar reaches 2,000 Cup runs
Indian superstar Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to score 2,000 World Cup runs, reaching the mark by hitting three consecutive fours of Ryan ten Doeschate, as he made 27. The 37-year-old, playing his 40th match at his record-equalling sixth World Cup, made his bow at cricket’s showpiece tournament in 1992. He has hit five centuries and 13 fifties in World Cups. The next player on the list is Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, who has 1,577 runs in 42 matches.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 10th, 2011.
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