India captain confident of World Cup run despite wretched tour.PHOTO: BCCI/FILE
India bowed out of the ODI tri-series with another poor batting effort, which condemned them to defeat in their clash with England at the WACA Ground in Perth.
Sent in to bat, India were dismissed for 200 and although England stumbled early, they recovered to edge their way to 201-7 and win with 19 balls to spare.
That booked England a berth in tomorrow’s final against Australia at the same venue.
It ended a fruitless three-month tour for India ahead of next month’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, in which they failed to notch a single win in 10 matches, including four Tests and four ODIs.
Dhoni conceded their batting had been a concern, as even the 200-mark did not look a possibility until number 11 Mohammad Shami smacked 25 runs off 18 balls with India being dismissed in the 49th over.
However, he expected his batsmen to regain their best form before the World Cup and said the focus would be on recharging their batteries in the coming weeks. “From a confidence point of view we are quite good,” he said. “It has been a long tour so far but with this break now, it will really help us. The guys should be able to come back strong.”
With the winner of the game advancing to tomorrow’s final, England looked in deep trouble when they slumped to 66-5 in their run chase.
However, James Taylor and wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler rescued their cause.
The pair rode their luck to put on 125 for the sixth wicket and carry their side to within 10 runs of victory, before falling in quick succession.
Taylor made 82 off 122 balls before holing out to deep fine leg on the bowling of Mohit Sharma in the dying stages of the chase.
Buttler made the most of an early reprieve, when he should have been run out.
He went on to make a match-winning 67 from 78 balls before falling just two runs after Taylor, caught on the boundary off the bowling of Mohammed Shami.
Taylor said England were looking forward to the final with a win handing them a psychological advantage ahead of their World Cup opener in Melbourne. “It would make a massive statement, no doubt,” he said. “It is going to be a challenge, they [Australia] are playing some great cricket at the moment, but we are all looking forward to it.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 31st, 2015.
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