Sep 20: Fastest fifty by the ‘Prince of sixes’ in any format of the game
Yuvraj Singh’s blazing display and a record 50 runs in just 12 balls, including six consecutive sixes in an over punishing the poor Stuart Broad, set the tone for India to send England packing, defeating them by 18 runs in an intriguing tussle at the Kingsmead in Durban last night.
India had to beat England to have any chance to qualify for the semifinals. They duly completed the victory with their searing batting performance as the Indian batsmen were at their menacing best bringing the Durban crowd alive.
Virender Sehwag (68) and Gautam Gambhir (58) got India a flying start with an opening partnership of 136 runs, before Yuvraj Singh delivered the fireworks later on with an exceptionally quick fire 58 coming off only 16 balls, making mockery of England bowlers to set the target of 219.
Both Sehwag and Gambhir were at their belligerent best, as it looked that they wanted to prove something to their opponents. Sehwag, who was out of ODIs for sometime, now must have got the confidence of selectors back with his knock and the consistent performance in the ongoing Twenty20 World Cup. India achieved their first fifty of 6.3 overs without losing a wicket and went a little better with a 100 in just 11.1 overs.
Sehwag was dealing in boundaries and sixes when Chris Tremlett cleaned him up. Tremlett bowled Sehwag when he went for a big heave down the leg side. Sehwag made 68 runs from 52 balls.
Yuvraj Singh, after conflicting with Andrew Flintoff, got off in the most amazing fashion. With the flurry of sixes Yuvraj Singh last night added his name to a list that contained only Sir Garfield Sobers, Ravi Shastri and Herschelle Gibbs. Stuart Broad, on the other hand, joined Malcolm Nash, Tilak Raj and Daan van Bunge.
The great Sobers performed his feat in a County Championship for Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan, Shastri for Bombay against Baroda in the Ranji Trophy and they remain the only instances in first-class cricket. Gibbs struck six sixes for South Africa against The Netherlands in the World Cup earlier this year.
Yuvraj became the part of the history last night and created a record of the only batsman to score the fastest fifty in ant format of the game. There is also a unique fact in the record, as the bowlers who got hammered in the past were bowling off spin, slow left armers and leg spin. Broad is thus the first seamer to be struck for 36 in a six ball over but of course not the last.
Yuvraj's fury in terms of exposition came a fortnight after when he himself was struck for five consecutive sixes by Dimitri Mascarenhas of England in the 6 th ODI match at Oval. "I got so many calls after that from people making fun of me," he said. "I said to God that this is not fare and will you please give me a chance. I guess he gave it back to me today.” Yuvraj said after the match.
Yesterday everything fell on place for team India as earlier India won the toss and opted to bat first against England. India replaced youngsters Joginder Sharma and Rohit Sharma in the place of Ajit Agarkar and Dinesh Karthik in the squad.
Chasing a mammoth total, England got off to an erratic start and India too dropped many catches. But wicket was not too far away from India as England crumbled under the pressure of mounting required run rate.
England's reply was steady and they did not lose their tamper and kept cool and carried on the momentum, as after 18 overs they were on exactly the same score as India were at that point of time in their innings. However, England was unable to find a batsman that could match Yuvraj’s flair and charisma to finish it.
The main problem for England was that there was not any match winning partnership. Each of English top five batsmen gave some hope and showed glimpses of what can be achieved in this run chase, but wickets kept falling at equal intervals.
Vikram Solanki, Darren Maddy, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, and Owais Shah lit up the ground with the cameos, but no one could be able to drive England home.
RP Singh sealed the victory in the 18th over of the innings. He not only gave just four runs, but also picked up the wickets of Collingwood and Shah.
Collingwood's side finishing 18 runs short of India's impressive total. For India it is again a do or die situation and they have to make a fresh start against South Africa on Thursday evening, again in Durban, where a win for India will put three sides, India, South Africa, and New Zealand, tied on four points. The two sides with the best net run rate will enter the semis. Yuvraj Singh was declared man of the match for his roaring knock.
|
|
Read More: South Goa
Comments:
