|
|
India win toss; elect
to bat first |
Bangalore:
Indian captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first against
England in their second World Cup group B match on Sunday.
India included leg-spinner Piyush Chawla into the playing XI as they decided
to go with two specialist spinners. Pace bowler S Sreesanth, who had a bad
game against Bangladesh in the inaugural match of the tournament, has been
dropped from the side.
Scorecard: India Vs England»
England, on the other hand, would miss the service of all-rounder Stuart
Broad as he is out with an injury. Ajmal Shahzad would replace him in the
side.
Teams
India (Playing XI): Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir,
Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh,
Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel
England (Playing XI): Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Strauss(c), Jonathan
Trott, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Michael Yardy, Matt Prior(w), Tim Bresnan,
Graeme Swann, Ajmal Shahzad, James Anderson
Ruthless
Australia thump Kiwis by seven wickets
Nagpur: Brad Haddin and Shane
Watson slammed fifties as Australia beat new Zealand by 7 wickets in their
World Cup match.
Earlier, Ricky Ponting was stumped by McCullum off Southee but Australia
were still in control at 167/3.
Both Brad Haddin and Shane Watson departed in quick succession after putting
up 133 for the first wicket.
Australia took complete control of the match against New Zealand as openers
Shane Watson and Brad Haddin cracked fine fifties.
After bundling the Kiwis for just 206, Australia got off to an excellent
start as they reached 74/0 in the first 10 overs.
Earlier, Nathan McCullum stood tall amid ruins with a fighting half-century
as the pace duo of Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait shared seven wickets
between them to help Australia bowl out New Zealand for 206 in their group B
World Cup match at VCA Stadium in Jamtha here on Friday.
Courtesy Nathan`s gritty 52 off 76 balls, New Zealand crossed the 200-run
mark after Aussie bowlers blew away the top-six within 17 overs with 73 on
board.
Nathan shared 48 runs for the seventh wicket with Jamie How (22) and 54 runs
with skipper Daniel Vettori (44) but Kiwis could not bat for the complete
quote of 50 overs and were all out in 45.1 overs.
Both Tait (3/35) and Johnson
(4/33) bowled with pace and accuracy which made things difficult for the
Kiwi batsmen in the match which is also being played for the Chappell-Hadlee
Trophy.
After overnight rain, Australian captain Ricky Ponting elected to field as
conditions were bit overcast.
Tait and Johnson were ably complemented by Shane Watson (1/9) and Brett Lee
(1/29) and the pace quartet ensured that Ponting`s decision to bowl first
was vindicated.
All of them pitched the ball fuller, got a bit of movement and were also
helped by some lousy shots played by the Black Caps batsmen.
If Tait`s bowling was all about raw pace, Johnson got deliveries to swing
away from the batsmen at a brisk pace. Although Jesse Ryder pulled a couple
of short ones from Johnson, none of the top-order batsmen were ready to
apply themselves on a pitch which eased out with time.
Both Nathan and Vettori showed that it was not difficult to play shots once
the batsmen got their eye in.
In the morning, the first to go was Brendon McCullum (16). The Kiwi opener
used Tait`s pace to get two boundaries with upper cuts. One such slash off a
delivery that had extra yard of pace ballooned up and was easily caught by
Jason Krejza at thirdman.
Martin Guptill who struggled for
his 10 from 25 balls was a bit unlucky though. Shane Watson found a spot
outside off-stump where the deliveries didn`t take off after pitching.
The ball kept low as it whizzed past the toe of Guptill`s bat to hit the
off-stump.
Ryder (25) started off well as he took four boundaries off Johnson. Three of
them were sweetly timed pull shots that bisected the fine leg and square leg
fielders.
In the 14th over, Johnson lent a telling blow as he first got Ryder and then
James Franklin (0) to reduce the Kiwis to 66 for four.
Ryder, who plays with minimal footwork, got one that was full pitching on
the off-stump and moving away. The burly New Zealander just poked at the
delivery to offer a simple catch to Brad Haddin behind stumps.
Franklin, who came in at No. 5 flashed at a wide delivery to be caught by
Haddin.
Tait who was brought for his second spell from the pavilion end was buoyed
by Johnson`s success. He first got Scott Styris (0) to edge at fast and
straight delivery outside off-stump. The fastest among Aussie quartet then
bowled an in-swinging Yorker to end Ross Taylor`s (7) misery.
In the 17 overs, New Zealand were tottering at 73 for six with more than
half of the side back in the pavilion. Nathan and How, who replaced Jacob
Oram, averted any further collapse for the next 12 overs adding 48 runs in
the process.
Finally, it was leg-spinner Steven Smith who bowled a straighter one that
thudded into How`s pads. The batsman appealed for a review which went
against him.
PTI
Sehwag
survives injury scare at team practice
Bangalore: Opener Virender Sehwag
on Friday survived an injury scare after being hit on his ribs by a local
fast bowler during the Indian cricket team`s practice session ahead of the
much-anticipated World Cup clash against England on Sunday.
Sehwag was one of the first to take strike at the nets at the National
Cricket Academy and his batting session was cut short when a rising delivery
from a local boy hit him on the left rib cage.
He was taken to the dressing room immediately but fortunately for India,
nothing serious was found. He later went to the gymnasium and also joined
back the training session. Team Manager Ranjib Biswal spoke
to media and cleared the air about Sehwag`s injury.
"He is fit to play. There was no need to even go for scans," Biswal told
reporters.
Before the batting and bowling session, the Indian cricketers played
football for about 45 minutes.
Later, the batsmen practised with
plastic balls and also had a catching practice session.
PTI
Source : Zeenews
Page 2