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| April 16, 2006 | Sunday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 17, 1427 |
Debutant Uthappa guides India to emphatic victory
INDORE (India), April 15: Rookie opener Robin Uthappa missed a century on debut, but spurred India to a seven-wicket victory over England in the seventh and final limited-over international cricket match on Saturday.
Uthappa smashed an emphatic 96-ball 86 and shared an opening stand of 166 with skipper Rahul Dravid (69) as India posted 289 for three from 49.1 overs to overhaul England's 50-over score of 288.
India's victory stretched its spree of successfully chasing targets in ODIs to 16 matches – extending the world record that it set earlier this month during the fourth match.
The previous record belonged to the West Indies, which won 14 ODIs when batting second during 1984-86.
India emerged a 5-1 winner of the series featuring one match that was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Debutant Uthappa, 20, struck 12 boundaries and one six to stamp his authoritative entry into international cricket and dominated his partnership with Dravid.
Uthappa appeared on course for a century when he got run out due to his casual approach in regaining the crease after off-driving left-arm spinner Ian Blackwell. James Anderson made a diving save on the fence and then surprised Uthappa with a fine throw to wickekeeper Geraint Jones, who whipped off the bails with Uthappa's bat not grounded inside the crease.
Dravid fell four balls later when seamer Sajid Mehmood trapped him leg before. Dravid's 79-ball knock contained nine boundaries.
Yuvraj Singh (62 not out) and Suresh Raina (53) spiked England's hopes of bouncing back by sharing a 115-run stand for the third wicket that steered India toward victory.
England's innings revolved around aggressive half-centuries from Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood, who posted identical scores of 64.
Pietersen struck 11 boundaries and a towering six off 57 deliveries despite being afflicted by cramps due to the intense heat.
Pietersen shared two vigorous partnerships, with opener Ian Bell (32) and Collingwood, who went on to bolster the score through his 92-run stand with Geraint Jones (53).
Put in to bat first by Indian captain Dravid, England got off to a brisk start as stand-in skipper Andrew Strauss smashed five boundaries to post 25 off 34 balls.
Strauss and Bell's opening partnership of 47 ended in the 10th over when Strauss fell to a diving catch by wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik off paceman Shantakaumaran Sreessanth. Umpire Rudi Koertzen checked with the TV umpire before giving his verdict.
Sreesanth struck again in his next over, dismissing Matthew Prior for two. Prior top-edged a hook shot to Irfan Pathan at deep fine-leg.
Sreesanth returned to claim four more wickets in his second spell, finishing with his career-best spell of six for 55 that fetched him the Man-of-the-Match award.
Joining Bell in the middle with England on 47 for two, Pietersen unleashed his aggressive stroke-play.
Pietersen was particularly severe on young pace bowler Vikram Rajvir Singh, dispatching him for four boundaries and a six over midwicket in one over that cost India 26 runs.
Bell was run out in a mix up, when he did not respond of Pietersen's call on the first delivery from off-spinner Ramesh Powar and both batsmen were stranded at one end as Pietersen had taken off for the single. Bell sacrificed his wicket when Yuvraj Singh threw in the ball from backward square-leg to Powar.
Pietersen sought the assistance of runner when he was on 55, but departed soon after in trying to clear the midwicket fence off part-time spinner Yuvraj Singh, only to be caught by debutant Robin Uthappa.
Jones hit one six and seven fours from 50 balls, but fell to a fine catch by Karthik off Sreesanth.
Collingwood struck two huge sixes and two boundaries from 83 deliveries before lofting Irfan Pathan to Rudra Pratap Singh at deep mid-on.
Scoreboard
ENGLAND
A.J. Strauss c Karthik b Sreesanth 25
I.R. Bell run out 32
M.J. Prior c Pathan b Sreesanth 2
K.P. Pietersen c Uthappa b Yuvraj 64
P.D. Collingwood c Rudra b Pathan 64
G.O. Jones c Karthik b Sreesanth 53
I.D. Blackwell c Raina b Sreesanth 11
L. Plunkett c Vikram b Sreesanth 6
Kabir Ali c Rao b Pathan 1
Sajid Mehmood c Vikram b Sreesanth 9
J.M. Anderson not out 0
EXTRAS (Lb-4, Nb-8, W-9) 21
TOTAL (all out, 50 overs) 288
FALL OF WKTS: 1-43, 2-47, 3-110, 4-165, 5-257, 6-267, 7-274, 8-277, 9-288, 10-288.
BOWLING: Pathan 10-1-44-2 (2w); Sreesanth 10-1-55-6 (2nb, 3w); Rudra 7-0-44-0 (1w); Vikram 7-0-73-0 (6nb, 1w); Powar 9-1-38-0 (1w); Yuvraj 7-0-30-1 (1w).
INDIA
R. Uthappa run out .86
R. Dravid lbw b Mehmood 69
Y. Singh not out 63
S. Raina b Ali .53
I. Pathan not out 1
EXTRAS (Lb-5, Nb-4, W-8) 17
TOTAL (for 3 wickets, 49.1 overs) 289
FALL OF WKTS: 1-166, 2-166, 3-281.
DID NOT BAT: V. Rao, D. Karthik, R. Powar, S. Sreesanth, R.P. Singh, V.R. Singh.
BOWLING: Anderson 8.1-0-67-0; Sajid Mehmood 10-0-61-1 (2nb, 4w); Plunkett 10-0-40-0 (1nb); Kabir Ali 8-0-47-1 (1nb, 2w); Blackwell 10-0-51-0 (1w); Collingwood 3-0-18-0 (1w).
UMPIRES: Rudi Koertzen (South Africa) and Arani Jayaprakash (India).
TV UMPIRE: Ivaturi Sivaram (India).
MATCH REFEREE: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka).—AP
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