RAIN ABONDAND THE INDIAN WIN IN FIRST ODI........bad luck this time
Chester-le-Street: It was a case of so near and yet so far for
India here on Saturday as rain prevented them from registering
their first win on the England tour after the visitors worked
themselves into a good position in the first ODI.
Praveen Kumar struck for India early in England's chase to
remove Alastair Cook and Craig Kieswetter, after which rain
stopped play with the hosts 27/2 in 7.2 overs while chasing 275 to
win the match.
AFP
In the end, India had more to lose than gain from the game as
Rohit Sharma joined the list of players ruled out for the ODI series
after fracturing the index finger of his right hand.
Earlier, India scored 274/7 in their allotted 50 overs with the help
of half centuries from Parthiv Patel (95) and Virat Kohli (55).
In the morning, opening batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Patel
denied England any wicket in the first ten overs. After seeing the
new ball off, the duo opened their shoulders after being asked to
bat first by Alastair Cook in overcast condition.
Sachin Tendulkar missed out on the contest due to an injured
great toe as India retained the same side from the one-off
Twenty20 international played on Wednesday.
Patel, dropped on seven by debutant Ben Stokes, played some
crisp strokes, while Rahane made his second impressive debut on
the trot after his 61 in the Twenty20 game. Having put on 82 runs,
Rahane fell to Stuart Broad in the 16th over when he mistimed a
hook - having contributed 40 off just 44 balls, including six fours -
which brought Rahul Dravid to the crease.
But Dravid (2) fell just five runs later, not before adding more fuel
to the DRS debate. Despite no contact shown by 'Hot Spot', the
third umpire gave Dravid out caught behind after the bowler
Stuart Broad chose to review the decision.
Undaunted by the happenings around him, Patel kept the
scoreboard ticking and brought up his fifty in 66 balls. Virat Kohli
came in and hit the groove right away as well, timing his innings
to perfection by hitting boundaries at regular intervals.
But it was Parthiv's proper cricketing shots, both along the ground
and in the air, that caught the eye as he marched on towards his
maiden international century. Cook, who was a bowler short,
brought on part-timer Jonathan Trott but the Indians were quick
to identify the weaklink and went after the batting all-rounder.
But James Anderson ended India's third-wicket partnership when
he snared Parthiv an agonising five runs short of his maiden
international century. The tiny Indian opener was sucked into a
pitched up delivery and the drive took an edge to settle into Craig
Kieswetter's gloves. Parthiv added 103 runs with Virat Kohli.
Broad then struck Rohit Sharma right on his finger the very next
ball, displacing his index finger. The injury prompted Sharma to
leave the ground retired hurt, which was followed by Kohli
reaching his fifty in 69 balls. However, after hitting Samit Patel for
a four, Kohli was bowled by the England offie for a score of 55.
Suresh Raina took over from that point on, signalling his intentions
by depositing Broad for a six between mid-wicket and long-on in
the 43rd over. With MS Dhoni at the crease with Raina and six
wickets in hand, India then chose to take the batting powerplay in
the 45th over in hope of final flourish.
With wickets in the bag, skipper Dhoni also opened up his
shoulders to play a few blistering strokes to set the ball rolling in
the powerplay. However, Dernbach's variation got the better of
Raina (38) who hooked a slow bouncer straight to the short-fine-
leg fielder in the 49th over.
Dhoni and R Ashwin followed Raina in the pavilion six runs later.
India collected just 38 runs in the batting powerplay, with a few
singles in the final over helping them to 274/7.
Bresnan (2-54) and Broad (2/56) contributed with two wickets
each while Dernbach was expensive in his spell of 1/62 in nine
overs. Samit Patel - who played in place of injured Graeme Swann
- was the other wicket-taker with a 10-over spell of 1/42.
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