JOIN USHonours even in classy cliffhanger
Sachin Tendulkar (120, 115b, 10x4, 5x6) had promised to make it a magnificent Sunday for most of the 38,000 fans gathered at the venue with a quite spectacular century, but almost met his match in an inspired Andrew Strauss.
England’s inspirational skipper conjured a knock of such quality that it put to shade Tendulkar’s masterpiece, and all but facilitated the highest run-chase ever in World Cup history. But an extraordinary late collapse triggered by Zaheer resulted in the team’s sharing the two points equally following the first tie of this World Cup.
India had reason to believe they had justified Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s decision to bat first by piling up 338, Tendulkar the stand-out performer in an exhilarating display of collective batsmanship.
Neither the Indians, nor the huge fan-base at the stadium and beyond, would have bargained for Strauss’ exceptional marshalling of the chase. The skipper wowed even the obviously partisan home crowd with a dazzling array of strokes, and had set the stage for a famous triumph with 158 (145b, 18x4, 1x6), but England found ways of self-destructing before settling for 338 for eight, and one point from a gripping day’s cricket.
Strauss’ knock, a superb mix of the conventional and the unorthodox, had left England brilliantly poised at 280 for two with eight overs left and only 59 needed for victory, but England took the batting Power Play, lost four for 25 as Zaheer cut a swathe through the middle-order and emphatically returned India into the contest.
In a final spell of 3-0-11-3, Zaheer made up for his early profligacy; as pressure mounted, England lost wickets in a clutch to leave themselves needing 29 off the last two overs, and 14 off Munaf Patel’s final over. Graeme Swann and Ajmal Shahzad managed only 13, amidst unbelievable scenes of tension and drama, as India snatched a tie from the jaws of defeat.
As unthreatening as the Indian bowling was – till the last one-fifth, they was no pressure on England as the boundary balls flowed – no praise can be too high for Strauss. The left-hander tore into Zaheer and Patel at the start, then swept and pulled Chawla to distraction.
All of that was done with minimum of fuss. Offered a lifeline on 22 when a tardy Harbhajan Singh didn’t react quickly enough at mid-on, Strauss dominated the English chase, progressing at a tempo that appeared too good to be sustained for any length of time.
Kevin Pietersen did his bit in a hectic opening salvo worth 68 (57b), but it was the Strauss-Ian Bell tandem that cut out all escape routes. Bell led a charmed life, receiving a reprieve through the DRS from Billy Bowden and from Virat Kohli at slip, but kept his skipper admirable company in an England Cup record third-wicket stand worth 170 (156b). Bell’s dismissal turned the match on its head, allowing India to escape with a tie when defeat seemed imminent.
India’s batsmen themselves had strung together four meaningful associations with Tendulkar the constant in the opening three, Virender Sehwag providing the early flourish, Gautam Gambhir the stabilising influence during a 134-run (131b) partnership with the master, and Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni playing their parts in upping the rate of scoring.
Tendulkar opened out after a cautious start when Sehwag was taking James Anderson to the cleaners, treating Swann with particular disdain and negating the off-spinner by using his feet brilliantly. His first 50 took him 66 deliveries, brought up in style with a towering six off Paul Collingwood; the journey from 50 to 100 occupied only a further 37 balls, and included five fours and two further sixes.
It was clean, crisp ball-striking, backed up a final flourish from Yuvraj and Dhoni. India didn’t make the most of the batting Power Play, scoring just 32, but accelerated brilliantly towards the end, scoring 91 in the last ten and 46 in the last five despite losing seven wickets in that phase.
Tim Bresnan was England’s bowling star, keeping a tight lid and striking late for his first five-for, while Anderson was the exact opposite, going for 91.