JOIN USParthiv, Vinay star as India ease past Leicester
After posting a competitive 161 for five, the Indians restricted Leicestershire to 146 for seven to register their second straight Twenty20 win after beating Kent on Friday at Centerbury. Vinay, adjudged the man of the match for his haul of three for 29, was the star performer for India, tilting the match in the visitors’ favour when the hosts appeared to have things under control at 66 for two.
The right-arm paceman got rid of James Taylor and skipper Andrew McDonald (44, 34b, 5x4, 1x6) in successive overs to decisively swing the balance towards India. With 62 needed off the last five overs, Abdul Razzaq threatened to spoil the Indians’ party as he took a profligate Varun Aaron apart in the 17th over. Praveen Kumar went for 11 in the next but R Ashwin got the dangerman to dash home hopes. With 25 required off the final over, Vinay gave away nine runs to signal Indian celebrations.
Earlier, India got off to a rollicking start with Parthiv Patel and Ajinkya Rahane, getting his first match after arriving here on Saturday, finding a flurry of fours during the field restrictions. Parthiv set the tone, upper-cutting Matthew Hoggard to the third-man fence.
The left-hander, who notched up a fifty against Sussex in the first practice game, welcomed Razzaq by driving the paceman over mid-on. The diminutive batsman continued to be severe against the new-ball bowlers, cutting and pulling them to the fence.
Rahane proved equally effective as long as he lasted. A couple of flicked fours off Razzaq and Hoggard were followed by a beautiful drive through the covers as India raced to 50 in the first five overs. The Mumbai batsman’s sweet but short stay came to an end when Jigar Naik timed to his jump to perfection at short third-man to pouch his cut off Razzaq. A solid 52-run (34b) platform had been laid when Rahul Dravid walked in.
With the field spread and accurate slow bowlers in operation, boundaries became increasingly difficult to pick and Parthiv (40, 31b, 6x4) perished in an attempt to force the issue, his pull off McDonald safely caught at deep mid-wicket and the second set of five overs yielding only 27 runs. The slow medium-pace of McDonald and the off-spin of Naik were hard to put away as the hosts made up for the profligacy in the initial five overs.
India’s man-in-form Virat Kohli didn’t last long either, putting a further brake on the scoring. Dravid, who ran hard between the wickets to somewhat make up for the lack of big hits, ended the boundary duck between the eighth and 12th overs by slamming McDonald straight down the ground but the visitors were some distance away from the frantic scoring they managed at the start of the innings.
After Dravid’s dismissal, a relatively subdued Rohit Sharma came out of his shell to slam paceman Wayne White for two consecutive sixes in the 19th over while Suresh Raina, the skipper for the day, did his bit to bolster the innings.
Score board
INDIANS: Parthiv Patel c Jefferson b McDonald 40 (31b, 6x4), Ajinkya Rahana c Naik b Razzaq 19 (13b, 3x4), Rahul Dravid c White b Cobb 29 (31b, 2x4), Virat Kohli c (sub) Smith b Naik 13 (10b, 1x4), Rohit Sharma c McDonald b Cobb 29 (21b, 1x4, 2x6), Suresh Raina (not out) 21 (14b, 3x4), Praveen Kumar (not out) 0 (0b). Extras (B-5, LB-3, W-2) 10. Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 161.
Fall of wickets: 1-52 (Rahane), 2-73 (Parthiv), 3-102 (Kohli), 4-121 (Dravid), 5-155 (Rohit).
Bowling: Matthew Hoggard 3-0-31-0, Abdul Razzaq 3-0-24-1, Andrew McDonald 3-0-15-1, Jigar Naik 4-0-20-1, Wayne White 4-0-41-0, Joshua Cobb 3-0-22-2 (w-2).
Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 56/1.
LEICESTERSHIRE: Joshua Cobb b Praveen 4 (4b, 1x4), Andrew McDonald b Vinay 44 (34b, 5x4, 1x6), Will Jefferson lbw Mishra 20 (15b, 4x4), James Taylor c Parthiv b Vinay 5 (10b), Paul Nixon b Mishra b Mishra 6 (12b), Abdul Razzaq c Kohli b Ashwin 37 (24b, 5x4), Jacques du Toit b Vinay 13 (15b, 1x4), Wayne White (not out) 2 (4b), Matt Boyce (not out) 4 (2b, 1x4). Extras (LB-8, W-3) 11. Total (for 7 wkts, 20 overs) 146.
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Cobb), 2-48 (Jefferson), 3-66 (Taylor), 4-83 (McDonald), 5-94 (Nixon), 6-131 (Razzaq), 7-142 (du Toit).
Bowling: Praveen Kumar 4-0-26-1 (w-2), Varun Aaron 3-0-34-0, R Ashwin 4-0-23-1, Amit Mishra 4-0-19-2 (w-1), Vinay Kumar 4-0-29-3, Rohit Sharma 1-0-7-0.
Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 48/2.