Rahane muscles India to handy total

Opener scores maiden half-century as visitors reach 187/8 in 23-overs-a-side game

The Mumbai batsman continued to impress with another stroke-filled knock of 54 (47b, 5x4, 1x6) to prop up India’s total after England put the visitors in under overcast conditions. After Parthiv Patel’s belligerent 28 (18b, 3x4, 2x6), India were benefitted by a 79-run association between an industrious Rahul Dravid (32, 31b, 2x4) and Rahane as the crowd, which had stayed back despite long hours of rain, lapped up every moment with Suresh Raina (40, 19b, 3x4, 3x6) too joining the party.

Parthiv, playing all but one ball in the first three overs, got India off to a rollicking start with a flurry of boundaries with Tim Bresnan copping heavy punishment. His rasping cut off the right-arm quick was daring but nothing compared to his two towering sixes off the same bowler. The southpaw effortlessly flicked Bresnan over square-leg before audaciously depositing him over mid-wicket fence. India had raced to 28 in the first 18 balls, all scored by the Gujarat batsman.

James Anderson, who doesn’t feature in T20s for England, bowled excellent line and length to make for the damage at the other end. The paceman got rid of an aggressive Parthiv that put a brief check on the flow of boundaries. Rahane, deprived of strike initially, showed he is no flash in the pan with another attractive, attacking innings. A well-rounded player who can play most shots in the book, his pulled six off Stuart Broad high over mid-wicket and drive over Graeme Swann’s head down the ground were a testimony to his rising confidence.

Earlier, heavy showers to light but persistent drizzle delayed the start by five hours.

On-field umpires Billy Doctrove and Rob Bailey made an informal visit to examine the conditions at 3.15 pm and had scheduled their first inspection at 3.45 pm but the duo had to postpone its assessment as the rains arrived again. It wasn’t until 5.30 pm that the umpires decided on a second inspection at 6.00 pm following which a 7.00 pm start was set with 23-overs-a-side.

Despite Manoj Tiwary, the replacement for Rohit Sharma, joining the squad on Tuesday morning, the Bengal batsman was picked to play in the final 11 as India didn’t want to deviate from their seven batsmen policy. England, meanwhile, made two changes to the side that played in the first ODI. Ravi Bopara came in place of the injured Eoin Morgan while a fit Graeme Swann walked into the side at the expense of Jonathan Trott with the hosts sticking to left-arm bowler Samit Patel.