JOIN USIndians swat Ireland aside
Ireland came up with the best batting show yet against the Indian attack in this World Cup but the in-form defending champions made short work of their target while registering an eight-wicket win with 79 balls to spare in their chase here at the Seddon Park on Tuesday.
Ireland did exceedingly well in the first 10 overs after electing to bat first in perfect conditions for batting. Devoid of any grass and any lateral movement for the pacemen, openers William Porterfield (67, 93b, 5x4, 1x6) and Paul Stirling (42, 41, 4x4, 2x6) motored Ireland to 60 in the power play overs before the innings lost its steam against the spinners. Ireland were eventually bowled out for 259 in 49 overs, at least 50 runs short of what appeared a par score, a target India chased down with ridiculous ease.
Of course India were aided by the generosity of Ireland fielders who grassed centurion Shikhar Dhawan twice off eminently catchable offers before he had even crossed his personal score of 10. John Mooney dropped an easy return catch when the opener was on five while a diving Porterfield failed to hold on to the left-hander’s slash at point on 10. Ireland were made to pay dearly for their twin lapses as Dhawan went on to strike a belligerent century (100, 85b, 11x4, 5x6), and with Rohit Sharma (64, 66b, 3x4, 3x6) at his elegant best, India clobbered the required runs – 260/2 in 36.5 overs – for their fifth straight win which ensured that no team can top them in Group B.
India now have an unassailable 10 points with their next match scheduled against Zimbabwe on Saturday in Auckland while Ireland will be in a virtual pre-quarterfinal against Pakistan when the two sides clash on Sunday in Adelaide. Ireland must win their final group match as their net run-rate is poorer than the other two contenders Pakistan and the West Indies. The Windies will be up against minnows UAE in their last match.
India’s victory was never in doubt once they restricted Ireland to what eventually proved to be a modest total. It was never going to be enough given the form the Indian batsmen are in at the moment. Dhawan, despite two reprieves, never let his guard down. He was in blazing form, clobbering all comers to the fence and over it in a relentless assault as he brought it up his second century of the tournament.
Where Dhawan was all rage and rasping strokes, Rohit was all about timing and silken drives. The two made for contrasting and yet entertaining batting that saw India coast to 174 off just 23.4 overs for the first wicket before Rohit played Stuart Thompson on. Dhawan followed his opening partner, soon after bringing up his hundred as he miscued a hoick off Thompson. Porterfield held on to a skier but an irreparable damage had been done by that time. Virat Kohli (44, 42b, 4x4, 1x6) and Ajinkya Rahane (33, 28b, 6x4) then steered the team home with an unbeaten 70-run partnership off 55 balls for the fourth wicket.
While Ireland weren’t the favourites against India, they squandered a few opportunities that came their way to deny themselves an upset win. Batting has been Ireland’s forte, but on this day it came unstuck thanks to a combination of their batsmen’s indiscretions and some aggressive captaincy by MS Dhoni. With his pacers having an off day, Dhoni pressed in to service the part-time off-spin of Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma. Raina was particularly impressive, removing Ed Joyce early soon after R Ashwin had deceived Stirling in flight to force a chip to Rahane at long-off.
The two wickets broke the momentum Porterfield and Stirling had built and though Niall O’Brien (75, 75b, 7x4, 3x6) tied to resurrect the innings with a sparkling half-century, the batting crumbled under their weight of their own expectations. India rotated four of their spinners through the middle overs as bowled almost 30 overs in the space of about 50 minutes giving little time for Ireland to gather their thoughts after early setbacks. Though Mohammad Shami (3/41) returned the best figures, it was the off-spinning combination of Ashwin and Jadeja that put the brakes on Ireland’s innings.