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England v India 1st ODI
FIRST NATWEST ODI MATCH, The Rose Bowl
England 200/4 beat India 196 by 6 wickets
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India continued to be aggressive but they found themselves in big trouble
when both Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid were dismissed with the score
on 45. First Gambhir was run out thanks to a direct throw from Ian Bell for 6
and then Dravid was given out lbw to Sidebottom. Replays showed that the
ball seemed to be missing the leg stump but umpire Benson raised the finger.
MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh started to rebuild taking a slightly more cautious
approach. But after a run a ball 28 from Dhoni things took another turn for
the worst. A run out was again the cause of dismissal, this time Kevin Pietersen
at mid wicket managed to get the ball to Prior quickly who took off the bails
with Dhoni an inch short of the mark. Harbhajan Singh lasted 3 balls before
he also departed for one, caught behind by Prior off the bowling of
Mascarenhas.
Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan started to take their time and slowly build a
competitive total for their side. Yuvraj Singh reached his fifty from 72 balls
with 5 fours, but was dismissed 2 balls later by captain Paul Collingwood.
After breaking the partnership of 57 between Pathan and Singh, England
managed to dismiss the other set batsmen, Pathan, 3 runs later. Sidebottom
beating Pathan past the outside edge and hitting the off stump half way up.
Ajit Agarkar hit a 22 ball 29 to help India up to 196, Collingwood trapping
him lbw and another run out finishing off the innings.
England needed 197 to win at 3.94 runs per over. Alastair Cook and Matt
Prior hit a steady opening partnership of 53 before both were dismissed in
quick time. Pathan the man to take the wickets, first of all Prior bowled for 24
and then Cook lbw for 27.
This brought Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell together needing to put on a good
partnership to steady the innings and keep England on track for victory. They
did just that with a partnership of 97 for the 3rd wicket, Pietersen hitting
55 of those before he edged to Dhoni from the bowling of RP Singh. Ian Bell
was the last man to be dismissed, recording the 4th run out of the day. He
made 44 just 6 short of a deserved half century but his innings had made
sure that England only needed a few runs an over to win. Owais Shah (25*)
and Paul Collingwood (12*) saw England home with plenty of overs to go.
England take the lead in the 1st ODI of the series. The next match takes
place at Bristol on the 24th.
Scorecard
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