India completes a routine victory

Photo: AFP

Indian bowlers stepped up when they needed to and the neat result was an emphatic win by 9 wickets. Facing UAE for the second time, India simply outclassed and outwitted their opponents with some scintillating performance first with the ball and then with the bat.

Winning the toss UAE decided to bat first and straight away they were in trouble as they failed to handle Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s swing from one end and Umesh Yadav’s pace from the other. The Arabians started losing wickets from the second over only and when their final wicket fell they had only managed to score 102 runs in less than 33 overs. In the middle overs they simply had no answer to India’s slow ball bowlers. Ashwin picked up 4 wickets while Jadeja bagged 2. Jadeja could have had one more if only Raina had hold on to the catch at first slip. Umesh Yadav finished with 2 wickets while Mohit Sharma picked up one. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar who had come in to replace injured Mohammad Shami also picked up one wicket. For UAE Shaiman Anwar scored the most number of runs and he was the last wicket to fall on a personal score of 35. The last wicket partnership was the highest as 31 runs were scored.

It was just a matter of time for the Indians to finish off the match. And with the Indian batting line-up in such great touch there were very little chances of any upset. Even the Arabians knew that. India chased down the target in just 18.5 overs losing only one wicket in the form of Shikhar Dhawan (14). That too would not have been possible had Rohan Mustafa not pulled off a blinder at point. Rohit Sharma used this opportunity and partnering Virat Kohli took India over the line. Rohit completed his half century and remained unbeaten on 57. Kohli was not out at the other end with 33 runs beside his name.

The Indians did not have much to test themselves while bowling first and also while chasing. A bit more fight was expected from the Arabians but they gave up with some poor shot selections while batting. And you cannot expect to win against India after putting up 102 on the board. They did not and India with this easy win are now sitting pretty at the top of the group with all win record in three matches.

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About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.