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Latest Score: 3rd ODI, Kanpur: India beat England by 16 runs (D/L Method). leads 7 ODI series 3-0, 4 to go..
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1 for Proteas, 1 to India ~ series decider on Sunday

Filed under Ireland cricket

IndiaWin2ndBelfastODI.jpgI wrote no review of 1st Ind v RSA ODI at Belfast, cause I believe in giving more than 1 chance to every one.. before criticize or praise.

That Future Cup starter ODI amazed me how Proteas stayed cool when Sachin-Dravid partnership took India past 240. Chilled Ireland conditions suited them better, so even the chase was easy.

In short - I saw no hints of how India will come back into this series.

Today in 2nd ODI, toss was first battle captain Rahul Dravid swung India's way. Then came 3 early wickets, then some future batting talent on show from South Africa. JP Duminy (smallish lefthander) joined hungry comeback opener Morne van Wyk. Together, these two not only added 85 valuable runs, but also negotiated Ramesh Powar/Piyush Chawla fairly easily. Run a ball 55 from Mark Boucher took Afrikan cricket team past 226.

Was that a fighting total? you bet it was, given the 'lack of' run resources Indian batting poses against quality fast bowling. Indian batsman don't like ball at hips or chest.. so they stay quite (leave deliveries), if not get blown away. Former Coach greg Chappell had worked it out in December last year, n wanted Indian boys to find run options while facing likes of Andre Nel n Makhaya Ntini. In other words, South Africa coach Mickey Arthur n captain Jacques Kallis believed they could defend 226 with four fast bowlers..

4,4,4,1,4,4,1 is how Tendulkar scored his first 26 runs. bat was still not swinging completely for pull shots, but Tendulkar's counter-attacking mind-set was evident. Too much movement in crease caused Sachin to not hit even more fours, whereas Ganguly looked satisfied in playing supporting role. importantly - 134 came for the first wicket.

Hiccups still were expected, n so they happened. Dravid followed Ganguly, then Tendulkar then Mahendra Singh Dhoni.. India lost 4 wickets for 8 runs. BUT ~ answering to my tough article on Yuvraj's bullying behavior - he saw India home with talented Dinesh Karthik. I spoke my mind in that article on Yuvraj, but regret not writing it before, had firing-up is what Yuvi needed to keep finishing games for India.

India vs South Africa 2nd ODI, Belfast
South Africa 226for 6 in 50 overs India 227 for 4 in 49.1 overs
Van Wyk 82 from 126, de Villiers 0 Ganguly 42(75), Tendulkar 93 (106)
Kallis 2, Gibbs 17, JP duminy 40 (59) Rahul Dravid 2, Mahendra Dhoni 0
Boucher 55 *(55), Hall 17, Nel 1 Yuvraj 49* off 63, Karthik 32 off 37
Extra as gifts = just 12 by India Extra as gifts = just 9 by South Africa
Zaheer Khan 9-2-29-1, Yuvraj 9-0-36-0 Ntini 10-1-37-1, Langevedlt 10-1-43-2
India won by 6 wickets, 3 ODI future cup series 1-1 with 1 to play
- 134 run partnership for the first wicket between Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly was in fact the 17th time these two got past a century stand. It should go unasked that it's a world record for any one day cricket opening pair.
-Zaheer Khan had his pads on all the way when India chased the total. People didn't notice, but Indian plan was to send hin to hit Thandi Tshabalala for 3-4 sixes.. thankfully, that wasn't required.




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