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Cricketfundas.com Highlights: Dho(ni) Daala
(Washed Away) |
Review of the 2nd
ODI between India and Pakistan at Vizag by Venkat
Ananth
 As
cricket made its foray into Andhra Pradesh,
something special was to be on the cards. This
was the first time an international cricket
match had been played at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in
Vizag, which is located among the most
picturesque of locations 15 kms from the main
township of Vishakhapatnam. It was one of those
games, where one did not know how it would
eventually progress, as the pitch was virgin and
the ground had never played host to an ODI.
Cricketfundas.com presents to its readers an
exclusive match review through its highlights of
the 2nd ODI between India and Pakistan at Vizag.
The Tale of the Coin
Inzamam's woes with calling right continued,
as he lost the toss yet again to the Indian
skipper, who did not have any hesitations in
opting to bat first and make the first use of
the pitch. It was a belter of a wicket, with no
encouraging signs for the bowlers and any score
of around 280-290 would have been competitive on
this wicket
The Indian Innings
The Indians started off their innings with a
swoosh, scoring 10 runs of the first over. But
little did they know that their progress was
halted by a brilliant fielding effort from
Youhana, who ran Sachin Tendulkar out for 2. It
was a bold and an inspiring move by Saurav
Ganguly to send in Mahendra Singh Dhoni, as
India were going all guns blazing. Dhoni and
Sehwag together took full control of the
Pakistani bowling, as Sehwag notched up his
fifty of just 26 balls. Both batsmen took full
toll of what looked like an aimless and a
hapless bowling attack the Pakistanis played
with. India reached their hundred pretty early,
and this provided them with a strong foundation
to consolidate in the mid overs. Sehwag, got out
for 74 off 40 balls after setting the stadium
alight, and this prompted the arrival of Saurav
Ganguly, the skipper. His dreaded form with the
bat continued as he just notched up 9 runs,
before he was cleaned up by Sami. It was
capitalization time for the Indians as MS Dhoni
played shots all around the ground and Rahul
Dravid doing what he does best, rotate the
strike and keep the scorers busy. Dhoni
eventually reached his first ODI ton, with the
help of a lot of hits to the fence. Rahul Dravid
also played the game at his own pace and got to
a fifty. After his ton, Dhoni did not stop
clobbering the Pakistani attack, before holding
out to Shoaib Malik. Dravid followed suit and so
did the middle order. But the lower half of the
batting order yet again, chipped in with crucial
runs, as India finished at a mighty score of
356/9 off their allotted 50 overs.
The Pakistani Run Chase
For the second time in a row, the Pakistanis
were involved in a run-chase, and this time
around they were heading for an impossible
mission on hand. To add insult to injury, Ashish
Nehra grabbed Afridi for a second ball duck. But
that did not stop Abdul Razzaq to justify his
promotion and march towards the target as he
flayed anything that was within his reach. He
especially took toll of anything pitched short
and played some delightful strokes. Initially he
found an able ally in Salman Butt, who timed
everything sweetly off his bat. But, just when
the Pakistani bandwagon was on a high, Butt
miscued a ball from Nehra, only to find it
safely pouched by Sehwag, going for 36. Razzaq
reached his fifty in style and was joined by the
skipper, who made his intentions clear as he
walked out to the middle. Misfortune struck the
Pakistanis, as Inzamam regained his classical
mode of dismissal as he was run out for 16, with
Pakistan clearly downsized. Yousuf Youhana and
Abdul Razzaq added some valuable runs, before
Razzaq edged one, only to be taken brilliantly
down the legside by Dhoni. There was a similar
middle order collapse for the Pakistanis also,
but Yousuf Youhanna and Kamran Akmal kept the
game going for them, until Youhanna's
scintillating knock was ended by a tired shot
only to be caught of Kaif. After Youhanna's
dismissal, Pakistan certainly lost hopes of
staging a comeback, but Kamran Akmal's
never-say-die attitude came to the fore, as he
rallied along with his young tailenders to try
and take Pakistan home. But, quick wickets at
the other end, rattled his hopes and India
bowling Pakistan out for 298.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was rightly adjudged the
man of the match for his destructive batting
score of 148 and certainly took the game away
from the Pakistanis. Its getting desperate time
for Pakistan to win a game, with the series
looking slightly tilted in favour of India but
its not over yet for Pakistan, but can they stop
the Indian juggernaut ? The answer to this
question shall be found out at Jamshedpur.
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