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India overcome
England through Yuve's Six 6s |
Link to
Scorecard
It
was a matter of sheer honour for all those who
were watching the England-India Twenty20 Match
that was played at the flood-lit Kingsmead in
Durban. One man came and belted six sixers in an
over - an act that was done only once before him
in International Cricket. Yuvraj Singh was the
one getting his name in the history books of the
game by becoming only the second batsman after
Herschelle Gibbs to achieve this unique feat.
India got lifted to a huge total of 218 for 4
thanks to Yuvraj which made it really difficult
for England to catch up with during their chase.
India managed to hold onto an 18-run win which
keeps their hopes alive in reaching the Semis.
They now have to beat South Africa tomorrow at
this same venue otherwise they will have to give
way to New Zealand.
Yuvraj Singh walked in
at no.5 with India in a formidable position of
155 for 3 with another 20 balls left in their
innings. Yuve required just 16 of those
deliveries to blast his way to 58 with 3 fours
and 7 sixes. Stuart Broad was the unlucky bowler
taken for those six consecutive sixes in the
19th over. Yuvraj began his innings with
couple of fours of Flintoff which was followed
up with verbal ding-dong from Freddie Flintoff.
Things got heated up with Yuvraj taking a few
steps forward towards Flintoff despite the
Umpires trying to cool the situation. Yuvraj
stopped himself only to vent his anger on poor
Stuart Broad in the next over. The first ball
was sent packing over mid wicket, the second was
towards square leg through a classy pick up
shot, the third one was slashed over covers and
the fourth was a full toss which was smashed
over point. This was becoming serious now as
Yuvraj was chasing the world record for sure.
The fifth ball looked more of a miscued one
which went high up in the air and came only down
after traveling out of the park over mid wicket.
And now the climax looked so easy, Yuvraj put
all his weight in his shot that sailed over long
on. He made it! Only four players have achieved
this rare feat including Yuvraj. The others were
Gary Sobers and Ravi Shastri in first class
games and most recently Herschelle Gibbs against
Netherlands. Another record that Yuvraj clinched
was the fastest fifty in Twenty20 with his
coming in just 12 balls which also is the
fastest ever in International Cricket.
For Yuvraj to have
played the way he did, it was because of a
magnificent opening start of 136 in 14.4 overs
from Virender Sehwag (68 from 52 with 4 fours
and 3 sixes) and Gautam Gambhir (58 from 41 with
7 fours and a six). The start was simply
incredible as it was looking that the English
bowlers were going to enjoy the pacy and bouncy
conditions which they did until the two batsmen
decided to break free. India decided to bat
first after winning the toss, a decision which
was made considering that they weren't
successful in their run chase against the Kiwis.
A couple of changes were made in the line-up for
this crucial game with Rohit Sharma and Joginder
Sharma coming in for Dinesh Karthik and Ajit
Agarkar.
A target of 219 was
gettable as South Africa had got almost the same
runs against West Indies in the tournament
opener. And England put on a promising show,
going neck to neck with India's progress in
their innings. But the Yuvraj factor was looming
large on the English batsmen as one of them had
to do a similar damage to get them past the
target. Indian bowlers did well in not allowing
the batsmen to get underneath the length balls.
RP Singh and Harbhajan Singh were the bowlers
who sustained the pressure on England. Almost
all the English batsmen got going which took
their total to 200 for 6. Vikram Solanki top
scored with 43 from 31 with 5 fours followed up
by Kevin Pietersen who got 39 from 23 with 3
fours and a six. All England could get was 6
sixes in their innings compared to India's 11!
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