Sachin Tendulkar's sweep off Graeme Swann brought up his 41st test century and more importantly, the highest run-chase in the sub-continent. And it couldn't have been scripted better than the winning runs being hit by mumbaikar Sachin himself, after what happened in the recent past in Mumbai. And full credit to the England team, who came out here and showed great spirits, that led to the commencement of this RBS Cup 2008. And team India did a spectacular job to win a fantastic test.
An uncertainty cloud was looming over the series after the unfortunate terror attacks on Mumbai on 26/11. And after the venues were shifted from Mumbai and Ahmedabad, to Chennai and Mohali and a lot of security measures taken, the England team made its way to India again to resume the paused series. First test got underway at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai with Kevin Pietersen winning the toss and electing to bat. England openers did a great job and put on a century partnership and Andrew Strauss, regained his form by hitting a well-composed century. But the English middle-order failed to capitalize on the start and faltered in their progress, before being bowled out for 316. And then they bundled out India for just 241 with only captain M.S.Dhoni providing some resistance.
With this 75 run lead and the match in their hand, England began their second innings. Again Strauss proved too good for the Indian bowlers and he and Colingwood shared a crucial partnership, with both the batsmen going on to score a century, Strauss his second of the match. But the English players were over cautious in their approach and played very defensively. When they could have managed a good lead of over 400 runs, they had to settle for a 386-run lead. But even 386 seemed a large enough lead and only three times(then) had a total above this been chased down. With all odds against India, Sehwag and Gambhir, walked into the middle to start the Indian chase.
And Virender Sehwag started things off in his own style. Smashing Anderson and Harmison to all parts of the ground. The Indian openers brought their fifty partnership in just the fifth over and Sehwag continued to humiliate the English bowlers. And after laying a solid platform to India's chase, Sehwag got out at the end of day four with India needing 270 off the final day. When play started, India lost Gambhir and the off-colour Dravid early and in came Tendulkar and Laxman. The duo started a small partnership and just as when things looked settled, Laxman was gobbled up by Swann. With still 165 needed, India had their best batsman, Tendulkar and an inexperienced Yuvraj at the crease.
As soon as Yuvraj came in, Pietersen brought Flintoff into the attack.
Flintoff attacked Yuvraj with severe short-pitched deliveries and both Flintoff and KP started chirping and sledging Yuvi, to get the south-paw intimidated. But Yuvraj kept his cool and thanks to Tendulkar, whose comforting presence calmed Yuvraj, he soon found his rhythm and started stroking the ball cleanly. Meanwhile Tendulkar at the other end was in full concentration. Putting all his experience to play, the little maestro, carefully guided singles and dispatched the odd ball to the fence. Over by over, the target started becoming more and more clearer and then Yuvraj started playing his shots. And the Tendulkar-Yuvraj partnership flourished. After a point when the win became obvious, the concentration shifted to Tendulkar, who was nearing yet another century. And Yuvraj tried his maximum not to take too many runs by himself and give maximum strike to Sachin. At this point, the crowd started cheering to every dot-ball, that Yuvraj defended. A win was evident and all were awaiting the maestro's 41st ton.
And this came in perfect symmetry with the win. The sweep short earned him his century as well as India, a win. He answered all his critics, who had argued that he failed in crunch situations. And Yuvraj gave hints that he is made of test-match material. After the win, Tendulkar dedicated this to the whole of India. Tendulkar was quoted as saying - 'I've scored a hundred in the second innings, but to actually win a match, play the winning shot, that was something I wanted to do. This makes it really really special. I would like to dedicate this hundred to all those people who have gone through such terrible times. In no way am I trying to say that this will make everyone forget what happened in Mumbai. But I'd like to thank England for coming back to play Test cricket. We've witnessed a wonderful match. People are again enjoying cricket the way it's meant to be. What happened in Mumbai was extremely unfortunate and I don't think by India winning or my scoring hundreds, people who have lost their dear and loved ones would feel better. It's a terrible loss and our hearts are with them. All I can say is that in whatever way we can contribute to make them feel better, we'll make that effort.
An uncertainty cloud was looming over the series after the unfortunate terror attacks on Mumbai on 26/11. And after the venues were shifted from Mumbai and Ahmedabad, to Chennai and Mohali and a lot of security measures taken, the England team made its way to India again to resume the paused series. First test got underway at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai with Kevin Pietersen winning the toss and electing to bat. England openers did a great job and put on a century partnership and Andrew Strauss, regained his form by hitting a well-composed century. But the English middle-order failed to capitalize on the start and faltered in their progress, before being bowled out for 316. And then they bundled out India for just 241 with only captain M.S.Dhoni providing some resistance.
With this 75 run lead and the match in their hand, England began their second innings. Again Strauss proved too good for the Indian bowlers and he and Colingwood shared a crucial partnership, with both the batsmen going on to score a century, Strauss his second of the match. But the English players were over cautious in their approach and played very defensively. When they could have managed a good lead of over 400 runs, they had to settle for a 386-run lead. But even 386 seemed a large enough lead and only three times(then) had a total above this been chased down. With all odds against India, Sehwag and Gambhir, walked into the middle to start the Indian chase.
And Virender Sehwag started things off in his own style. Smashing Anderson and Harmison to all parts of the ground. The Indian openers brought their fifty partnership in just the fifth over and Sehwag continued to humiliate the English bowlers. And after laying a solid platform to India's chase, Sehwag got out at the end of day four with India needing 270 off the final day. When play started, India lost Gambhir and the off-colour Dravid early and in came Tendulkar and Laxman. The duo started a small partnership and just as when things looked settled, Laxman was gobbled up by Swann. With still 165 needed, India had their best batsman, Tendulkar and an inexperienced Yuvraj at the crease.
As soon as Yuvraj came in, Pietersen brought Flintoff into the attack.
Flintoff attacked Yuvraj with severe short-pitched deliveries and both Flintoff and KP started chirping and sledging Yuvi, to get the south-paw intimidated. But Yuvraj kept his cool and thanks to Tendulkar, whose comforting presence calmed Yuvraj, he soon found his rhythm and started stroking the ball cleanly. Meanwhile Tendulkar at the other end was in full concentration. Putting all his experience to play, the little maestro, carefully guided singles and dispatched the odd ball to the fence. Over by over, the target started becoming more and more clearer and then Yuvraj started playing his shots. And the Tendulkar-Yuvraj partnership flourished. After a point when the win became obvious, the concentration shifted to Tendulkar, who was nearing yet another century. And Yuvraj tried his maximum not to take too many runs by himself and give maximum strike to Sachin. At this point, the crowd started cheering to every dot-ball, that Yuvraj defended. A win was evident and all were awaiting the maestro's 41st ton.And this came in perfect symmetry with the win. The sweep short earned him his century as well as India, a win. He answered all his critics, who had argued that he failed in crunch situations. And Yuvraj gave hints that he is made of test-match material. After the win, Tendulkar dedicated this to the whole of India. Tendulkar was quoted as saying - 'I've scored a hundred in the second innings, but to actually win a match, play the winning shot, that was something I wanted to do. This makes it really really special. I would like to dedicate this hundred to all those people who have gone through such terrible times. In no way am I trying to say that this will make everyone forget what happened in Mumbai. But I'd like to thank England for coming back to play Test cricket. We've witnessed a wonderful match. People are again enjoying cricket the way it's meant to be. What happened in Mumbai was extremely unfortunate and I don't think by India winning or my scoring hundreds, people who have lost their dear and loved ones would feel better. It's a terrible loss and our hearts are with them. All I can say is that in whatever way we can contribute to make them feel better, we'll make that effort.
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