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Nehra bowls India to victory
Durban, Feb 27: Ashish Nehra bowled the spell of his life to guide India to a 82-run victory against England in a crucial World Cup Group A league match here today, which put the team to the doorsteps of the super six stage.
Durban, Feb 27: Ashish Nehra bowled the spell of his life to guide India to a 82-run victory against England in a crucial World Cup Group A league match here today, which put the team to the doorsteps of the super six stage.
Nehra returned with dream figures of six for 23 from his ten overs, the best by an Indian in World Cup, as England were shot out for 168 in 45.3 overs while replying to India`s 250 for nine.
Nehra`s career-best show, which deservedly earned him the man of the match award, completely overshadowed a splendid 50- run knock by Sachin Tendulkar whose innings brightened up an otherwise unconvincing batting performance by the Indians who had elected to bat in windy conditions at the Kingsmead Ground. Tendulkar hammered eight fours and a stunning six that landed outside the stadium. A late charge by Rahul Dravid, who top-scored with 62 and a typically breezy 38-ball 42 by Yuvraj Singh took India to 250 where it stopped after the fall of four wickets off the last four balls of the innings.
The victory catapulted India to the second place in Group A with 16 points and a high-voltage game against Pakistan on Saturday to go. India will go into the super six even if they lose that game, provided the other matches in the group go according to expectations -- Australia beat England and Pakistan beat Zimbabwe in their next matches.
On the other hand, England, who had scored a thumping 112-run victory against Pakistan in their previous match, were left requiring to beat Australia in their last game to be in contention for a super six berth. Nehra`s first breakthrough came in his third over, 17th of the innings, when a struggling England captain Nasser Hussain, who took 30 balls for his 15, chased a widish ball to give a catch to wicketkeeper Rahul Dravid. Nehra trapped the veteran Alec Stewart leg before wicket with his next ball.
He then claimed the big wicket of Michael Vaughan, caught behind for 20, before running through the English middle order with wickets of Paul Collingwood (18), Craig White (13) and Ronnie Irani (0).
Andrew Flintoff, who earlier in the day bowled an outstanding spell to return with two for 15 from his 10 overs, was the only Englishman to offer resistance, top-scoring with 64 runs with five fours and three sixes in a lost cause. Nehra`s figures were the third best by any bowler in a world cup match. West Indies` Winston Davis (7/51 against Australia in 1983) and Australia`s Gary Gilmour (6/14 against England in 1975) are the only other bowlers to have done better.
Bureau Report
Nehra`s career-best show, which deservedly earned him the man of the match award, completely overshadowed a splendid 50- run knock by Sachin Tendulkar whose innings brightened up an otherwise unconvincing batting performance by the Indians who had elected to bat in windy conditions at the Kingsmead Ground. Tendulkar hammered eight fours and a stunning six that landed outside the stadium. A late charge by Rahul Dravid, who top-scored with 62 and a typically breezy 38-ball 42 by Yuvraj Singh took India to 250 where it stopped after the fall of four wickets off the last four balls of the innings.
The victory catapulted India to the second place in Group A with 16 points and a high-voltage game against Pakistan on Saturday to go. India will go into the super six even if they lose that game, provided the other matches in the group go according to expectations -- Australia beat England and Pakistan beat Zimbabwe in their next matches.
On the other hand, England, who had scored a thumping 112-run victory against Pakistan in their previous match, were left requiring to beat Australia in their last game to be in contention for a super six berth. Nehra`s first breakthrough came in his third over, 17th of the innings, when a struggling England captain Nasser Hussain, who took 30 balls for his 15, chased a widish ball to give a catch to wicketkeeper Rahul Dravid. Nehra trapped the veteran Alec Stewart leg before wicket with his next ball.
He then claimed the big wicket of Michael Vaughan, caught behind for 20, before running through the English middle order with wickets of Paul Collingwood (18), Craig White (13) and Ronnie Irani (0).
Andrew Flintoff, who earlier in the day bowled an outstanding spell to return with two for 15 from his 10 overs, was the only Englishman to offer resistance, top-scoring with 64 runs with five fours and three sixes in a lost cause. Nehra`s figures were the third best by any bowler in a world cup match. West Indies` Winston Davis (7/51 against Australia in 1983) and Australia`s Gary Gilmour (6/14 against England in 1975) are the only other bowlers to have done better.
Bureau Report