India Jeetha hai

India defeat England by 4 wickets

Jaipur: India started their campaign in the ICC Champions Trophy on a winning note as they beat England, though not without a struggle, by four wickets in the first ODI of the group stage in Jaipur on Sunday.

India reached the modest target of 126 runs for the loss of six wickets in 29.3 overs with Harbhajan Singh hitting the winning boundary. Yuvraj Singh was the other unbeaten batsman on 27.

The day belonged to the bowlers from both sides, who made a contest of a low-scoring affair with Munaf Patel winning the Man of the Match award for taking three wickets for 18 runs from eight overs.

In the first session of play, the Indian bowlers proved Rahul Dravid's decision to field first after winning the toss as correct when they bowled out the visitors for 125 runs in just 37 overs.

After dismissing the England team, the Indian batsmen came out to play with almost 40 minutes left to take the break. Virender Sehwag, who smashed two boundaries, tried to launch himself into a third and was caught by Andrew Strauss at first slip off a Steve Harmison delivery in the second over.

Irfan Pathan, who showed signs of a return to form with his impressive spell, combined well with Tendulkar and India took the break at 55 for one after eight overs. The duo put on a 50-run partnership before Pathan was brilliantly caught by Kevin Pietersen who leaped high to pluck the ball from thin air to give James Anderson his first wicket.

The bowler picked up his second wicket in the same over as he had Dravid caught by Strauss at first slip. Tendulkar, who top scored with 35 runs, was trapped leg before from a Harmison delivery that kept low. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj were tied down by the England bowlers as run making became more difficult.

The Indian wicketkeeper fell while trying to go for a heave. He was caught by Paul Collingwood off the bowling of Jamie Dalrymple for seven. Dalrymple picked up a second in the same over when the ball rolled on to the stumps after taking an edge off Suresh Raina's bat. Yuvraj and Harbhajan then made sure that the team reached the target without any more hiccups.

Indian bowlers dominate

Earlier, the Indian bowlers pushed the England batsmen on the back foot from the word go. Ian Bell was trapped leg before by Munaf Patel delivery for just four runs. Skipper Andrew Flintoff, playing after a three-month layoff, was also trapped leg before for naught by Irfan Pathan.

Munaf kept the pressure up on the England batsmen and was rewarded with a second scalp, when he trapped Michael Yardy leg before, also for four.Pathan, showing signs of his old form, then got rid of Andrew Strauss when he had him caught by Dravid at second slip for 10 runs.

Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood tried to put up a fight and took England past the 50-run mark. But just when Pietersen was looking to get into a stride, Munaf had him caught by Sachin Tendulkar at slip for 27. Collingwood then combined with Jamie Dalrymple to take England past the 100-run mark, but was dismissed soon after by Romesh Powar when he was caught by M S Dhoni for 38.

Powar almost added a second wicket in the form of Chris Read, but his appeal of a caught behind was turned down by umpire Simon Taufel even as television replays showed the batsman had gloved the ball.Read, however, could not capitalise on the life he got and holed out to Ajit Agarkar in the deep off the bowling of Harbhajan Singh for just two runs.

Powar picked up his second wicket of the match when Harbhajan Singh picked pulled off a brilliant catch just inches of the boundary rope to send back Sajid Mahmood. The spinner added a third scalp when Dravid caught a sharp at slip to dismiss Dalrymple.

The final wicket to fall was that of James Anderson. As Steve Harmison hit the ball straight back to the Powar, the bowler broke the stumps at his end and the third umpire found Anderson short of his crease.
Source: NDTV