India run riot,Bermuda cut short

INDIA'S MATCH against Bermuda, a nation of just 65,000 and with no cricketing history worth the name, can be viewed from dit^ferent view- points. India's massacre of their bowling was expected. Their getting a huge score was expected, except perhaps, not in excess of 400 (they got 13 more). The barrage of sixes that Yuvraj Singh smacked all over the ground was exhilarating, but still part of an expected script. And, what is now also expected, is a record margin of victory, given that Bermuda are 106 for seven in 30 overs at the time of go- ing to print. What might not have been expect- ed was Virender Sehwag being re- tained. The pressure on Rahul Dravid to drop him was immense, so immense that it is believed that the manager-cum-selector here, Sanjay Jagdale, even called India to tell chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar, "he (Dravid) is not letting us drop him (Sehwag)". When Sehwag reached his hun- dred, after playing a typically sledge- hammer-like, brutal knock, some- thing he had forgotten to do lately, his usually impassive captain clapped and clapped and then raised his hands, a gesture indicating, 'be calm, don't lose your wicket'. Whatever the quality of the oppo- sition attack - which had got rid of Robin Uthappa, who exchanged his batting order with Sehwag on the day - this hundred could be of some significance. And the breakneck rate at which it came helped India to a mammoth score, something they needed badly, if, in the end, their qualification to the Super Eights de- pends on the net run-rate (NRR). Had India not lost to Bangladesh, whatever they achieved on Monday would have been viewed with a bit of scepticism, not something to gloat over Now, every win matters, as does every run and every wicket, no mat- ter the strength of the opposition. The man who anchored India at the start was Souray Ganguly, once again. Yet, for the first time since his return, he looked out of depth, un- able to time his shots, even being dropped early on. But he saw off that early period of uncertainty and thereafter, it was business as usual. Though he missed another opportu- nity to score a hundred, it is great to be Ganguly these days. Bermuda, a team of part-time cricketers, did themselves no dis- credit on the field, despite the Indian onslaught. They fielded with bound- less energy and never once gave the impression of having thrown in the towel. Their medium pacers bowled a decent line and when the portly Dwayne Leverock, his 37 years show- ing in his bulging girth, dived full length to his right to take a stunning catch, all the Bermuda players went wild. Later in the innings, when MS Dhoni was threatening to pound the ball mercilessly, Janeiro Tucker ran from his long off position, dived ful- ly forward and picked the ball up sec- onds before it hit the ground. But India had enough firepower left in Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Ten- dulkar, who took them towards a huge score. What they achieved in the end made World Cup history India's build-up RB 46 Uthappa c Leverock b Jones 3 4 0 0 Edged, Leverock dives, taken, 3-1 (1.1 overs) Ganguly st Minors b Borden 89 114 6 2 Charges down the wicket, stumped, 238-3 (34.5) Sehwag c Jones b Hurdle 114 87 17 3 Leading edge to the fielder at mid-off, 205-2 (29.5) Dhoni c Tucker b Borden 29 25 2 I Tucker rushes in from long-on, dives, taken, 269-4 (38.2) Yuvraj c Jones b Leverock 83 46 3 7 Lofted shot, taken by the man at long-off, 391-5 (48.4) Tendulkar not out 57 29 2 4 Dravid not out 7 2 0 I Extras: (Ib-7, w-17, nb-7) 31 Total: (for 5 wkts; 50 overs) 413 Bowling: Hurdle 10-0-53-1, Jones 7-0-74-1, Tucker 9-1-67-0, Hemp 2-0-32-0, Leverock 10-0-96-1, Bor- den 5-0-30-2, Cann 7-0-54-0. Bermuda's chase R B46 Pitcher b Zaheer 0 6 0 0 inside-edge, takes away the off stump with it, 0-1 (0.6) Outerbridge b Zaheer 9 16 I 0 Enters the bat-pad gate and clip the bails off, 18-2 (6.3) Borden Ibw b Patel 13 38 I 0 Full length, hits in front of off stump, plumb, 47-3 (13.5) Hemp batting 49 66 6 I Romaine lbw b Kumble 0 10 0 0 Skids in and raps in front of middle and leg, 57-4 (16.4) Tucker b Kumble 0 6 0 0 Sneaks through bat and pad into the stumps, 63-5 (18.3) Minors c sub (Karthik) b Agarkar 21 36 3 I Leading edge and an easy catch at mid-off, 108-6 (29.2) Cann c Uthappa b Agarkar 0 2 0 0 Extras: (Ib-7, w-5, nb-2) 14 Total: (for 7 wkts; 30 overs) 106 Bowling: Zaheer7-1-27-2, Agarkar 8-0-31-2, Munaf 8-2-20-1, Kumble 6-0-20-2, Sehwag I-0-1-0. Highest innings totals in WC Total For VS Venue Year 413-5 Ind Ber Trinidad 2007 398-5 SL Ken Kandy 1996 373-6 Ind SL Taunton 1999 350-4 WI SL Karachi 1987 359-2 Aus Ind Jo'burg 2003 Note. AM scores are in 50-over games Compiled by MANOJ KUMAR