Defending not an easy task in Mirpur: Dhoni – Cricket News update
Speaking after his side’s 50-run win over Sri Lanka in their first match of Asia Cup 2012, skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 stated that defending big totals is not an easy task at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur. Even though India had obtained an easy win,
Dhoni believes that the Lankan batsmen could have chased the 305-run target after they launched a solid counterattack, but fortunately for India, failed to build upon it.
The two visitors met in their first match of the four nation tournament after recently playing against each other in the CB series. The Men in Blue are the defending champions of the Asia Cup while Lankan Tigers happen to be the runners up of the 2010 series.
"It is a difficult to bowl second on this ground. The outfield is really fast and the ball is coming onto the bat pretty well. So bowlers will have to be at their best when bowling second. Hopefully, as the tournament progresses, it will slow down a bit,"
said Dhoni, speaking about the conditions.
After India had set a huge target of 305 runs, the Lankans responded well with Captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 dominated the proceedings to ensure an easy win in the end.
In retrospect, the Lankan debacle could be associated more with the shot selection of batsmen and intelligent bowling by Indians on an overwhelmingly batsmen friendly pitch, a factor which http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 failed to capitalize upon.
Commenting on the bowling performance, the 30-year old Captain said, “The wicket had changed a bit and the ball was coming onto the bat nicely. Praveen had an off-day today and Jadeja also went for runs. At that time, I was effectively two bowlers short
and had to bring back my part-timers. Credit to Praveen that he came back well in the second spell and was nicely supported by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Irfan-c64444 and Vinay."
It is clear that captains favour batting second in Dhaka as shown by both http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mushfiqur-Rahim-c2045 and Jayawardene, who chose to field first against their opponents in the first two matches of the Asia Cup after winning the toss.
The playing conditions might favour batting second but ironically http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 and India both have successfully defended targets against their opponents so far.
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