Indian innings made Misbah speechless – Cricket News Update
Pakistani skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972, praised the dominating nature of the Indians' run chase, who kept their hopes of qualifying for the Asia Cup finals alive after beating their arch rivals by six wickets on Sunday, March 18, 2012, at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur.
Being set a massive 330, the Men In Blue rose to the occasion with a power packed performance, gunning down the total with more than two overs to spare. After suffering a humiliating defeat in their previous game, a Virat Kohli-led charge propelled their team to gain 4 precious points, leading Misbah to admire their batting expertise.
“First of all, credit to them (Indians). Whatever the wicket or conditions, chasing 329 is difficult. The manner in which they batted, they outclassed us,” admired Misbah.
The chase suffered an initial setback when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Tendulkar-c2556, who finally completed his impeding 100th ton against the local team, got down to business and shared an imposing 133-run stand for the second wicket.
Following the dismissal of the Little Maestro, Kohli and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RG-Sharma-c2309 then took the game away from their opponents, putting in an extensive partnership, which yielded 172. With the pitch offering little to the Men In Green bowlers, both men thrashed the bowling to all corners, with Kohli registering a career highest 183, while Sharma expertly performed his sidekick duties to get back to form with an impressive half-century.
Even after their dismissal, the result was hardly in any doubt, with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 finishing things off with a cracking shot, which raced to the cover boundary.
“I think 329 is not a bad total. When you try to score 350-370, even making 329 is difficult. With our bowling, 325-330 was our target. I think it was a good total but the way they played, we didn't have any answers," admitted a puzzled Men in Green skipper.
Despite the defeat, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, where a win for the hosts will see them book their passage into the finals at the expense of a resurgent Indian unit due to superior head to head ratings.
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