LIVE - http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750: 5th ODI – India off to a decent start – Match Update
India’s openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/G-Gambhir-c1447 got off to a decent start against England in the final One Day International (ODI) of the five match series at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata in India on Tuesday, October 25, 2011.
The pair scored 60 runs in the first 13 overs and will now be aiming to score a big partnership for their side in order to post a massive total in the end.
India have already won the series 4-0, but will be looking forward to complete a whitewash after winning today’s match.
On the other hand, England’s skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 will try his best to save his side from a humiliation of a series whitewash. He won the toss today and opted to field first. The decision does not seem to be an ideal one, as there is variable bounce in
the pitch and the ball also might turn more in the second half of the game.
The bad news for the tourists was that star player http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806 was ruled out of today’s match due to an injury. He was scoring runs with consistency, but was still unable to guide his side to a victory.
Pietersen was replaced by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/IR-Bell-c1597, who was surprisingly kept out of the playing eleven throughout the tour. The solid batsman will look to score a big one today and prove his critics wrong that he was not suitable for Subcontinent conditions.
However, Bell will have to wait for his chance with the bat for some time, as India are batting first today. The team’s openers enjoyed a good time in the middle as there was no pace and swing in the wicket.
The pair was helped by the English fielders, who were quite sloppy today and gave away some extra runs in the field.
Gambhir looked the more confident batsman in the middle, as he was timing the ball nicely. His partner on the other end was also not doing bad and kept on rotating the strike over in order to keep the scorecard ticking.
At the end of the 13th over, Gambhir and Rahane were unbeaten on 33 and 27 respectively with the team reaching 60.
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