World Cup 2011 Opening match Recap: India wins revenge game against Bangladesh
The 2007 World Cup upset was not reprised in the curtain raiser of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2011, between the co-hosts of the event, India and Bangladesh. India wrecked havoc as Virendar Sehwag and Virat Kohli highlighted the batting line-up while demoralizing Bangladesh’s bowling attack.
The opening game of cricket’s biggest extravaganza and the first battle of Group B, took place at the Shere Bangla National Stadium at Mirpur, Bangladesh on Saturday. The stage was set and the stadium was packed full with the home team getting a huge welcome, but the Indian flags began to rise proudly as India defeated http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 by a huge margin of 87 runs.
Shakib Al- Hasan, the young Bangladeshi skipper, was all smiles when he won the toss and chose to field first. His decision seemed right at that time, since the track record in the last 12 day and night games at the stadium pointed out that the team choosing to chase won the match.
However, the Bengali bowling attack was wayward on a slow pitch as they could not find enough bounce to claim wickets where it mattered. Shakib’s men tried hard to restrict the men in blue below 260 when the captain decided to cash on the dew factor later when the sun would have set. But Shakib’s decision worked against his side as the resilient Indian batsmen surged the total past the margin.
Sehwag and Kohli unleashed enough damage on the Tigers’ bowlers as they dismantled the attack in front of a shocked Bangladeshi-dominating crowd as the pair powered their side to a formidable total of 370 for the loss of four wickets.
Earlier, the bowlers of the Tigers camp tried hard to break through the opening partnership of Sehwag and master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar.
From the very first ball of the World Cup 2011, Sehwag withered a back-foot drive, slamming to the cover boundary that silenced a boisterous crowd of Mirpur. Sehwag started off enormously and impressively as he showed no signs of being out of the game for nearly two months due to an injury.
The right-arm medium fast bowler, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shafiul-Islam-c2479 gave Sehwag the width he needed and also got warned for straying on to Tendulkar’s batting pads. He also proved to be one of the most expensive bowlers for the Tigers camp as he conceded 69 runs off his seven overs, claiming only one wicket of Yusuf Pathan (8) in the 49.6th over.
It was also not Tendulkar’s day as a miscalculated run forced him to go back to the pavilion. Both the players were watching the ball as Tendulkar was run out by Shakib as the batsmen found themselves on the same end. The legendary batsman managed to score 28 runs off 29 balls, smashing four boundaries. The opening pair shared a partnership of 69 runs.
As Tendulkar walked back to the pavilion, the Mirpur crowd found their voice again and the Bengali Tigers were more determined to claim the wicket of Sehwag.
However, Sehwag did not lose his touch and made the first half-century of the World Cup just off 45 balls. He was aptly supported by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gautam-Gambhir-c58623 as they added 83. While Gambhir was pushing through the gaps, Sehwag used his strong muscle power to ignore his injury.
Bangladesh found another breakthrough as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virat-Kohli-c95424 confidently made his World Cup debut as he pulled off another exceptional innings. He played against the pace and the spin, as he smashed boundaries and sixes, driving crisply through the off side.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 wisely used their Powerplay after the mandatory ball change and slowed down during the fielding restrictions. Sehwag decided to call for a runner, as he struggled to run with a sore knee. Once he reached his century, Gambhir came back at the crease to run for Sehwag.
Nevertheless, Sehwag showed no pain as he added 203 runs for the third wicket along with Kohli. Sehwag seemed all set to reach the second ever One Day double century after Tendulkar’s 200 knock but he dragged a delivery off Shakib on to his stumps and fell in the 48th over after posting 175 runs off 140 balls. He thrilled the crows with 14 boundaries and five sixes.
Kohli, who remained unbeaten, continued to make the most of the last two overs as he completed his first World Cup century to possibly secure his spot for the rest of the event, ahead of Suresh Raina.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, worked hard to reach a modest score even though they knew it was an impossible chase. Openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Junaid-Siddique-c1749 added 37 before he was stumped off Harbhajan Singh’s ball.
However, Shakib and Tamim took charge and swung fearlessly, steering the team to 188. But the partnership was broken when Tamim was caught by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yuvraj-Singh-c98364 off Patel’s ball. Shakib, however, reached his half century but was dismissed by Yusuf Pathan, as he managed to drive his team to 234 runs in 39.4 overs.
The Tigers late-order batsmen, however, could not cash on to the initial assault by the top-order, as only Raqibul http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hasan-c61990 (28 runs off 28 balls) remained not out.
The Indian bowling attack was dominated by Patel, who took four wickets off his bulk of 10 overs, giving 48 runs. Zaheer Khan’s spin resulted in a reduction of boundaries and managed to rake in two wickets. Sehwag was undoubtedly crowned with the Man of the match trophy.
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