and that's the end of that. Dhoni seals it with a neat little flick off the back foot, behind square leg and India have won easily, despite looking unconvincing all day.
Bangladesh vs India, 2nd Match at Dambulla, Jun 16 2010 - Ball by Ball Commentary
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IND
Full commentary
Handshakes all around. A rather bizarre game this. Bangladesh looked the part in the first ten overs or so of their innings, with India's seamers looking distinctly below par. Incredibly Bangladesh did not take a single in that period. Nehra struck with a couple of poor deliveries, and Zaheer kept improving, but it was the spinners who stifled Bangladesh. And then Sehwag came on and blew them away.
India's top order looked rusty - even Gambhir who made runs. Worries for Kohli and Sharma, who let by a good chance to assess the conditions. It won't get any easier against Shoaib, Malinga and co. Dhoni looked solid as always, and in the end, they still won comfortably.
Sanjay: "Dhoni has had his 38th not out innings with a score of 38 not out! no wonder his average is so good." After all, it is the average that distinguishes a good batsman from an average one!
Time for the presentation.
Shakib: "Losing all those wickets in the end was the turning point. Batting was not that difficult on this pitch. After a long time the fast bowlers did well, and that's good for them. We are up for the remaining games."
MS Dhoni: "WELL OF COURSE, if you see most of the senior players they did well, most of them bowled really well. As the game progressed it became really difficult. Good that we batted for half an hour before the break. Spinners won it for us. It is 200% difficult to bat under lights here (commenting on the low lights). Gautam provided a decent start. When he gets a start he normally goes on to get a big one. It is always good to get a bonus point if we can."
Man of the Match - Gautam Gambhir "It was only at the T20 World Cup that I did not do well, there has been a lot of talk about my form. This was a perfect pitch for me to come back on. It was a wicket where you had to graft. If Bangladesh had got 240-260 it would have been difficult. After the start they got we did not think we could keep them down to 160. All the bowlers did well."
Interesting there, Dhoni's comment on batting under lights. Even Malinga mentioned the same yesterday, with Afridi ,missing a couple of balls during the chase. I wonder if it will have a prt to play in the tournament.
On that note, it is time for us to end our coverage of the game. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. On behalf of Cricinfo, this is Nitin Sundar signing off. Bye!
30.4
4
Mortaza to Dhoni, FOUR runs
30.3
4
Mortaza to Dhoni, FOUR runs
Dhoni has had enough. Now that he's forced the field to come in thanks to the Powerplay, he just whacks the length ball hard and high enough to clear cover - only just. It burst through the hands of the jumping fielder and still made it to the cover fence
30.2
1
Mortaza to Raina, 1 run
worked away off the hips by Raina to get off the mark
30.2
1w
Mortaza to Raina, 1 wide
much like he did in his first spell, he follows up a good ball with a wide down the leg
30.1
W
Mortaza to Gambhir, OUT
and he's removed Gambhir straight away. He never looked at ease against the fast bowlers, got some runs against the spinners, but still needs some confidence ahead of tougher challenges. This one was a length ball on middle stump and rapped Gambhir, hanging in the crease, in front of middle and leg. He was quite late coming down on it, and it would have taken out middle.
Gautam Gambhir lbw b Mashrafe Mortaza 82 (101b 6x4 0x6 129m) SR: 81.18
Batting Powerplay taken now. Soleh: "A problem with Shakib is that he doesn't seem to like any form of spin except Slow Left Arm which is why he always underuses Mahmudullah." Mortaza comes back on.
end of over 309 runs
IND: 158/3CRR: 5.26 • RRR: 0.50
Gautam Gambhir82 (100b 6x4)
MS Dhoni30 (43b 1x4 1x6)
Sohrawordi Shuvo 4-0-21-0
Shakib Al Hasan 10-0-49-2
29.6
1
Shuvo to Gambhir, 1 run
chips out and taps down the ground to long on
29.5
2
Shuvo to Gambhir, 2 runs
nicely played. Presses forward, rocks back and then creams it between mid off and cover for a couple
29.4
1
Shuvo to Dhoni, 1 run
works him with the spin into the off side for a single
29.3
•
Shuvo to Dhoni, no run
Dhoni thinks of leaping out again, but resists the temptation and plays it away from the crease
29.2
1
Shuvo to Gambhir, 1 run
works this to the left of the bowler for another single
29.1
4
Shuvo to Gambhir, FOUR runs
the urgency rubs off on Gambhir who lets rip a smooth cover drive, getting to the pitch, hitting against the spin with minimum fuss along the ground
end of over 297 runs
IND: 149/3CRR: 5.13 • RRR: 0.90
MS Dhoni29 (41b 1x4 1x6)
Gautam Gambhir74 (96b 5x4)
Shakib Al Hasan 10-0-49-2
Sohrawordi Shuvo 3-0-12-0
28.6
•
Shakib to Dhoni, no run
he's had his adventure for the over, just defends sedately down the track this time
28.5
•
Shakib to Dhoni, no run
28.4
6
Shakib to Dhoni, SIX runs
Whump! That's what we want to see Dhoni do when he comes down the track, go through with the full swing and send it flying straight. He was not to the pitch this time, and it was well outside his off stump, so he fore-handed it with disdain into the night.
28.3
•
Shakib to Dhoni, no run
Dhoni leaps out full of intent and dead-bats it, again.
28.2
•
Shakib to Dhoni, no run
defended down the pitch from leg stump line
28.1
1
Shakib to Gambhir, 1 run
nudged off the pads, with the spin into the leg side. I should copy this somewhere ready to paste. They have done it too often today.
Bangladesh for obvious reasons have not taken the Bowling Powerplay and India for some reason, are not taking the batting Powerplay either. Still, a bonus point seems a formality.. that despite India being distinctly off colour today. 26 required in 12 overs for the bonus point.
While the players take a drinks break. s the FIFA World Cup moves into its sixth day, check out ESPN Soccernet for the latest news, reports and match action. And check out the Destination SA diary for views on vuvuzelas and the bitter cold from our writers in South Africa, including Cricinfo's Jayaditya Gupta and Firdose Moonda.
end of over 285 runs
IND: 142/3CRR: 5.07 • RRR: 1.18
MS Dhoni23 (36b 1x4)
Gautam Gambhir73 (95b 5x4)
Sohrawordi Shuvo 3-0-12-0
Shakib Al Hasan 9-0-42-2
27.6
2
Shuvo to Dhoni, 2 runs
finally a shot in anger, cut away powerfully to the left of point, but it slows up as it nears the boundary
27.5
•
Shuvo to Dhoni, no run
once again, naughty Dhoni scurries down the track and defends. Just for fun.
27.4
1
Shuvo to Gambhir, 1 run
punched firmly down to long on for a single
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