ICC World Cup 2015: India vs UAE - Quick flicks of the match

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were in the middle when the powerplay was taken

India’s first drop

It took two games, and 21.5 overs to see India commit a fielding error at the 2015 World Cup. The players who were largely criticized for their butterfingers during the Tests against Australia had fielded remarkably well during the World Cup till Suresh Raina decided to drop one.

In the sixth delivery of the 22nd over, Ravindra Jadeja darted one in, and as the delivery straightened, Mohammad Naveed poked at it, inducing an edge that would have been a regulation catch at slip. However, Raina fell too much to his left, unable to hang on to the catch. It officially went down as India’s first drop of the tournament

Incidentally, four balls earlier, Raina had taken a catch at slip to dismiss Amjad Javed off Jadeja’s bowling.

Ashwin takes four, and for the first time

The last time an Indian spinner had produced a more magical bowling figures than what Ravichandran Ashwin did today, the year was 1991, and Ravi Shastri had picked up five for fifteen. 10-1-25-4 were statistics that did true justice to the guile that the offie displayed.

There were times in the match when the UAE batsmen couldn’t guess whether the delivery would be an off-break or a carrom ball. Every time a delivery was sent down by Ashwin, there was plenty of air on it and revolutions galore. Ashwin’s four-wicket haul couldn’t have come at a better time for India – with the likelihood that the Men in Blue might play their quarter-final at Sydney against Sri Lanka, Ashwin’s spin will be a force to reckon with.

Swapnil doesn’t arrive while Shaiman arrives late

It would have been a romantic’s delight had Swapnil Patil scored runs against India today. But that was not to be. The Mumbaikar scratched around for a good twenty minutes, before edging one to slip where Dhawan took a brilliant catch.

On the other hand, UAE’s best batsman on current form, Shaiman Anwar was sent out to bat at No. 6, when the score read 4 for 41, with little batting to follow. He appeared to be very organised en route to a 49-ball 35, playing the fast bowlers and spinners with minimal difficulty. The sad bit was that his team was falling apart around him, and the best he could do was stitch the highest partnership of the UAE innings with the No. 11.

India’s 2nd biggest win

On 12 October 2001, India notched up their biggest win in terms of the number of balls remaining, by beating Kenya at Bloemfontein with 231 balls still left in the innings. The second biggest win, back then, was with a margin of 187 deliveries against East Africa at Leeds in 1975.

On Saturday, India beat the 40-year old mark by steam-rolling UAE, winning by 9 wickets with 187 balls remaining.

The early Powerplay

Virat Kohli was heralded for his innovative captaincy when he took the batting powerplay during the middle overs, during a home series against Sri Lanka. Today, MS Dhoni went a step further and opted for the powerplay in the 17th over, right after the match resumed post the mid-innings break.

India required 15 runs to win the match at that stage, and went about completing the task in the next 17 deliveries.