What’s the story?
India began their ICC Champions trophy 2017 campaign with a bang by securing a crushing 124-run victory (D/L method) over arch-rivals, Pakistan. It was a clinical performance by the entire team as each of the top four batsmen smashed a 50-run knock and the bowlers bundled out Pakistan for a meagre total of 164 for 9.
On the occasion of ‘Cancer Survivor Day’, India’s batting ace, Yuvraj Singh dedicated his game changing knock to cancer survivors and also expressed his thoughts and prayers to the victims of the recent London terror attacks.
In case you didn’t know...
The left-handed stroke-maker is a cancer survivor himself. It was post the ICC World Cup 2011 that he was diagnosed with lung cancer and it took him a couple years to overcome the grave hurdle and then resume his cricketing career.
The London Attacks Yuvraj is referring to here is the unfortunate incident that occurred on 3 June 2017 in which 7 people lost their lives and 48 were injured when three terrorists in a van mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing a police officer and revellers around Borough Market.
The heart of the matter
The defending Champions India portrayed an all-round performance and were on top of their game from the very beginning. The openers, Rohit Sharma (91 of 119) and Shikhar Dhawan (68 of 65) set-up a beautiful platform by constructing a partnership of 136 in 150 balls which was followed by an unbeaten 81 by the skipper, Virat Kohli that anchored the innings.
But what stood out and boosted the Indian innings score over the 300-run mark was the swift 39-ball 53 by Yuvraj. He walked to the crease and wasted no time as he went all guns blazing from the moment he entered.
The 35-year-old belted the cricket ball to all parts of the ground as his fifty consisted of 8 boundaries and a maximum.
Pakistan when came out to bat, had to chase a revised target of 289 runs in 41 overs as the rains delayed play. The Men in Green did not stand a chance against the Indian bowlers and were bundled out for 164 for 9 as Wahab Riaz refrained from batting due to an injury he suffered while bowling. Opener Azhar Ali showed some fight and provided a decent start for his team by scoring a 65-ball 50 which eventually went in vain.
The Indian bowlers were simply splendid as everyone apart from Jasprit Bumrah picked up wickets. Umesh Yadav was the bowling spearhead with figures 7.4-1-30-3 and also alongside him were Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya who chipped-in with two wickets each. Pandya’s cameo (20 of 6 balls) in the end is to be credited for keeping India’s momentum high when they came out to bowl.
What’s next?
With the massive victory over Pakistan, India have shot up to the first spot in the Group B with a huge net run-rate of 3.02. They will be facing Sri Lanka in their second clash on 8th June at the Oval.
Whereas, Pakistan will be taking on South Africa in a must win game for them on 7th June at Edgbaston.
Author’s take
Yuvraj Singh is a sweet timer of the cricket ball and played well-paced knock, making a statement of being ‘the man’ for India when it comes to major ICC events.
India clearly have got the better of Pakistan in past decade or so and yesterday’s triumph just adds to the streak. Out-an-out a text-book performance by India both in batting and bowling, however their fielding was considerably poor and although it did not hurt them much, that’s one area where they should improve.
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