Press Trust of India
Mirpur, March 3: In spite of resting some of their key players, India maintained their winning juggernaut Thursday defeating UAE by nine wickets in their last group league encounter at the Sher E Bangla Stadium here. After restricting the minnows of Asian cricket to 81 for nine in 20 overs, India coasted to 82 for one with 59 balls to spare.
The only batsman to get out was Rohit Sharma (39, 28b, 7×4, 1×6). Shikhar Dhawan (16 n o, 20b, 3×4) and Yuvraj Singh (25 n o, 14b, 4×4, 1×6) got some useful batting practice at the expense of the hapless UAE bowlers. During his knock, Yuvraj showed that his innings against Sri Lanka had helped him to regain his free-flowing touch. Dhawan’s struggle however, at the top of the order will be a headache for the title-contenders. India thus ended their group engagements with an all-win record. Each of the victories was by a comprehensive margin.
The Indians had gone into the game resting Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Ashish Nehra. Their places were taken by man of the match Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/8), Pawan Negi (1/16) and Harbhajan Singh (1/11). However, the batting line-up remained the same.
Opting to bat, UAE had no answer to India’s disciplined bowling effort with the second string attack of Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (1/23), Hardik Pandya (1/11), Harbhajan and Negi putting relentless pressure on the inexperienced opposition. Even Yuvraj (1/10) chipped in with a scalp.
This was the second time in the tournament that India have restricted the opposition to a less-than 100 total.
There was such distinct difference in standards that it turned out to be a no contest from the outset. The total number of dots conceded by UAE in the match was an unprecedented 77 deliveries.
The UAE team had neither intent nor the stomach for a good fight and it wasn’t the kind of practice that the Indians were looking for before their Sunday final against Bangladesh.
The Indian bowlers applied pressure right from the start and never allowed the opposition any freedom. There were only six fours and a single over boundary in the UAE innings. On the other hand during the 10 overs they batted, India hit 14 fours and two sixes clearly demonstrating their overall superiority.
