Press Trust of India
Perth, Feb 28: India virtually assured themselves of a quarterfinal berth in the cricket World Cup here Saturday after spanking minnows UAE by nine wickets at the WACA. In the process the defending champions recorded their third victory on the trot in the competition.
After the bowlers led by off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (4/25) bundled out UAE for a paltry 102 in only 31.3 overs, the batsmen made short work of the target knocking off the required runs in only 18.5 overs in a completely lop-sided Pool B contest. India thus maintained their grip on the top spot in the league table with three wins from as many matches which took their points tally to six.
Shikhar Dhawan (14) started off well with three sweetly-timed boundaries before Rohan Mustafa at gully pulled off a one-handed stunner to send him back off the bowling of medium pacer Mohammed Naveed. The other opened Rohit Sharma (57 n o, 55b, 10×4, 1×6) put on an unbeaten stand of 75 runs for the second wicket with Virat Kohli (33 n o, 41b, 5×4) to ensure an emphatic win.
Two strokes among Rohit’s boundaries were shots to be remembered. Both cover drives against the off spin of skipper Mohammed Tauqir. The first was hit through extra cover and the long-off fielder failed to stop it. The second off the very next delivery was hit finer and the result was the same. The winning boundary was hit by Rohit and the celebrations were predictably muted as the win against UAE was taken for granted.
Earlier opting to bat at the WACA, the UAE batsmen couldn’t replicate their spirited performances in the two previous games as Ashwin and Co. performed like a well-oiled machine, maintaining their stranglehold on the opposition.
Ashwin spun a web around the opposition batsmen with his guile and craft. One noticed that he had added the ‘away floater’ to his repertoire and he dismissed Khurram Khan with one such delivery. The batsman was caught in the slips by Suresh Raina as the ball moved away from him.
Ashwin was well supported by Umesh Yadav (2/15), comeback man Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/19), find of the season Mohit Sharma (1/16) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/23).
