The Hindu : Sport : Dhoni's dream knock leaves Pakistan dazed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 06, 2005

Sport

Sport

Dhoni's dream knock leaves Pakistan dazed

By Sanjay Rajan

SEIZING THE MOMENT: Promoted to No.3 in the batting order, Mahendra Singh Dhoni grabbed the opportunity eagerly in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. The wicket-keeper batsman scored a 123-ball 148 as India beat Pakistan by 58 runs in the second One Day International to go up 2-0 in the six-match series. - Photo: V. Ganesan

VISAKHAPATNAM, APRIL 5. There was a noticeable slide in the Indian innings after Virender Sehwag's exit, as the initiative provided by the opener was lost due to Sourav Ganguly's unsure ways in the middle. The Indian captain had dropped himself by a slot to No. 4 but the move did not do much by way of enhancing his confidence.

But what Pakistan did not bargain for was the match-winning effort by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who promoted to the crucial No. 3 slot, cracked 148, which set the tone and tenor of the host's 58-run victory with 5.5 overs to spare in the second encounter of the six-match Pepsi Cup limited-overs series at the ACA-VDCA Stadium here on Tuesday. India leads the series 2-0 going into the Jamshedpur clash on April 9.

Opting to bat on a flat-bed, India finished at 356 for nine, the country's highest total against Pakistan and third highest of all time. Pakistan picked up the gauntlet and despite losing wickets at crucial times was up to the task till the 39th over, when Yousuf Youhana was dismissed.

Making the most

Moving Dhoni up in the order was not part of the original script. The 23-year-old had batted at No. 7 at Kochi and scored just three. But the Jharkand lad made the most of the opportunity and became only the second Indian wicketkeeper after Rahul Dravid — and the first specialist 'keeper — to notch up an ODI century. His previous highest was 12.

Sachin Tendulkar fell to a direct hit by Youhana at the non-striker's end after playing Rana Naved-ul-Hasan to mid-on. This was in the fourth over. But the early setback did not deter Sehwag from playing his natural game. He continued from where he had left in the first ODI. If it was a controlled 95-ball 108 at Kochi in demanding conditions, it was a rollicking 74 off just 40 balls.

Sehwag first forced Md. Sami to be taken off the attack and then took 12 off an Abdul Razzaq over. The opener reached his 17th half-century with a boundary, a pull to the fence off Naved-ul-Hasan. He then proceeded to despatch leg-spinner Shahid Afridi for 17 runs in an over, before being caught by Salman Butt at mid-wicket, driving Naved-ul-Hasan — the only one who looked capable of taking a wicket this day — uppishly with the bat face turning.

Sehwag's blitzkrieg saw the host race to 122 for two by the 14th over, and India could not have asked for a better start.

Dhoni, adjudged Man of the Match, looked out of place at No. 3 to begin with — Naved-ul-Hasan had him in a spot of bother — but proceeded to outpace Sehwag in the later part of their 96-run stand that came in 64 deliveries.

Drastic drop

But the tempo dropped drastically in the 5.4 overs that Ganguly was in the middle when only 18 runs were added. Ganguly took eight deliveries to get off the mark, scored a boundary off the 20th, before his middle-stump was uprooted by Sami when he played across to a delivery that was pitched full and straight.

It was the fourth wicket stand of 149 from 134 deliveries between Dhoni and vice-captain Rahul Dravid which put the contest out of Pakistan's reach. Dravid, who scored a century in the previous outing, was all control while making his 57th half-century.

Enthusiastic and robust, Dhoni is strong square of the wicket and a clean striker of the ball. He also has tons of energy and ran his singles hard. He then came back to keep wickets and held two catches. The Ranchi-born had two reprieves while batting. When on 77, his hoick off Hafeez was dropped by Naved-ul-Hasan at the deep mid-wicket boundary. The other was at 126, when wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal missed a stumping, even as the batsman gave Afridi the charge.

Dhoni went on to play some audacious strokes, before an exhausted heave off Hafeez led to his dismissal, caught by Malik in the mid-wicket region. Dravid fell with the score at 300, caught at backward square-leg by Afridi while trying to pull Naved-ul-Hasan.

Razzaq's riposte

Only a good start could have helped Pakistan. But Afridi, who was sent in to provide early initiative, was bowled in the second over, playing across the line to left-armer Aashish Nehra.

Razzaq, a natural striker, was promoted to No. 3 and he set the pace, adding 84 with left-handed opener Salman Butt in 11.4 overs. Razzaq (88) and Inzamam-ul-Haq put on 40 in 6.1 overs, the stand looking every bit dangerous when the skipper fell to a mix-up.

Ganguly marshalled his resources well, introducing his spinners at the right moment and bringing back his pacers just when it was needed.

Razzaq and Youhana (71) kept the side in the race with a 47-run association off 49 deliveries when part-time spinner Yuvraj Singh broke the stand when he had the former caught behind in his very first over. Nehra finished with four wickets and Yuvraj three.

Agarkar to join squad

Meanwhile, Ajit Agarkar will join the Indian team as its 15th member for the third and fourth matches. The BCCI Secretary, S.K. Nair, said that L. Balaji had sustained a rib injury but would continue to remain in the squad.

INDIA

V. Sehwag c Butt
b Naved
74

(40b, 12x4, 2x6)

S. Tendulkar (run out) 2

(8b)

M.S. Dhoni c Malik
b Hafeez
148

(123b, 15x4, 4x6)

S. Ganguly b Sami 9

(22b, 1x4)

R. Dravid c Afridi
b Naved
52

(59b, 3x4)

Yuvraj lbw b Arshad 15

(10b, 2x4)

Mohd. Kaif lbw b Naved 0

(1b)

Harbhajan b Arshad 11

(16b, 1x4)

L. Balaji (not out) 17

(13b, 1x6)

Zaheer c Razzaq
b Hafeez
17

(9b, 2x6)

Extras (1b-2, w-8, nb-1) 11

— —

Total (for nine wkts.
in 50 overs)
356

— —

Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Tendulkar), 2-122 (Sehwag), 3-140 (Ganguly), 4-289 (Dhoni), 5-300 (Dravid), 6-301 (Kaif), 7-318 (Yuvraj), 8-325 (Harbhajan), 9-356 (Zaheer).

Pakistan bowling: Sami 9-0-65-1 (w-4), Naved 10-0-54-3 (nb-1, w-1), Razzaq 10-0-55-0, Afridi 9-0-82-0 (w-2), Arshad 5-0-43-2 (w-1), Hafeez 7-0-55-2.

PAKISTAN

S. Butt c Sehwag
b Nehra
36

(32b, 7x4)

S. Afridi b Nehra 0

(2b)

A. Razzaq c Dhoni
b Yuvraj
88

(93b, 13x4, 1x6)

Inzamam (run out) 16

(13b, 1x6)

Y. Youhana c Kaif
b Nehra
71

(56b, 2x4, 4x6)

S. Malik c Sehwag
b Yuvraj
12

(12b, 1x4)

Mohd. Hafeez c Balaji
b Yuvraj
7

(6b, 1x4)

K. Akmal lbw b Zaheer 41

(28b, 4x4, 1x6)

Naved c Dhoni
b Nehra
2

(9b)

Mohd. Sami c Yuvraj
b Harbhajan
2

(9b)

Arshad Khan (not out) 2

(4b)

Extras (1b-6, w-15) 21

— —

Total (in 44.1 overs) 298

— —

Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Afridi), 2-89 (Butt), 3-129 (Inzamam), 4-176 (Razzaq), 5-204 (Malik), 6-222 (Hafeez), 7-263 (Youhana), 8-268 (Naved), 9-296 (Sami).

India bowling: Balaji 6-0-33-0 (w-2), Nehra 10-0-72-4 (w-2), Zaheer 6.1-0-38-1 (w-1), Tendulkar 7-0-44-0 (w-3), Harbhajan 7-0-50-1 (w-7), Yuvraj 8-0-55-3.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport