Colombo: It was a dream comeback for Harbhajan Singh as he helped India beat defending champions England by a convincing margin 90 runs margin in their final group league match of the ICC World T20 here on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 170, English batsmen were found against the spin duo of the Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan and were bowled out for a paltry 80; their lowest ever score in this format.
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Match Summary:
India 170 for 4 (Sharma 55*) beat England 80 (Harbhajan 4-12, Chawla 2-13) by 90 runs
Match facts:
Toss: England, chose to field
India
Powerplay: 52 runs, 1 wicket (0-6 overs)
4's: 18, 6's: 1
England:
Powerplay: 39 runs, 3 wicket (0-6 overs)
4's: 8, 6's: 3
Man of the Match: Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan who donned Indian colours after almost a year ended with figures of 4-12 in four overs including two maidens. Chawla chipped in with 2-13.
Earlier electing to bat first, India against everyone’s expectation sent Irfan Pathan to open the innings with Gautam Gambhir. The move however did not prove that successful as Pathan was out for eight.
His departure brought the in-form Virat Kohli to the crease and along with Gambhir he put up 57 for the second wicket. Kohli was caught at a personal score of 40 by Jonny Bairstow off Graeme Swann. His 32 balls innings included six boundaries.
Gambhir was then joined by Rohit Sharma in the middle. Both these batsmen who were going through a rough phase finally hit form and got their act together. However Gambhir while trying to up the ante was caught behind for 45. Sharma however continued and helped India post an imposing total of 169. He scored an unbeaten 55 off 33 deliveries laced with five fours and a six.
England made a jittery start to their chase and lost their opener Alex Hales and Luke Wright to Pathan in alternate overs. It was then the spin bowling duo that spun a web around English batsmen to condemn them to their worst ever defeat in T20 cricket.
England opener Craig Keiswetter was the only batsmen who showed some intent and scored 35 from 25 deliveries including four boundaries and a couple of sixes.
By Indian Sports News Network
