“They [England] bowled in good areas and the ball was stopping [in the pitch], hence it was difficult to bat towards the end.” – Virat Kohli tries to explain away India’s questionable tactics.
Times Select
TELFORD VICE in London
YOU might have marvelled at England’s death bowling in Sunday’s men’s World Cup game against India at Edgbaston.
Or you might have marvelled at India’s cunning in protecting their net runrate by not taking risks that might have cost them wickets.
India would have known the match was lost in the 46th over, when Hardik Pandya tried to hammer Liam Plunkett somewhere over the rainbow and sent a top edge down long-on’s throat.
Thus reduced to 267/5, India needed 71 off the remaining 31 balls.
They were scoring at 5.93 runs to the over and they needed 14.20 an over.
Even MS Dhoni, who has built a career on seizing the moment, who won the 2011 World Cup final with a mighty straight six, couldn’t solve that equation.
But Dhoni’s record and reputation only made what happened next all the more strange.
He didn’t try to win. Not that he tried to lose.
When Pandya got out Dhoni had faced 13 balls for his unbeaten 16.
Half his runs at that stage had come from a steepling drive off Chris Woakes that came to earth just inside the long-off fence and a meaty pull through midwicket off Plunkett.
They were strokes of intent; of a player who had a match to win, who knew how to win it, and who had won many more like it.
But, post-Pandya, Dhoni bunted for singles several deliveries he would have, in other circumstances, dismissed from his presence with panache.
He finished not out on 42 off 31 balls with four fours and a six.
Kedar Jadhav took a similar approach at the other end, hitting only one four and facing 13 deliveries for his 12 not out.
England won by 31 runs to revive their hopes of not having to rely on results of other games to reach the semi-finals.
The home side will secure their place if they beat New Zealand at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street on Wednesday.
India were the last unbeaten team in the tournament going into Sunday’s game, but they will not be overly concerned about suffering their first loss in seven matches.
Another log point from the four available in their remaining league fixtures, against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, would clinch a semi spot — and Virat Kohli’s team should win both those matches.
Indeed, they are probably in the semis already thanks to a net runrate that is now up to 0.854, lower only than Australia’s and England’s.
Each team’s number of wins will be the first port of call for the beancounters to decide positions in the standings if sides are level on points.
If that doesn’t separate them it will come down to net runrate, followed by their head-to-head record.
That’s what Sunday’s shenanigans were all about.
Twice in their six completed games have India scored fewer than the 39 runs they added in the last five overs of their innings at Edgbaston.
But not once before Sunday did they not lose a wicket in the last five overs.
A team’s net runrate is arrived at by deducting their average number of runs scored per over from the average number of runs scored against them per over.
Wickets don’t come into the reckoning, but it makes sense to take as few risks as possible to avoid losing them, while accumulating what runs can be scored safely, if you are looking to keep the net runrate tidy.
So that was India’s priority once they knew England were on their way to victory.
Not so Mr Kohli?
“It’s up to discussions with the two guys who were in there,” India’s captain told reporters.
“I think MS was trying really hard to get the boundary but it wasn’t coming off.
“They [England] bowled in good areas and the ball was stopping [in the pitch], hence it was difficult to bat towards the end.”
When Pandya was dismissed India’s net runrate was 0.840 — 0.014 worse than where they are now thanks to Dhoni’s careful innings management.
On the same pitch, England scored 44 runs in their last five overs. But they also lost three wickets.
Their net run rate at the end of their innings was 1.119.
After’s India’s innings it had been reeled back to 1.
It’s the little things that count.
Bulletproof Truth 