Yuvraj saved the blushes for India, allowing them to hide the ordinary effort from other spinners, by picking his maiden five-for to restrict Ireland to 207 before he hit an unbeaten fifty to settle India's nerves in a hard-fought win in Bangalore. Ireland enhanced their reputation by defending the target with disciplined bowling and excellent fielding and made India huff and puff to the victory line.
On a dry pitch, where the ball came on slowly, the Indian batsmen preferred to play within themselves and tried to play risk-free cricket but kept losing wickets at regular intervals to keep Ireland interested in the chase. India were 24 for 2 in the sixth over, reached 100 for four at the fall of Virat Kohli in the 24th over, and recovered to 167 for 5 when MS Dhoni exited in the 41st over before Yusuf Pathan flexed his muscles to hasten the end.
Ireland could have done far better had they not stumbled against Yuvraj's bowling. They were eyeing a 250-plus target after a 113-run third-wicket stand between William Porterfield and Niall O'Brien but a run-out opened a window for Yuvraj to trigger a collapse. The most significant moment of the innings came in the 27th over, with Ireland sitting pretty on 122 for 2, when a set Niall O'Brien couldn't make it in time to beat the throw from Virat Kohli in the covers. Dhoni did well to collect the slightly wayward throw and flick it onto the stumps. It was the beginning of the end.
As ever, Yuvraj ambled in like a Sunday-park bowler and as always proved to be street-smart. His art is very simple: he turns the ball slightly but his USP is the variation in pace, using a scrambled seam. He is usually slow and slower but surprises the batsmen with a quicker one. Today, too, he struck to his regular staple diet of slower ones; some were delivered with a round arm, some from higher straighter arm, and some with a crouched bent-knee release to get the ball to skid on.
If you just catch the highlights of his wickets, most would seem like soft dismissals. To an extent they were, but that's the illusion of nothingness he provides the batsmen, who then make seemingly silly mistakes. Andrew White was sucked into edging a flighted delivery to Dhoni, Kevin O'Brien tapped one softly back, Porterfield swatted a short ball straight to cover and John Mooney and Alex Cusack were trapped by skidders that came in with the arm. When White fell in the 30th over, Ireland were 129 for 4 and by the time Yuvraj got Cusack, Ireland had slid to 184 for 8 in the 44th over.
Until then, India were looking really ragged in the field. Only Zaheer Khan bowled well to take two early wickets and Porterfield and Niall O'Brien played risk-free cricket to lay a good platform. Their case was helped by some ordinary bowling from the spinners. Harbhajan Singh looked off-key, straying on to the pads once too often, Yusuf Pathan erred on length, often dragging them short, and Piyush Chawla hit the wrong lines.
None of that profligacy was seen in Ireland's bowling effort. Trent Johnston, who is the top wicket taker for Ireland, struck two vital blows early, getting Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir to ensure India wouldn't waltz to an easy win. Almost immediately, Porterfield brought in the teenaged left-arm spinner George Dockrell, who turned in a pleasing opening spell that read 4-0-14-0. He rarely gave anything to cut, always bowled slow through the air and was never afraid to flight. He had Kohli mistiming a few shots and made Tendulkar bat cautiously. Success came in his second spell, when he struck in his first delivery of the 21st over, trapping Tendulkar with a delivery that went past the attempted sweep. He could have got the wicket of Kohli, too, in his next over but Niall O'Brien, the keeper, couldn't hold on to an edge. Later, he trapped Dhoni lbw with a delivery that straightened on middle and leg to give a window of hope for Ireland but Yusuf Pathan shut it very quickly with two monstrous sixes in the same over.
| Ireland innings (50 overs maximum) | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
 | WTS Porterfield* | c Harbhajan Singh b Yuvraj Singh | 75 | 146 | 104 | 6 | 1 | 72.11 |
| 37.1 81.3 kph, the drinks break strikes. Porterfield is gone to one of Yuvraj's poorer balls today. He is turning things around for India here, and this performance could force Dhoni to rethink whether he needs two specialist spinners. This, though, was a shoddy delivery. Short and turning away slowly, Porterfield rocks back and spanks it hard. Sadly, he finds Harbhajan at cover. 160/6
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| PR Stirling | b Khan | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 0.4 134.0 kph, that's a Zaheer special, and Stirling has lost his stumps. 134 kph, angles across the batsman at a good length, inviting the drive and then zipping inwards of the track to crash into the pitch. Stirling went for the check-drive without moving his feet across or forward and the ball gladly snaked through the bat-pad gap. 1/1
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| EC Joyce | c †Dhoni b Khan | 4 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 80.00 |
| 2.3 133.1 kph, this is stupendous from Zaheer. He's been moving them away like a charm all along, and then just for fun, he gets one to jag back off the seam. Joyce was obviously expecting another one that moved away, and in an attempt to cover the deviation was groping outside the line. Too bad. Zaheer got it to go the other way and kiss the inside edge on the way to Dhoni 9/2
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| NJ O'Brien† | run out (Kohli/†Dhoni) | 46 | 93 | 78 | 3 | 0 | 58.97 |
| 26.5 Harbhajan Singh to Porterfield, and is that a run-out? the bowling has looked limp, but Virat Kolhi's fielding has brought the breakthrough, Porterfield pushed the ball towards cover, where Kohli swooped on the ball and fired in the throw, it was a bit wide but MS Dhoni breaks the stumps in a jiffy to catch O'Brien short, that was great work from Dhoni, and a stubborn stand is finally broken 122/3
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| AR White | c †Dhoni b Yuvraj Singh | 5 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| 29.1 Yuvraj Singh strikes, gives the ball loads of air, pitching on a length and it turns away, well outside off, White reaches for it and gets the outside edge and a regulation catch for Dhoni, who throws the ball up in delight 129/4
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| KJ O'Brien | c & b Yuvraj Singh | 9 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 69.23 |
| 33.4 82.0 kph, a massive cheer from the crowd as Kevin O'Brien departs, a soft, soft dismissal, an innocuous length ball is patted back to the bowler, who accepts the gift, Yuvraj gets his second, and Ireland have lost a huge wicket 147/5
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| AR Cusack | lbw b Yuvraj Singh | 24 | 49 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 80.00 |
| 43.4 92.1 kph, India have called for a lbw review here. Has Yuvi bagged a five-for? Lands back of a length on off stump and straightens, but the batsman is well down the track, his backfoot is a foot outside the crease and his front foot is well down the track. Will the 2.5 metres come into the picture? According to (a potentially inaccurate) HawkEye, since he is more than 2.5 m forward, it was hitting off and middle at a comfortable height. Right, on replays, umpire Tucker has reversed his decision and Yuvraj has five. Bangalore roars. Yuvraj puts out his hand, with all five fingers spread out. Dhoni just smiles. Good stuff this. 184/8
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| JF Mooney | lbw b Yuvraj Singh | 5 | 19 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 29.41 |
| 41.5 Mooney reviews an lbw appeal upheld by umpire Tucker. Yuvraj continues to impress - this is not part-time stuff. Looped up just outside off, and turning in sharply as Mooney presses half forward to defend. He did not get his pad out of the line, and was struck in front of off. Only height could have saved him, but the tracker predicts this to be clipping the top of middle. On your way, Mooney. 178/7
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| DT Johnston | lbw b Patel | 17 | 38 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 85.00 |
| 47.5 137.3 kph, Given lbw, and Johnston reviews it immediately. Munaf got some prodigious inward dip on this, it landed on middle and you could see Johnston's middle and off stumps as he went for the flick and missed. The predictive path of HawkEye says that is hitting leg stump. The umpire's call stays, and Ireland have been bowled out. 207/10
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| GH Dockrell | c †Dhoni b Khan | 3 | 19 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 30.00 |
| 46.6 Dhoni may not be considered among the better keepers in the game, but he's been stunning today. Full delivery outside off, it was there for the drive and Dockrell went for the off side with a flamboyant carve. He ended getting a very thick outside edge that seemed headed for third man. Someone forgot to inform the horizontal Indian captain. He was fully stretched to the right and pouched it inches above the ground. And he doesn't celebrate. Calm as always, flicks the ball away and heads to Zaheer for the celebrations. 201/9
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| WB Rankin | not out | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
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| Extras | (lb 4, w 8, nb 6) | 18 |
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| Total | (all out; 47.5 overs; 205 mins) | 207 | (4.32 runs per over) |
| Fall of wickets1-1 (Stirling, 0.4 ov), 2-9 (Joyce, 2.3 ov), 3-122 (NJ O'Brien, 26.5 ov), 4-129 (White, 29.1 ov), 5-147 (KJ O'Brien, 33.4 ov), 6-160 (Porterfield, 37.1 ov), 7-178 (Mooney, 41.5 ov), 8-184 (Cusack, 43.4 ov), 9-201 (Dockrell, 46.6 ov), 10-207 (Johnston, 47.5 ov) |
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| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
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| Z Khan | 9 | 1 | 30 | 3 | 3.33 | (1w) |
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| 0.4 to Stirling, 134.0 kph, that's a Zaheer special, and Stirling has lost his stumps. 134 kph, angles across the batsman at a good length, inviting the drive and then zipping inwards of the track to crash into the pitch. Stirling went for the check-drive without moving his feet across or forward and the ball gladly snaked through the bat-pad gap. 1/1
2.3 to Joyce, 133.1 kph, this is stupendous from Zaheer. He's been moving them away like a charm all along, and then just for fun, he gets one to jag back off the seam. Joyce was obviously expecting another one that moved away, and in an attempt to cover the deviation was groping outside the line. Too bad. Zaheer got it to go the other way and kiss the inside edge on the way to Dhoni 9/2
46.6 to Dockrell, Dhoni may not be considered among the better keepers in the game, but he's been stunning today. Full delivery outside off, it was there for the drive and Dockrell went for the off side with a flamboyant carve. He ended getting a very thick outside edge that seemed headed for third man. Someone forgot to inform the horizontal Indian captain. He was fully stretched to the right and pouched it inches above the ground. And he doesn't celebrate. Calm as always, flicks the ball away and heads to Zaheer for the celebrations. 201/9
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| MM Patel | 4.5 | 0 | 25 | 1 | 5.17 | (1w) |
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| 47.5 to Johnston, 137.3 kph, Given lbw, and Johnston reviews it immediately. Munaf got some prodigious inward dip on this, it landed on middle and you could see Johnston's middle and off stumps as he went for the flick and missed. The predictive path of HawkEye says that is hitting leg stump. The umpire's call stays, and Ireland have been bowled out. 207/10
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| YK Pathan | 7 | 1 | 32 | 0 | 4.57 |
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| Harbhajan Singh | 9 | 1 | 29 | 0 | 3.22 | (1w) |
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| PP Chawla | 8 | 0 | 56 | 0 | 7.00 | (2nb, 3w) |
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| Yuvraj Singh | 10 | 0 | 31 | 5 | 3.10 | (1w) |
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| 29.1 to White, Yuvraj Singh strikes, gives the ball loads of air, pitching on a length and it turns away, well outside off, White reaches for it and gets the outside edge and a regulation catch for Dhoni, who throws the ball up in delight 129/4
33.4 to KJ O'Brien, 82.0 kph, a massive cheer from the crowd as Kevin O'Brien departs, a soft, soft dismissal, an innocuous length ball is patted back to the bowler, who accepts the gift, Yuvraj gets his second, and Ireland have lost a huge wicket 147/5
37.1 to Porterfield, 81.3 kph, the drinks break strikes. Porterfield is gone to one of Yuvraj's poorer balls today. He is turning things around for India here, and this performance could force Dhoni to rethink whether he needs two specialist spinners. This, though, was a shoddy delivery. Short and turning away slowly, Porterfield rocks back and spanks it hard. Sadly, he finds Harbhajan at cover. 160/6
41.5 to Mooney, Mooney reviews an lbw appeal upheld by umpire Tucker. Yuvraj continues to impress - this is not part-time stuff. Looped up just outside off, and turning in sharply as Mooney presses half forward to defend. He did not get his pad out of the line, and was struck in front of off. Only height could have saved him, but the tracker predicts this to be clipping the top of middle. On your way, Mooney. 178/7
43.4 to Cusack, 92.1 kph, India have called for a lbw review here. Has Yuvi bagged a five-for? Lands back of a length on off stump and straightens, but the batsman is well down the track, his backfoot is a foot outside the crease and his front foot is well down the track. Will the 2.5 metres come into the picture? According to (a potentially inaccurate) HawkEye, since he is more than 2.5 m forward, it was hitting off and middle at a comfortable height. Right, on replays, umpire Tucker has reversed his decision and Yuvraj has five. Bangalore roars. Yuvraj puts out his hand, with all five fingers spread out. Dhoni just smiles. Good stuff this. 184/8
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| India innings (target: 208 runs from 50 overs) | R | M | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
| V Sehwag | c & b Johnston | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 166.66 |
| 1.1 the famous chicken dance come out as Virender Sehwag gets a leading edge back to the bowler, he was looking to play it to the leg side, it pops back to Johnston who collects and sets off on a celebratory dance 9/1
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| SR Tendulkar | lbw b Dockrell | 38 | 91 | 56 | 4 | 0 | 67.85 |
| 20.1 The left-arm charm works. Sachin is out. Dockrell has removed the big man. Innocuous delivery. Tossed up on middle stump and straightening. Sachin went down on a knee to play the sweep through square leg. He missed and was struck on the right thigh. He discussed long and hard with Kohli is it was worth reviewing. In the end he decided against it, and just as well. That was plumb, heading for leg and middle. Could not have been plumber if he was working with pipes and taps. Peterson, Yuvraj and now Dockrell... What's it with left-arm spinners today?! 87/3
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| G Gambhir | c Cusack b Johnston | 10 | 18 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 66.66 |
| 5.2 127.3 kph, no chicken dance this time, but Johnston has struck again, Gambhir is gone, that wasn't a great delivery, and it wasn't a great shot either, length ball on legstump, Gambhir looks to tuck it past short fine, he can only chip it to the fielder there, the Chinnaswamy is silenced 24/2
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| V Kohli | run out (Dockrell/KJ O'Brien) | 34 | 82 | 53 | 3 | 0 | 64.15 |
| 23.4 White to Yuvraj Singh, Is this game turning? Kohli is run out. Not the first time we have seen poor running from the Indian top-order. Short ball, turning away from Yuvraj and he goes for the cut. He played it pretty square, in that area where no one is sure whose call it is. Kohli thought there was a single, and ran almost all the way down. However, he seemed to stutter on the way. Yuvraj was initially sold on the single, but once he saw Kohli hesitate, he himself stopped. The throw to the bowler's end was not the most accurate, but it was good enough to catch Kohli well short. 100/4
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| Yuvraj Singh | not out | 50 | 108 | 75 | 3 | 0 | 66.66 |
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| MS Dhoni*† | lbw b Dockrell | 34 | 68 | 50 | 2 | 0 | 68.00 |
| 40.1 83.2 kph, is there still a twist? Dhoni has been given out lbw by Rod Tucker, Dhoni had taken a big stride forward and was hit on the back leg, that pitched on middle and off, and was going on to hit middle and leg, there's no inside-edge either, by the time the review upheld the decision to give him out, Dhoni was nearly back in the pavilion, a day to cherish for Dockrell, getting two of the biggest names in the game, first Sachin and now Dhoni 167/5
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| YK Pathan | not out | 30 | 23 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 125.00 |
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| Extras | (lb 4, w 5) | 9 |
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| Total | (5 wickets; 46 overs; 200 mins) | 210 | (4.56 runs per over) |
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| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ |
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| WB Rankin | 10 | 1 | 34 | 0 | 3.40 | (2w) |
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| DT Johnston | 5 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 3.20 | (1w) |
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| 1.1 to Sehwag, the famous chicken dance come out as Virender Sehwag gets a leading edge back to the bowler, he was looking to play it to the leg side, it pops back to Johnston who collects and sets off on a celebratory dance 9/1
5.2 to Gambhir, 127.3 kph, no chicken dance this time, but Johnston has struck again, Gambhir is gone, that wasn't a great delivery, and it wasn't a great shot either, length ball on legstump, Gambhir looks to tuck it past short fine, he can only chip it to the fielder there, the Chinnaswamy is silenced 24/2
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| GH Dockrell | 10 | 0 | 49 | 2 | 4.90 |
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| 20.1 to Tendulkar, The left-arm charm works. Sachin is out. Dockrell has removed the big man. Innocuous delivery. Tossed up on middle stump and straightening. Sachin went down on a knee to play the sweep through square leg. He missed and was struck on the right thigh. He discussed long and hard with Kohli is it was worth reviewing. In the end he decided against it, and just as well. That was plumb, heading for leg and middle. Could not have been plumber if he was working with pipes and taps. Peterson, Yuvraj and now Dockrell... What's it with left-arm spinners today?! 87/3
40.1 to Dhoni, 83.2 kph, is there still a twist? Dhoni has been given out lbw by Rod Tucker, Dhoni had taken a big stride forward and was hit on the back leg, that pitched on middle and off, and was going on to hit middle and leg, there's no inside-edge either, by the time the review upheld the decision to give him out, Dhoni was nearly back in the pavilion, a day to cherish for Dockrell, getting two of the biggest names in the game, first Sachin and now Dhoni 167/5
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| JF Mooney | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 9.00 |
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| PR Stirling | 10 | 0 | 45 | 0 | 4.50 | (2w) |
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| AR White | 5 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 4.60 |
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| KJ O'Brien | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
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| AR Cusack | 3 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 6.00 |
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