Sports
India beat Ireland, secure top group spot
Guided by Shikhar Dhawan's dominating century, India's smooth
eight-wicket victory over Ireland here on Tuesday ensured that the
defending World Champions will finish at the top of Pool B.
India,
who had already qualified for the quarter-finals earlier, will now play
the fourth-placed Pool A team in the last eight, which is likely to be
Bangladesh.
With the victory, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni
also achieved unique distinction of winning nine Cup matches on the
trot, equalling the great Clive Lloyd of the West Indies. Only
Australia's Ricky Ponting, with 24 wins, is ahead of them.
Despite
a brilliant start, Ireland were befuddled by spinners as some clever
tactics from Dhoni helped India bowl out the Associate Member team for
259 at the Seddon Park.
In reply, India had no problem chasing
down the target as Dhawan scored his second hundred of the tournament,
in only 84 balls, to guide the Asian team to its ninth consecutive Cup
win with 13.1 overs to spare.
Openers Rohit Sharma (64) and
Dhawan exploited the inexperienced Irish bowlers to strike India's
highest World Cup opening stand of 174 runs to more or less settle the
matter for their side.
The partnership completely took away the
game from the Irish. While Rohit hit three boundaries and sixes each in
his knock, Dhawan exemplified his form by stroking 11 boundaries and
five sixes in his 85-ball 100.
Vice-captain Virat Kohli (44 not
out) and middle-order bat Ajinkya Rahane (33 not out) hardly broke a
sweat to combine for an unbeaten 70-run third-wicket stand, helping
India to their third successive victory over Ireland in as many
meetings.
Earlier, it was a mixed sort of innings from Ireland
who got off to a blazing start via openers William Porterfield (67) and
Paul Stirling (42). However, they stuttered against spinners and from
what seemed as a likely 300-plus total at one point, Ireland collapsed
to being all out in the 49th over.
This is the first time ever that India have bowled out their opposition in five consecutive matches.
Electing
to bat, captain Porterfield and Stirling looked in good touch as they
hammered Indian pacers all over the small ground. The confident start
from Ireland made Dhoni bring in third pacer Mohit Sharma (1/38) in only
the fifth over.
Despite the change, Ireland still scored quite
easily off the pacers, who looked impeccable in the previous four
matches of the tournament. However, the Irish duo seemed to handle pace
very well.
Dhoni, understanding this, brought in spinners
Ravindra Jadeja (1/45) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/38) in the ninth over
onwards. The change took some time but finally yielded success in the
15th over, bringing an end to the opening-wicket partnership of 89.
Realising
that the minnows were struggling against slower bowlers, Dhoni brought
in part-time spinner Suresh Raina (1/40) and it immediately yielded
success. Just three runs after the fall of the first wicket, Ed Joyce,
who scored a sensational century against Zimbabwe in their last match,
was bowled by Raina.
Seeing the ball turn and the Irish struggle
against spin, the Indian skipper bowled Ashwin and Raina in tandem and
the duo slowed down the run rate, which was run-a-ball till the 15th
over.
The quality of the Ireland batting order showed when Niall
O'Brien (75) struck two important partnerships. First, Porterfield and
Niall struck a 53-run stand before Mohit broke the partnership. Next up,
Niall and Andy Balbirnie (24) scored 61 for the fourth wicket to take
Ireland past the 200-run mark.
Batting at 206/3 in the 39th over,
Ireland looked set for a 300-plus score. But Ashwin once again came to
the rescue as he broke the stand in his 10th over which proved to be the
catalyst in Ireland's collapse. From 206/3, India clinched six quick
wickets to make Ireland totter at 238/9 before the last pair added 21.
Ashwin
and Raina's three wickets together in 20 overs for 78 runs and Dhoni's
acumen proved to be the difference. Shami also pitched in with 3/41 from
his nine overs.