A THRILLER IN BANGALORE

On a thrilling day in Bangalore where a total of 676 runs were scored, a charismatic display of cricketing excellence yielded in a spectacular tie amongst an exhilarating encounter between India and England. The day began with India batting first putting on a mammoth 338 thanks to a splendid ton by the little master Sachin Tendulkar. The score, though monumental, was a smaller score than India could have gotten. In the latter stages of the Indian innings (40 overs onward), Yuvraj Singh had quite some trouble maneuvering the ball and finding frequent boundaries and as a result India were left 30 odd runs short.England began their reply strongly as the English Skipper scored a subjugating ton to put England in the driving seat. After 42 overs, with England requiring a mere 59 from 48 with 8 wickets in hand, the game looked all and done for India. But that was not to be. A fiery reverse-swinging spell from Zaheer Khan put the game in the balance.Slowly, the game began to sway towards India’s favour, this just one of many twists in this match. Finally, with 11 required from 4 balls, England’s Ajmal Shahzad hit an exceptional six straight over mid-on to again switch the equilibrium of the match. Subsequently, with the last ball requiring 2, Swann managed to get only 1 and an extraordinary tie was definitive. A lot was seen from this match today but perhaps the biggest was the exposure of India’s weak and susceptible bowling attack. Nevertheless, on a day probing for a resul, it shall go down as one of the greatest games to have ever been played in World Cup history.