Yuvraj sixes keep India in contention

Durban: Debonair Yuvraj Singh smashed six sixes in an over for the first time in Twenty20 cricket as India scored an impressive 18-run victory over England in their World Championship Super Eights match in Kingsmead on Wednesday.

The left-hander from Punjab walked in at number five, and to the delight of captain Mahendra Dhoni, who was at the other end, hit top gear straight away.

The Indian supporters here got a thrill-a-minute excitement and sang along to the tune of ‘Chak de India’ as India completed the formalities and Yuvraj was duly named ‘man of the match’.

Yuvraj capped a brilliant batting performance by his team, racing away to 50 off just 12 deliveries, a record in the shortest form of the game. The bowler to suffer the ignominy of being hit out of the park time and again was young pace-man Stuart Broad.

The penultimate over of the Indian innings saw Broad being hit over long-on, long-leg, long-off, backward point, mid-wicket and again long-on, in that order, as Yuvraj performed the rare feat only for the second time in international cricket after Herschelle Gibbs did the same in the World Cup earlier this year.

The beauty of his innings lay in the variety of shots he displayed, all of them good cricketing ones.

Yuvraj was caught in the deep off Andrew Flintoff after scoring 58 off 16 deliveries with three boundaries and seven sixes as India amassed a huge 218-4 after electing to bat.

India thus stayed in contention for a semi-final slot with a match to go against South Africa, who earlier in the day beat New Zealand. The Kiwis finished their engagements with two wins while South Africa have already notched up two victories. A win against South Africa will bring India on par after they lost their opening match against New Zealand. A three-way tie will bring the net run-rate into play.

Earlier, Sehwag and Gambhir laid the foundation with a handsome 136-run partnership.

The left-right pair ensured a steady start before unleashing a flurry of shots that had the England bowlers at their wits’ end. by cricketnext