Chanceless Ganguly propels India

CAPE TOWN: Skipper Sourav Ganguly led the way with a chanceless 107 not out while Yuvraj Singh plundered an unbeaten 58 in a 118-run stand yesterday to propel India to a six-wicket win over Kenya in a Cricket World Cup Super Six match at Newlands.

Chasing 226 runs under lights, India crashed to 24 for three in the 10th over before Ganguly featured in two partnerships to all but secure the side a place in the semi-final. “We were in a bit of trouble, we’d lost a few wickets, and we had to get partnerships,” Ganguly said. “Rahul (Dravid) did very well with me and so did Yuvraj; I think he had an absolute blinder and he kept the run-rate going.” After Kenya had hit up a challenging 225 for six, India scored 226 for four to win with 13 balls to spare. The win put India a step close to securing a semi-final place. They have 12 points behind unbeaten Australia’s 16, pushing Kenya down to third with the ten points they carried from the group matches. It was Yuvraj’s second match-winning knock in as many innings following his 50 not out off 53 balls against Pakistan at the Centurion on March 1.

But yesterday, with India’s reputation almost in tatters after Kenya had removed Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammed Kaif cheaply, Yuvraj batted with maturity and responsibility to lend support to Ganguly. Yuvraj hit seven fours off 71 balls during the 113-ball stand, while Ganguly’s 21st century in his 225th appearance included two sixes and 11 fours off 120 balls. With history not favouring sides batting under lights — only four wins in 18 run-chases — Kenya fought bravely despite not having enough runs to stretch the batting strength of the illustrious opponents. “We didn’t do well in the middle,” of our innings, Kenyan skipper Steve Tikolo said, “we could have scored 30 more runs.” Nonetheless, it took the experience of Ganguly and his deputy Rahul Dravid, 32 runs off 73 balls — 428 one-dayers between the duo — to rescue the innings from the mire with 84-run second wicket stand.