India showed how the hectic pace of Twenty20 cricket could be replicated in ODIs, pounding 330 on a sluggish pitch before their bowlers rounded off a thumping win in their opening match of the tournament. Pakistan, coming off 12 successive wins against weak opposition, crashed to their worst defeat against India and their coach Geoff Lawson, who had hoped for a 150-run win, would have been embarrassed to see the shoe on the other foot.

India’s domination was complete. Their mammoth total was made possible not by one but three batsmen: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir made the most of some sloppy catching, getting within four runs of India’s highest opening stand against Pakistan, before Yuvraj Singh raised visions of a 375-plus total. They settled for 330 but that didn’t matter in the final analysis. Once Pakistan crumbled to 26 for 3, it was only a case of picking up the pieces.

A run-rate of 6.6 is impressive in all conditions but the fact that India kept it up on a sluggish pitch that offered some assistance to the medium-pacers added more gloss to the effort. Their fifty came up as early as the seventh over but Pakistan’s four-pronged pace attack didn’t start as badly as the run-rate suggested. They troubled the batsmen with swing and seam and even managed the edge on a few occasions but they were let down by poor fielding. Younis Khan allowed Gambhir two lives - on 4 and 29 - with identical edges flying past him at second slip and Kamran Akmal let off Sehwag on 43 when he lost control of the ball after appearing to have snared an edge to his right.

Sehwag, who walked all the way back to the boundary before returning, made the most of his good fortune, racing to his first fifty in a year. He was dropped for the final stages of India’s CB Series but an injury to Sachin Tendulkar allowed him another chance. He wasn’t his customary buccaneering self, and that was probably because of the nature of the surface, but he continuously peppered the region behind square. Preferring to use the pace of the bowlers, he walked across and whipped a few off his pads while settling for the judicious glide on other occasions.

The area behind square was productive for Gambhir as well but it was the occasional skip down the ground that unsettled the bowlers. He didn’t hesitate charging the quicker men and actually cut one over the infield, off left-armer Wahab Riaz, with both his feet in mid-air.

Incidentally it was in that game where India passed 300 for the first time in an ODI. Here, more than 12 years later, they were in sight of much more as Yuvraj began striking it clean. He gauged the slow nature of the track and ensured he played late. A couple of half-trackers were swatted away over midwicket and his neat clips towards square leg suggested a batsman preparing to explode, but he fell to Umar Gul in the quest for quick runs.

It was always going to be an uphill task for Pakistan and the contest was all but over once Praveen Kumar struck four big blows, including a two-in-two. Swinging the new ball either way, he showed how dangerous he could be in congenial conditions. Praveen had Rohit Sharma to thank for the opening breakthrough: a sensational reflex catch at short cover got rid of Salman Butt.

A slightly wide ball was lashed hard but Rohit, throwing himself to the left and ensuring his hands got around a low chance, hung on superbly. There was no need of any such acrobatics for the next one: Younis Khan snicked to the wicketkeeper and walked back for his second successive duck.

Akmal and Misbah ensured Praveen didn’t have a perfect day - taking 17 off his fifth over, including four cracking fours - but Akmal was livid after falling to a full toss, lobbing a leading edge to mid-on. Misbah too couldn’t carry on, falling to an injudicious waft, and it was left to Shoaib Malik to pick up the pieces. He soldiered on to a fifty but his meaty blows were largely inconsequential in the face of a steep mountain. Chawla finished with four wickets, tormenting the tail and giving the finishing touches to a near-perfect day for India.

Rajasthan Royals beat Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets in their Indian Premier League match at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday. It was Rajasthan’s ninth win in 11 matches, second over Kolkata, and cemented their status as one of the tournament’s favourites.

Meanwhile, it was Kolkata’s seventh defeat in 12 matches and practically ended their chances of making it to the last four.
Chasing a target of 148 to win, the Rajasthan team had an early hiccup when Ishant Sharma induced an edge from opener Swapnil Asnodkar (5) to keeper Wriddhiman Saha when the scoreboard read just 16.
South African captain Graeme Smith and Sohail Tanvir , promoted up the order, took the score to 42. But in Umar Gul’s first over, the sixth of the innings, both fell in quick succession to reduce Rajasthan to 42 for three.

The Pakistani paceman’s over was a double-wicket maiden, a rarity in this form of the game.

And when Kolkata captain Saurav Ganguly cleaned up the dangerous looking Shane Watson (19), Rajasthan were in some trouble at 69 for four after the tenth over.

But Mohammad Kaif (34 not out) and Yusuf Pathan (with an unbeaten 48) combined well to put on an unbeaten 81-run partnership for the fifth-wicket and steered their team through. In the final analysis, Kolkata’s total was never going to be enough.

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Pathan was particularly impressive, his 18-ball knock included five fours and three sixes and helped his team regain the momentum while his big hits demoralised the opponents completely.

Rajasthan made 150 for four and won with 21 balls (3.3 overs) to spare.

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders batsmen failed to build up on good starts to finish with a modest 147 for eight in what was a do-or-die tie for them.

Put in to bat, the Knight Riders could not build a single 50-run partnership with none of their batsmen even manging to reach the 40s.

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The in-form Rajasthan Royals pacer Tanvir once again bowled well to have impressive figures of 3 for 26, with Munaf Patel (2 for 22) giving him ample support.

For the hosts, skipper Ganguly topscored with 32, but he was nowhere at his best.

Middle order batsman Debabrata Das (31 off 20 balls) looked in fine shape, but got out when his team expected a big knock from him.

The Knight Riders’ beginning followed a script that has become familiar for the team.

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The first wicket fell in the second over as Mohammed Hafeez (4) tried to loft an away going ball from Munaf Patel over the infield, but only managed an inside edge which went straight to Swapnil Asnodkar at mid on.

The other opener, Salman Butt and Ganguly tried to overcome the initial jolt by stitching together a 33-run partnership, but the former Indian captain struggled to find his timing against the disciplined Rajasthan attack.

Butt (24) played some wristy shots and a couple of classy cover drives, but his essay came to an end in the seventh over when Patel found him plumb before stumps with an incoming delivery as the Knight Riders became 40 for two in the seventh over.

Australian David Hussey then joined Ganguly and the duo added another 31 runs with Ganguly trying to break the shackles as he stepped out to send Shane Warne packing over square leg to bring up the day’s first six.

The fortunes of both Mumbai and Punjab have changed remarkably since their first meeting in the Indian Premier League. Both teams had lost their first two games going into that match in Mohali, which ended with Harbhajan Singh slapping Sreesanth. Since then, Punjab have moved to second place in the league; Mumbai have strung together six wins in a row; Harbhajan has been banned for the rest of the tournament; and Sreesanth’s bowling form has improved considerably.

Punjab have won seven games out of ten but another victory would virtually ensure a spot in the final four. Their top order - especially Shaun Marsh and Luke Pomersbach - has been producing excellent starts, and Mahela Jayawardene, who has had a quiet tournament, came good to clinch a run-chase by the D/L method against Delhi. Their other strength is the ability of their medium-pacers to consistently hit the blockhole during the final overs.

The stakes are higher for Mumbai, though, for they have climbed off the bottom of the table into contention for the semis by moving into fourth place. They have the winning momentum and two games in hand over Delhi and Kolkata, the other contenders for the last semi-final berth. However, they are without Dwayne Bravo, a crucial allrounder in their line-up, and will have to fill his slot with one of the two new arrivals, Dwayne Smith and Andre Nel.

Quotes by Tom Moody

“It’s the biggest game for us, but I have been telling the boys not to focus on winning just this particular game but all the games because we have seen how important momentum has been in the tournament.”