India vs England: Dhoni & Co. clinch massive win, lead series 1-0

Hyderabad: Dhoni & Co. ended their losing streak against England as they thrashed the visitors in the first ODI of the five-match series by 126 runs to secure their maiden victory at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Friday.

The magnificent victory, which was also India’s second biggest win against England, too an extent healed Team India’s wound which they developed during the recent England tour.

After skipper MS Dhoni’s blitzkrieg and Suresh Raina’s brave show powered India to a daunting 300/7, spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja rattled the Cook-led side, clinching a comprehensive win for their side.

Chasing 301, England lost opener Craig Kieswetter with just 7 runs on the board. Praveen Kumar gave the first blow to England getting Kieswetter caught behind. Kevin Petersen was the second man to depart before skipper Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott tried put up a strong fight against the hosts.

However, after Cook’s half-ton, Jadeja got him caught by Vinay Kumar, triggering England’s collapse. Trott (26) soon followed his master in the dressing room after being bowled by the left-arm spinner.

R Ashwin then capitalized on the double bow by Jadeja and dismissed Ravi Bopara (8) without allowing him to settle down. Jadeja then struck again and sent back J Bairstow (3) with a simple return catch, reducing England to 126/6.    

India were in full control before Ashwin worsened the matter England getting rids of their last hope Tim Bresnan. Umesh Yadav who had a wicket less spell earlier, claim two victims in the form of Graeme Swann and Samit Patel.

However, Ashwin gave India the victorious moment, bowling out Jade Dernbach. Ashwin finished with 3/35 while Jadeja ended up with 3/34.

Earlier, MS Dhoni destroyed the English attack in death overs to set a challenging 301-run target for England. Dhoni stayed unbeaten after hitting 70-ball-87, studded with 10 boundaries and a six to guide India to 300/7 in 50 overs.

The last 15 overs yielded a whopping 150 runs as one got a glimpse of vintage Dhoni. The now famous 'Helicopter shot' fetched him plenty of runs as he hit 10 boundaries and a six en route his 42nd half century in ODIs. The innings assumed significance considering the amount of pressure he was in after England tour. He was ably supported by Suresh Raina who also smashed an aggresive 61 off 55 balls.

India were scoring runs at a sedate pace for the first 35 overs partly to the dual nature of the surface and also some disciplined bowling by the visitors before the duo started the hammering of the England bowlers adding 72 runs for the fifth wicket in only 10 overs.

Electing to bat, India lost their first wicket in the fourth over. Parthiv Patel (9), who impressed with the willow in England, was unfortunate to be ahead of the crease when a straight drive by Ajinkya Rahane kissed Steven Finn palm before hitting the stumps at the non striker end with scorecard reading 17.

Rahane (15) too failed to shine and surrendered before Graeme Swann in his first over after a struggling knock of 15 off 41 deliveries.

Birthday boy Gautam Gambhir who was in fine touch couldn’t make it large and got trapped leg before wickets by Jade Dernbach after hitting 32.  With India three down before 100-mark, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina approached defensively.

However, after a 44-run stand between the two, Samit Patel dented India by sending back Kohli reducing them to 123/4 in 29 overs.

But a magical turnaround was on the card as Raina and skipper Dhoni took on the English attack with grit to accelerate the scoring rate. The due shared crease for 10 overs and scored at seven runs per over to raise hope for India.

Raina slammed an explosive 55-balls-61, studded with two sixes, before falling to Finn. Dhoni didn’t let the momentum slow down and kept attacking the bowlers with big hits.

Once Raina departed, Dhoni took it upon himself to punish the English bowlers who suddenly lacked discipline after bowling well for the better part of the innings.

Electing to bat, India lost their first wicket in the fourth over. Parthiv Patel (9), who impressed with the willow in England, was unfortunate to be ahead of the crease when a straight drive by Ajinkya Rahane kissed Steven Finn palm before hitting the stumps at the non striker end with scorecard reading 17.

Rahane (15) too failed to shine and surrendered before Graeme Swann in his first over after a struggling knock of 15 off 41 deliveries.

Birthday boy Gautam Gambhir who was in fine touch couldn’t make it large and got trapped leg before wickets by Jade Dernbach after hitting 32.  With India three down before 100-mark, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina approached defensively.

However, after a 44-run stand between the two, Samit Patel dented India by sending back Kohli reducing them to 123/4 in 29 overs.

But a magical turnaround was on the card as Raina and skipper Dhoni took on the English attack with grit to accelerate the scoring rate. The due shared crease for 10 overs and scored at seven runs per over to raise hope for India.

Raina slammed an explosive 55-balls-61, studded with two sixes, before falling to Finn. Dhoni didn’t let the momentum slow down and kept attacking the bowlers with big hits.

BlackBerry Torch 9860 launched in India; priced at R 28,490

New Delhi: Canadian handset maker Research in Motion has lauched the BlackBerry Torch 9860 at a price of Rs 28,490 in India.

Powered by a 1.2GHz processor, the phone runs on OS 7 and has a 3.7" 24-bit capacitive touch screen display- the largest on a BlackBerry smartphone yet.

It comes with a 5 mega pixel camera with continuous auto focus, flash and 720p HD video recording.

The BlackBerry Torch 9860 offers 768 MB RAM and 4 GB internal memory that is expandable up to 32 GB with a microSD memory card.

It ships with a 1230 mAh Li-ion battery that offers talk time of up to 5.9 hours- 6.2 hours and standby time of up to 11.6 to 11.8 days. The phone also allows non-stop music playback for up to 50.2 hours and video playback for up to 6.1 hours.

Other BB OS 7 phones already available in Indian markets are the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and the BlackBerry Torch 9810.

'India to stay client No 1 for Russian arms industry'

Moscow: India continues to be Russia's largest strategic partner in military-technical cooperation, the head of Russian state arms exporter has said.

"India, China, Algeria, Vietnam and Venezuela are our leading partners," CEO of Rosoboronexport Anatoly Isaikin told the Kommersant daily, adding that India is "client No.1" for Russia "for years ahead."

He underscored that under the long term military- technical cooperation programme Russia is taking part in various projects, which include joint R&D and joint production.

Isaikin said Russia was currently bidding for 20 tenders floated by India. "Winning at least half of these tenders is huge luck for any state."

He, however, said that failure of MiG-35 in MMRCA tender was "extremely unpleasant and sensitive" for Russia.

Isaikin expressed confidence that Moscow will retain its leading position in the Indian arms market in spite of entry of new players like the US.

'Not just the skull-cap, Modi has refused the Prime Minister's chair'

Ahmedabad: Outcry over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s refusal to wear a skull cap continues to grow louder. Saiyad Imam Shahi Saiyad, who offered Modi the cap during the Sadbhavna Mission, said on Wednesday that the Gujarat Chief Minister can now forget about becoming India’s Prime Minister.

In an exclusive interview to Divya Bhaskar, Imam Shahi Saiyad said that Modi by refusing to wear the skull cap has squashed his own ambition of leading the country.

“He didn’t refuse the skull cap, he has snubbed his fate. Now he can never become the Prime Minister. If Modi had taken the skull cap as a token from all communities of the world, he too would have been accepted universally. But Modi thought the skull cap is from the Muslims. This shows what Modi thinks of Muslims,” Imam Shahi Saiyad said.

Though he did not take Modi’s move as a personal insult, the sufi saint criticised Modi for his alleged outlook.

“I am a sufi saint. I do not take this as an insult. I am not even protesting Modi’s move. He has insulted himself,” Imam Shahi Saiyad said.

“I went there to show my love and respect for Modi. But it seems he sees Gujarat as a separate part of India,” he added.

The sufi saint revealed that he was also a victim during the Godhra riots in 2002. He said that his ashram in Gujarat’s Nanad district was attacked during the tumultuous time. The ashram was put on fire by rioters. However, he managed to escape.

India vs England: Dhoni & Co finish winless

London: An incredible fightback by Ravi Bopara and newcomer Jonny Bairstow denied India what would have been their maiden victory of the tour as England thrashed the visitors by six wickets in the final ODI at Cardiff on Friday. Despite chasing a revised target that was stiffer than the one set by the visitors initially, England batsmen showed courage and registered a magnificent win to finish the series 3-0.

After India posted 304/6, rain delayed start of the second innings. The game resumed with a revised target of 270 in 40 overs for the hosts. The English openers started cautiously.

However, medium-pacer Vinay Kumar struck to trap Craig Kieswetter (21 off 17 balls) to give England the first jolt before rain returned to halt the chase.

The game resumed with a fresh target of 241 in 34 overs. England skipper Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott played sensibly to consolidate the innings. However, just after Cook reached his half-ton, Virat Kohli cleaned him up to reduce England to 106/2.

Cook’s dismissal came in the delivery after he was dropped by Rahul Dravid off Kohli.  

Ian Bell then joined Trott in the stiff chase. The duo kept England in hunt with some big hits against the Indian spin attack. However, the visitors fought back dismissing both batsmen in quick succession with the asking rate at more than 8 per over.

RP Singh first got rid of Bell (26) before Ravindra Jadeja sent back a well settled Trott for 69.

With two new batsmen Bopara and Bairstow at the crease, India looked in control. However, the visitors couldn’t capitalise on the situation as both batsmen turned the tide in their favour with aggressive batting.

Bairstow smashed a quick-fire 41 off 21 balls while Bopara scored 37 off 22, as England eventually eased to a six-wicket victory with 10 balls to spare.

Indian innings 
An outstanding century by Virat Kohli, supported by Rahul Dravid’s gritty 69 and a fiery cameo by skipper MS Dhoni, powered India to 304/6. 

Kohli was the top-scorer with 107 while Dravid, who will be retiring from ODIs after this match scored 69 off 79 balls. Dhoni played a captain’s knock and stayed unbeaten on 50 off just 26 deliveries.

After being invited in to bat, Indian openers were watchful. India reached 43/0 at the end of the first powerplay. While Ajinkya Rahane looked confident after being dropped by Samit Patel, Parthiv Patel was more cautious in his approach.

After the duo took the score past 50-mark, Jade Dernbach gave England the first breakthrough by removing Rahane for 26.

Graeme Swann once again struck in his very first over and dismissed Patel (19) to give India their second blow. Swann got Patel caught at mid-on by Tim Bresnan, reducing India to 57/2.

However, Kohli and Dravid then set up the innings with great determination. The duo frustrated the English attack and shared 170-run stand for the third wicket before the hosts fought back with Swann’s double bow.

Swann first bowled out Dravid and then dismissed Kohli after his ton to reduce India to 236/4. 38-year-old Dravid got a brilliant send-off from the English players as he donned the Indian blue jersey for the last time.

After hitting 107 off 93 balls, Kohli was out hit wicket while trying to flick Swann.

The Indian skipper then took the baton and powered the side to their highest total of the series.  Dhoni took the attack to the opposition from the word go as he plundered 26-ball-50 that was studded with two sixes and five boundaries. Swann picked up three for 34 runs.