99 and back to pavilion?
August 25th, 2007Yesterday the world witnessed one of the worst umpiring decisions. Sachin was playing an excellent game and the crowd was cheering at its heights. Balls passed by and Sachin came to a score of 99, only one run short of his century. He tried to leave Andew Flintoff ’s ball which had attained height after bouncing. But what a luck! The ball hit his arm guard and went straight to Prior. The players appealed and the deadly finger showed up. Sachin was awe-struck. He looked quite baffled. The disappointed batsman showed that the ball hit his arm-guard and left for the pavilion.
Even Yuvraj Singh who played well after Sachin returned back did not have his luck favored. He also had leave on the score of 49, that is one run short of his half-century. Dravid who was still on the crease showed off an excellent game and took away the man of the match title. Dravid was not able to make his century due to shortage of overs left. India finally finished at a whooping score of 329. It was difficult enough to be chased.
Though England didnt manage to chase the target, the thing that disturbed most was that the tailenders played quite well. Mascarenhas hit 5 sixes and a four in 39 balls to complete his half-century before being dismissed by Agarkar. Finally all congrats to Team India for their excellent performance. You can still improve. Best of Luck for your 3rd One Day match on 27th August at Birminghum.