England won by 4 wickets

Pakistan v England, 4th ODI, Dubai

Pietersen key after spinners strike

The Report by Andrew McGlashan

February 21, 2012

Pakistan's spinners gave their team a chance of avoiding a whitewash by taking advantage of a wearing surface to leave England's pursuit of 238 in the balance. Two wickets in three balls for Saeed Ajmal gave Pakistan the edge and left Kevin Pietersen, unbeaten with a half-century, needing to produce another matchwinning innings

After two quiet games Ajmal was back at the forefront of England's problems as one of five spin options for Misbah-ul-Haq. In his third over he removed Eoin Morgan lbw when the left hander missed a sweep. Morgan, who had move briskly to 15, considered using a review but, as replays soon showed, wisely headed straight for the dressing room as the ball struck him in line with off stump.

Two balls later and Jos Buttler's first innings in ODIs was ended via an inside edge onto the pad that looped to short leg. Buttler's appearance had been eagerly anticipated following an impressive Lions tour in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, but Ajmal is a class apart from the spinners he'll have faced on those trips. He'll get plenty more chances.

For the first time in this series England's innings didn't get a solid base. Alastair Cook, having made 319 runs in the previous three innings, was lbw second ball having cut the opening delivery of the chase from Junaid Khan through point. Junaid, the lone quick in Pakistan's team, successfully lobbied to use the DRS after Cook had initially been given not out although Misbah's request was half-hearted at best.

The early boundaries of the chase came from Jonathan Trott as he drove Junaid and clipped Abdur Rehman who had been given the new ball against Pietersen. Soon, though, Pietersen made his mark as he advanced down the pitch at Rehman and twice drove Ajmal exquisitely through the covers.

Trott had eased to 11 off 13 balls but could only managed four from his next 17, which was threatening to put the pressure back on Pietersen, before he top-edged a pull against Rehman. Ajmal's impact then left England needing a period of consolidation to keep the target within sight.

Craig Kieswetter, still settling into his new home in the middle order, wasn't convincing against spin but between the edges, jabs and appeals began to find the boundary. Pietersen, riding on the confidence of his hundred three days ago, continued to play the lead role as he reached fifty from 66 balls. Both sides knew his presence was crucial to the outcome.

Pakistan 237 (Shafiq 65, Azhar 58, Dernbach 4-45) v England

Pakistan's brittle line-up failed to make the most of a solid base provided by Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq during the final ODI in Dubai to leave England well-place for a whitewash. Azhar and Shafiq, the future of Pakistan's batting, added 111 for the second wicket but England's reshuffled bowling attack, including debutant Danny Briggs and the recalled Jade Dernbach, stifled the middle order with Misbah-ul-Haq left to gather what he could.

It was another tale of Pakistan's batsmen failing to build on starts as four of them passed 20 but none bettered Shafiq's confident 65. On a surface being used for the second time in three days it was difficult for new batsmen to force the pace straight away, demonstrated by the way the innings fell away. England's bowling effort wasn't quite as slick as the previous three games, but without the resting James Anderson and Stuart Broad it was a performance that further demonstrated the depth available. Briggs claimed a commendable 2 for 39 and Dernbach 4 for 45 as he cleaned up the lower order with Pakistan losing their last six wickets for 35 runs.

There were plenty of team changes for both sides; England due to injury and rotation, Pakistan largely because of form and an illness sweeping through the team. Briggs and Jos Buttler, the Somerset wicketkeeper-batsman, were handed ODI debuts and Tim Bresnan was given his first outing of the tour. Pakistan shuffled their pack again, opting for just one quick bowler, the left-armer Junaid Khan, on a surface being used for the second time and expected to aid the spinners, of which Pakistan played five.

Dernbach made an immediate impact on his return to England colours when he struck second ball to have Mohammad Hafeez caught behind. Dernbach had a difficult tour of India, where his obsession with variation worked against him, and then had a tough experience in Australia's Big Bash League where he was dropped after two games for Melbourne Stars.

Consistency still proved Dernbach an occasional problem as a wide delivery was driven through the covers by Shafiq and in the same over he was flicked through square leg. He returned in the bowling Powerplay and two further overs cost 12 during which time Shafiq went to his half-century from 59 balls, but also maintained the happy knack of picking up wickets when he had Azhar athletically caught at point by Eoin Morgan.

Bresnan was also a touch expensive in his first international spell of the tour following the elbow injury which kept him out of the Test series. Azhar, promoted to open in place of Imran Farhat, who has a groin strain, latched on to two short deliveries and Bresnan's three-over burst cost 20 runs.

Both batsmen allied the solid defence that they had shown during the Test series with an aggressive intent which put the pressure back on to England's bowlers. Shafiq had the perfect opportunity, against a weakened attack, to score his maiden ODI hundred but chopped on against Bresnan in the 23rd over. From there life became much tougher for Pakistan.

As Misbah had hinted at the toss, Umar Akmal was promoted to No. 4 with the chance to build an innings. However, he never gathered momentum and provided Briggs with his first international wicket when he lofted a catch to long-off. Briggs showed calmness and control in his first appearance, quickly recovering himself from a couple of loose deliveries against Azhar.

The scoring rate had seized up as Azhar approached his maiden ODI fifty and Shoaib Malik struggled to time the ball. The sense with Azhar, albeit in the very early stages of his career, is that he doesn't have a range of gears to move through in the one-day game. Malik does not have the excuse of inexperience to fall back on and his return to Pakistan colours has not been a happy one in this series. Having used up 33 deliveries for 23 he missed a sweep against Briggs in the left-armers last over.

Again the hope of late acceleration was in the hands of Shahid Afridi but he couldn't ignite and fell to a superb running catch at deep midwicket from Bresnan. Misbah remained solid, launching Samit Patel over long-on, and Abdur Rehman connected with a couple of swings but didn't do serious damage to England.

© ESPN EMEA Ltd

Virender Sehwag 219

India v West Indies, 4th ODI, Indore

Sehwag wins series for India with record 219

The Report by George Binoy

December 8, 2011

It took nearly four decades for a batsman to score the first double-century in one-day international cricket but less than two years for the second. Virender Sehwag, the batsman most touted to break Sachin Tendulkar's record for the highest individual ODI score, didn't merely break it - he shattered it and raised the bar so high that it's hard to imagine anyone, apart from Sehwag himself, raising it higher.

Unlike Tendulkar in Gwalior, Sehwag wasn't running out of time as he raced towards 200 in Indore. He got there in the 44th over and had made 219 off 149 balls by the time he was dismissed in the 47th. And in one of cricket's stranger coincidences, both ODI double-centuries were scored in the same Indian state - Madhya Pradesh - at venues less than 500 kilometres apart.

Virender Sehwag 219

Sehwag's performance led India to 418 for 5, their highest ODI total, and sealed victory in the five-match series against West Indies. It was an innings characteristic of Sehwag's approach to batting. He hit his second ball for four and simply did not stop. He took plenty of risks too, surviving two run-out chances and two dropped catches, but thundered on, ensuring India's run-rate stayed above seven after the 15th over. Sehwag's only out-of-character moment came in the 20th over, when he dived to avoid being run out. Sehwag never dives. It was a sign that he was determined to stay the course. He went to 50 off 41 balls, to 100 off 69 balls, to 150 off 112 and past 200 off 140. The record was broken with a withering cut that sped to the backward-point boundary, and he celebrated with an aggressive fist-pump before breaking into a smile.

Before this game, and after each of the previous three, Sehwag had admitted that the top-order failures, which he contributed to, were the reason India had struggled in their chases. Sehwag had made a duck in the previous match in Ahmedabad, where India lost, but led by example today.

India did two things differently at the Holkar Cricket Stadium. They chose to bat for the first time in the series and also opened with their strongest combination, Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, pushing Parthiv Patel down the order. The upshot of those decisions was an opening partnership of 176 that began smoothly, picked up speed, and gathered the momentum of a runaway train before it was eventually ended, inevitably, by a run-out.

A strong crowd continued the trend of resurging attendances during the home ODIs and they cheered the first boundary in the second over, when Sehwag flicked Ravi Rampaul's first ball for four - a welcome he would give several other West Indian bowlers. Sehwag looked dangerous from the start. Gambhir did not. After making only 3 off 15 balls, Gambhir finally had the width he needed and cut Kemar Roach to the point boundary.

Both batsmen could have been dismissed on 20, though. Sehwag had given up hope of making his ground but Kieron Pollard missed the stumps from point, and Andre Russell dropped Gambhir on his follow through. Gambhir began to steer, cut and drive through the off side frequently, going over fielders' heads and placing wide of the boundary riders. Seven of his first nine fours were in this region. India ended the mandatory Powerplay on 63 for 0.

The field spread after that but it didn't matter. Sehwag and Gambhir scored 45 runs between overs 11 and 15. This passage began with Sehwag hoisting the offspinner Sunil Narine's first ball over the long-on boundary. He then launched Darren Sammy's first inside out over extra cover. This passage ended with Sehwag hammering Narine again, this time into the stands beyond deep midwicket.

The field came in for the bowling Powerplay and Gambhir immediately cut Roach through point, and then dabbed for a single to reach his half-century off 51 balls. The smash-and-dab combo was a feature of the partnership. Sehwag got to his hundred with a fierce cut, hit in the air, brushing the fingertips of the leaping fielder at point before speeding to the boundary. The next ball, he ran Gambhir out, to a direct hit from Samuels. Visibly upset with himself, Sehwag continued to punish West Indies.

When he was hitting fours, Sehwag preferred to go square of the wicket, flicking and glancing the numerous deliveries he received on the pads, and opening the face to pepper the backward-point boundary. When he wanted six, he usually went straighter, targeting the arc between midwicket and long-on. He hit 25 fours and seven sixes in all. On 170, in the 38th over, Sehwag spooned Rampaul towards cover, where Sammy dropped a dolly, leaving the bowler distraught.

The rest of the innings was a blur of boundaries and landmarks. Suresh Raina got to his half-century off 42 balls. India reached 300 in 39.1 overs. Sehwag broke his personal best - 175 against Bangladesh in the World Cup - with a flick to the square-leg boundary. He went past 8000 ODI runs with a chip over the fielder at short fine leg. That shot took him from 191 to 195, and soon he was cutting Russell to send India into rapture. When Sehwag was dismissed - lofting Pollard to the substitute Anthony Martin at long-off - most of the West Indian fielders came from far and wide to shake his hand.

Sehwag did not come out to field - the only blot on his performance - and watched from the dressing room as West Indies' top-order batsmen crashed and burned amid a flurry of shots. India's debutant legspinner Rahul Sharma struck with the last ball of each of his first three overs in international cricket, bowling Marlon Samuels, Danza Hyatt and Pollard to leave West Indies reeling at 100 for 5.

Rahul, who's been in India's squads since the home ODIs against England but stayed on the bench, bowled a variety of deliveries. He sent down legbreaks, googlies and topspinners at varying speeds, but it was the one delivered quicker that brought him success.

Samuels tried to cut a fast topspinner but bottom-edged it onto his stumps. Hyatt then stepped out of the crease, but was yorked by a fast legbreak. The ball pitched outside leg stump and spun between the batsman's pads to bowl him. Pollard was the next to go, swinging across the line and missing a topspinner that clipped off stump.

After losing more wickets, West Indies decided to bat out time instead of playing shots, and the match ended in stark contrast to how it began - tamely. Denesh Ramdin, however, made 96, his best score and the highest by a West Indies wicketkeeper in ODIs. His 64-run partnership with No. 11 Sunil Narine merely kept India on the field longer than they would have liked.

Innings Dot balls 4s 6s PP1 PP2 PP3 Last 10 overs NB/Wides India 86 48 7 63-0 41-0 (15.1-20) 48-0 (35.1-40) 107-4 0/13 West Indies 158 31 7 64-2 22-1 (15.1-20) 37-1 (35.1-40) 54-0 0/2

George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo