Related Links : Twenty20 World Championship 2007 : Scorecard
It was a matter of sheer honour for all those who were watching the England-India Twenty20 Match that was played at the flood-lit Kingsmead in Durban. One man came and belted six sixers in an over – an act that was done only once before him in International Cricket. Yuvraj Singh was the one getting his name in the history books of the game by becoming only the second batsman after Herschelle Gibbs to achieve this unique feat. India got lifted to a huge total of 218 for 4 thanks to Yuvraj which made it really difficult for England to catch up with during their chase. India managed to hold onto an 18-run win which keeps their hopes alive in reaching the Semis. They now have to beat South Africa tomorrow at this same venue otherwise they will have to give way to New Zealand.
Yuvraj Singh walked in at no.5 with India in a formidable position of 155 for 3 with another 20 balls left in their innings. Yuve required just 16 of those deliveries to blast his way to 58 with 3 fours and 7 sixes. Stuart Broad was the unlucky bowler taken for those six consecutive sixes in the 19th over. Yuvraj began his innings with couple of fours of Flintoff which was followed up with verbal ding-dong from Freddie Flintoff. Things got heated up with Yuvraj taking a few steps forward towards Flintoff despite the Umpires trying to cool the situation. Yuvraj stopped himself only to vent his anger on poor Stuart Broad in the next over. The first ball was sent packing over mid wicket, the second was towards square leg through a classy pick up shot, the third one was slashed over covers and the fourth was a full toss which was smashed over point. This was becoming serious now as Yuvraj was chasing the world record for sure. The fifth ball looked more of a miscued one which went high up in the air and came only down after traveling out of the park over mid wicket. And now the climax looked so easy, Yuvraj put all his weight in his shot that sailed over long on. He made it! Only four players have achieved this rare feat including Yuvraj. The others were Gary Sobers and Ravi Shastri in first class games and most recently Herschelle Gibbs against Netherlands. Another record that Yuvraj clinched was the fastest fifty in Twenty20 with his coming in just 12 balls which also is the fastest ever in International Cricket.
For Yuvraj to have played the way he did, it was because of a magnificent opening start of 136 in 14.4 overs from Virender Sehwag (68 from 52 with 4 fours and 3 sixes) and Gautam Gambhir (58 from 41 with 7 fours and a six). The start was simply incredible as it was looking that the English bowlers were going to enjoy the pacy and bouncy conditions which they did until the two batsmen decided to break free. India decided to bat first after winning the toss, a decision which was made considering that they weren’t successful in their run chase against the Kiwis. A couple of changes were made in the line-up for this crucial game with Rohit Sharma and Joginder Sharma coming in for Dinesh Karthik and Ajit Agarkar.
A target of 219 was gettable as South Africa had got almost the same runs against West Indies in the tournament opener. And England put on a promising show, going neck to neck with India’s progress in their innings. But the Yuvraj factor was looming large on the English batsmen as one of them had to do a similar damage to get them past the target. Indian bowlers did well in not allowing the batsmen to get underneath the length balls. RP Singh and Harbhajan Singh were the bowlers who sustained the pressure on England. Almost all the English batsmen got going which took their total to 200 for 6. Vikram Solanki top scored with 43 from 31 with 5 fours followed up by Kevin Pietersen who got 39 from 23 with 3 fours and a six. All England could get was 6 sixes in their innings compared to India’s 11!