It was a fine knock by the opening pair for India as Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir gave India a solid start by putting up a century stand against some disciplined Scottish bowling in a rain-reduced One-Dayer at Glasgow.
Chasing a modest 209 seemed a cake-walk for India as they easily achieved the mark with 37 balls to spare. Uthappa got out after an aggressive 55 runs while Dinesh Karthik, looking to score some quick runs fell to Majid Haq for 14. Yuvraj Singh came on to bat to face some uneasy moments, but not for long as he went on to play his strokes and studded five boundaries and a six. By the time he got out, India needed just 11 more runs to win. At the end, skipper Rahul Dravid, along with the highest scorer, Gambhir safely coasted India home.
Earlier, Rahul Dravid won the toss and elected to field missing key players Tendulkar, Ganguly and Zaheer Khan.
Initially struggling with their line and length all the three seamers, Agarkar, RP Singh and Munaf Patel grabbed wickets at regular intervals in bowler-friendly conditions. Apart from a couple, no other Scottish player was able to stand tall against the force of the Indians. Inbetween, a rain delay of around 35 minutes reduced Scotland innings to 49 overs. However, Gavin Hamilton and Neil McCallum rescued the Scots with a stand of 82 with Craig Wright making an innovative 37runs from 34 balls. The young spinner, Piyush Chawla was quiet impressive in his bowling spell as he struck twice in quick succession for India.
Gambhir was adjudged man-of-the-match for his unbeaten 85.
It has indeed been an excellent comeback to the international arena for a couple of Indian players and to cement their place ahead of a crucial seven-match ODI series against England.
Via: BBC
