India thrashes England by 90 runs

By Krishnan Francis

Off spinner Harbhajan Singh's four-wicket haul and Rohit Sharma's unbeaten 55 led India to a crushing 90-run win over defending champion England at the World Twenty20.

Both teams had already qualified for the Super Eight before the match, but the win gives India a morale booster ahead of the next round.

Batting first, India made a competitive 170-4 in 20 overs with Sharma returning to form.

England was then bowled out for 80 in 14 overs, with Harbhajan recording a career-best bowling spell of 4-12 on his international return after more than a year.

His earlier best performance was also against England 3-30 in 2009.

Legspin bowler Piyush Chawla and seamer Irfan Pathan also picked up two wickets each.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said Harbhajan's return has boosted his team, giving him multiple bowling options and allowing offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin to be rested.

"We have a problem of plenty right now, but I am quite happy with the problem of plenty than looking at who is our fifth bowler," Dhoni said. "I have seen Bhajji (Harbhajan) bowl better. If you read the circumstances of this performance, coming back after a period of time, getting a chance where he has to prove himself, it's very great."

England captain Stuart Broad played down the defeat, saying the result was inconsequential and the match was an opportunity to try out four seam bowlers.

"It (the defeat) does not change what we did. It's not we are going home or anything - we are still hopping on the bus to Kandy," he said of England's Super Eight matches in Kandy.

Pathan gave India an ideal start, bowling Alex Hales without scoring with England's total on 2. He later had No. 3 batsman Luke Wright lbw and built a good platform for the spinners to perform.

England again displayed their traditional weakness against spin, especially on dry pitches on the subcontinent.

Craig Kieswetter top-scored for England with 35, including two sixes and four boundaries.

India sent in Pathan to open the batting with Gautam Gambhir in place of Virender Sehwag, who was rested for the match. Gambhir and Pathan got off to a promising start, scoring more than 10 runs every six balls in the first two overs before Pathan was bowled by Jade Dernbach for 8 to leave India on 24-1.

In-form batsman Kohli came in at No. 3 and scored briskly with some elegant stroke play. He added 57 off 47 deliveries with Gambhir for the second wicket.

Offspinner Graeme Swann bowled tight and curtailed the run flow and had Kohli caught at deep mid-wicket by Jonny Bairstow. Kohli scored 40 of 32 balls, including six boundaries.

Sharma has struggled for runs in recent one-day international and Twenty20 matches, totaling only 13 in five recent ODI matches.

AP

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