INDIA'S bowling unit continued to impress as it skittled out a below-par United Arab Emirates for a meagre 102 in the team's third group league match of the ICC Cricket World Cup in Perth on Saturday (February 28).
Opting to bat at the WACA, the UAE batsmen couldn't replicate their spirited performance of the two previous games as the bowlers led by spinner Ravichandran Ashwin performed like a well-oiled machine to dismiss the opposition in 31.3
overs.
This was the lowest team total against India in World Cup.
Ashwin, with splendid career-best figures of 4/25 in 6.3 overs (his first four-wicket haul), was the pick of the bowlers, and he also got good support from the likes of Umesh Yadav (2/15), comeback man Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/19), find of the season Mohit Sharma (1/16) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/23), who kept the pressure from the other end.
While the WACA wicket is known for its pace and bounce, Dhoni decimated the opposition with his slow bowlers as the minnows didn't have an iota of idea about Ashwin's deliveries.
Neither could they gauje the straighter ones nor did they have the wherewithal to play the conventional off-break. And the 'doosra' was something that they simply couldn't read.
The match virtually turned into a no show within the first 20 overs when the UAE were reduced to 54 for six. Some of the shots that UAE batsmen played were testimony as to why ICC is making it a 10-team tournament from the next edition.
It was Bhuvneshwar, who started the slide with Amjad Ali (4) failing to execute a hook shot. His opening partner Andri Berenger also fell prey to the hook shot as a Yadav delivery was too quick for him and Dhoni took another easy catch.
From there on, it was Ashwin's show as he had the batsmen in his grips. Krishna Karate (4) got one to jump and Raina took a catch at leg-slip while Dhawan took a smart one to dismiss Swapnil Patil (7).
Tournament's oldest player Khurram Khan attempted a sweep shot off a delivery that pitched full and bounced a shade more as Raina ran from his first slip position towards leg-slip to complete the easiest of catches.
Shaiman Anwar (35 not out, 6×4), UAE's man in form, tried his bit but there wasn't any support from the other end. It was Anwar, whose plucky shots got his team's total past
100-run mark.
Thee sixth UAE wicket to fall was left-hander Rohan Mustafa (2), who couldn't bring his bat down to a ball from Sharma that nipped back a little to wrap him on the back-foot.
