HANG ON, Ladbrokes have started offering India at 1/6 on to win the one-day series after their crushing first-up victory, and England's chances go out to 4/1 shots, against, but the Rajkot rumble was all about one man -- Yuvraj Singh, batting with a brace supporting his back.
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The series is far from concluded just yet, however one-sided the first game. India's 387 was their highest one-day total at home and second-highest anywhere; Yuvraj was simply unstoppable and needed only 78 balls for his undefeated 138. Not surprisingly Kevin Pietersen and his men came nowhere near a credible challenge in reply, losing by 158 runs.
Yuvraj is arguably in the top three of the world's best Twenty20 batsmen and he is a punishing one-day left-hander, so if he were to reach a century the tempo would be quick. And that is what happened, though he had not reached this milestone for more than a year. It is quite possible that this India mayhem will prove to be a one-off, especially if Yuvraj has to miss matches due to his sore back.
Yuvraj's only disappointment was missing India's fastest one-day hundred by two balls, held by Mohammad Azharuddin at 62. He batted with a runner for much of his innings, which in itself was controversial in that he entered the match with an injury already restricting his movement. Pietersen did not object as he could have done, after Yuvraj called for medical help out in the middle. His immobility might have been one reason why the Indian tormentor scored a high proportion of his runs in boundaries.
Pietersen said afterwards: "You have to trust a man. I can't see whether somebody's in pain, so you have to trust somebody. I don't think he would have made a whole big thing about it if there wasn't a problem."
CHARLIE SAYS: India should win the series, but at 4/1 in a three-horse race, including a tied series, England's odds look worth a flutter.
