HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND // In some ways, Ireland should see this eight-wicket thumping at Indian hands as a compliment. With MS Dhoni's team almost assured of top spot in Pool B, pre-match speculation had included possible changes, with the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ambati Rayudu and Axar Patel in line for some game time. Instead, India played their strongest team, conceded 89 runs in the first 15 overs, and then romped past a target of 260 with eight wickets and 79 balls to spare.
That moved Dhoni level with Clive Lloyd for nine consecutive World Cup wins. Not a man given to celebrating such numbers, he will take more pleasure from the fact that India bowled out the opposition for a fifth straight game.
Paul Stirling and William Porterfield had raced off at a run a ball, and a 61-run partnership between Niall O’Brien and Andy Balbirnie off just 46 deliveries had put India under real pressure. But each time questions were asked, Dhoni and his bowlers had the answers.
Ravichandran Ashwin was again the standout, finishing with 2 for 38 after a largely immaculate spell that helped rein Ireland in. First, he deceived Stirling in flight to have him caught at long-off, and then Balbirnie top-edged a sweep to short fine leg. Instead of 300, which looked on the cards at 206-3 in the 39th over, Ireland finished with 259.
Mohammed Shami finished with 3 for 41, including the wickets of Niall and Kevin O’Brien, and now has 12 for the tournament, one behind Trent Boult and Tim Southee, who have played a game more. This, though, has been an incredible all-round show, with each of the five front-line bowlers taking at least seven wickets, while conceding less than five an over.
What India had lacked thus far in the tournament had been a huge opening partnership, of the sort that Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma managed twice during the surge to the Champions Trophy in 2013. That was put right at Seddon Park as the two carved up Ireland’s modest bowling, adding 174 in just 140 balls. Dhawan pulled and flicked five leg-side sixes and also cut ferociously, while Rohit was just commanding in the arc between extra-cover and long-off.
The last time India won five straight matches in this part of the world, they went on to win the World Championship of Cricket in March 1985. They bowled Pakistan out for 183, England for 149 and Australia for 163, before keeping New Zealand to 206 in the semi-final. Pakistan avoided being bowled out in the final, scoring 176 for 9, but India’s eight-wicket win was as comfortable as a stroll to the local shop.
It probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that the common link between the two campaigns is Ravi Shastri. Named Champion of Champions in 1985 for his three half-centuries and eight wickets at 20.75, he is now India’s team director – the man who called the Tri Series that preceded the World Cup “a sheer waste of time”.
In the days leading up to the first game in Adelaide, Shastri and Virat Kohli went off to a spa for some R&R. Kohli started the competition with a century against Pakistan. Shastri remains as upbeat as ever, confidently stating that India can knock over Australia should they meet, as looks likely, in the Sydney semi-final.
When Shastri took up the role especially created for him ahead of the one-day international series in England last summer – India won 3-1, after losing the Tests by the same margin – he spoke of the need to make cricket “fun” again. He also spoke of how his experience of the conditions – he was the first Indian to score a Test double-hundred in Australia as well – could prove invaluable come the World Cup.
With the team in high spirits, and a quarter-final against Bangladesh on the horizon, his recruitment is beginning to look like the smartest bit of business the BCCI have done in years.
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