Yuvraj's all-round show helps India win by 5 wickets

Abhishek Hore
Bangalore, Mar 6 (PTI) Yuvraj Singh produced an
impressive all-round performance as title contenders India
really toiled hard in order to pull-off a five-wicket win over
a spirited Ireland side in a group B encounter of the cricket
World Cup, here on Sunday.
Yuvraj became the first player in the history of World
Cup to take five wickets and score a half century (5/31 in 10
overs and 50 not out) as India huffed and puffed on their way
to a modest victory target of 208 in 46 overs.
After restricting Ireland to a modest 207, courtesy his
five-for, the southpaw batted sensibly on a slow track for
his half century as it came in 75 balls and had only three
fours in it. India now have five points from three matches
having notched up their second win.
Put into bat after Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss,
Ireland lost two early wickets before rival captain William
Porterfield capitalised on an early reprieve to rescue his
team.
But Yuvraj triggered a collapse that saw Ireland lose
their last eight wickets for 85 runs. The giant-killers, who
stunned England in their last match at the same venue, tried
to make a match of it, but India maintained their composure to
log full points from the tie.
When India batted, Yuvraj walked in after the hosts lost
the important wicket of Sachin Tendulkar, but the left-hander
was soon left to rue as a misunderstanding between him and
Virat Kohli led to the latter's dismissal.
When Dhoni joined Yuvraj at the halfway stage, India
needed another 108 runs for victory, and Ireland seemed all
pumped up, sensing another upset.
But such thoughts were soon put to rest as the two
experienced campaigners added 67 runs off 99 balls for the
fifth wicket to put India on course. The duo didn't take any
undue risk as the asking rate was always under control and the
strip didn't allow free-flowing strokeplay.
Left-arm spinner George Dockrell dimissed Dhoni with
India still 41 runs shy, but Yusuf Pathan, in his customary
fashion, clobbered the bowler for 16 runs in the same over to
take India within sniffing distance of victory.
A sequence of 0, 4, 6, 6 took the pressure off Yuvraj who
spent 108 minutes en route to his 47th ODI half century.
There was no twist in the tale after that as India
completed the task with four overs to spare.