Coca-Cola Cup in Sri Lanka
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Yuvraj Singh
Partnerships - Stats
8th ODI
India v Sri Lanka
Runs102
Overs21.5
Minutes103
Rahul Dravid

Yuvraj and Dravid: The perfect mix of caution and aggression

There comes a time every now and then that two people get together and change the complexion of a game. For India, it was the unlikely pairing of Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid who did the job on the day.

The crucial eighth match of the Coca-Cola Cup saw India take on hosts Sri Lanka in a match that they had to win if they wanted to keep hopes of reaching the final alive. To begin with, India were on the back foot with skipper Sourav Ganguly losing the toss to his counterpart Sanath Jayasuriya.

Put in to bat, the Indians got off to the worst possible start, with makeshift opener Virender Shewag being trapped plumb in front by Chaminda Vaas off the very first ball of the match. There was more bad luck for India soon. Sourav Ganguly, returning to the fold after serving out a one match suspension for showing dissent made an inglorious duck off 16 balls. Having spent a bit of time at the wicket, the Indian captain sliced one from Vaas straight to Kumar Sangakkara at point.

VVS Laxman (10) and Hemang Badani (2) fell to the pace of Dilhara Fernando and India were looking down the barrel with the score on 38/4. A truly desperate situation, and one that demanded a levelheaded approach. Rahul Dravid, putting all his experience to use, teamed up with the youthful and aggressive Yuvraj Singh.

With the Karnataka middle order batsman sealing up one end, the youngster from Punjab was able to go after the bowling at the other end. The Sri Lankan bowlers did their best to dislodge the pair as soon as a small partnership began to develop.

Showing the full face of the bat to the bowlers, Dravid saw off the potent threat of champion offspinner Muthiah Muralitharan. At the same time, Yuvraj Singh began to go after the mediumpacers. Driving well on the up and through the line, Yuvraj took advantage of any width that was on offer.

Sizzling cover drives were the order of the day, with the field being spread every time there was a bit of width outside the off stump. Despite a liking for the off side, Yuvraj's shot of the day was a six over the on side. Vaas, returning for a late spell, let go a loosener on the middle and off stump. Yuvraj, walking down the wicket and across the stumps sent the ball sailing over midwicket for a six.

Unfortunately, Dravid was not at the crease long enough to see Yuvraj through to his highest ever score in international cricket. Dravid was dismissed by Jayasuriya on 47 (122 mins, 88 balls, three fours). Yuvraj went on to make a matchwinning 98 not out off 110 balls with six fours and one huge six.

Yuvraj walked away with the Man of the Match award alright. However, it was the partnership of 102 runs between Dravid and Yuvraj that came off 21.5 overs that set up the platform for a challenging score. For that reason, it is the 5 Star Partnership of the day.


Archive:
 
Chocolate
"The superiority of chocolate (hot chocolate), both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain..."
-Thomas Jefferson, 1785 letter to John Adams

Chocolate and Nutrients
Chocolate provides a number of nutrients the body requires daily. A milk chocolate bar weighing 1.4 ounces contains about three grams of protein, fifteen percent of the Daily Value of riboflavin, nine percent of the Daily Value for calcium and seven percent of the Daily Value for iron.

Almonds and peanuts added to chocolate increase the nutrients in a bar. This is particularly true for protein. Milk chocolate bars with almonds also have increased amounts of calcium, iron and riboflavin.




Results & Scores
Sri Lanka won by 121 runs
Sri Lanka 295/5 (50 ov)
India 174 (47.2 ov)
[Scorecard]



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