Yuvraj exacts revenge

19 September 2007

Yuvraj Singh clears the rope during his savage late assault at Kingsmead © Getty Images

Man of the match Yuvraj Singh admitted the misery of being hit for five sixes in the NatWest Series this summer spurred him on to go one better.

The India all-rounder became the first player to hit six sixes in an over in international Twenty20 cricket, off Stuart Broad in the 18-run win over England in the ICC World Twenty20 clash in Durban.

Yuvraj saw five successive deliveries go for six at the hands of Dimitri Mascarenhas in the clash between the teams at the Brit Oval earlier this month.

And after his memorable display of hitting at Kingsmead, he said: “In England I got hit for five sixes - the number of phone calls I had after that...

“I thought this is not fair, you’ve got to give me a chance - and I got it. We had wickets in hand, so I thought ‘use the crease’ and I timed the ball well.”

India need to beat South Africa on Thursday to keep alive their hopes of reaching the last four of the competition.

And Yuvraj added: “It’s a very important game for us. If we can pull it out in the last one we can get to the semis.”

Umpire Simon Taufel is kept busy as Yuvraj makes history

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India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said: “We needed that - the way the guys responded was amazing.

“Getting a good start was never a worry - we got a good start in the last game. But you don’t expect six sixes in an over - what Yuvraj did was great for the team.

“Tomorrow is another do or die situation and it will be a tough game. The players have to respond positively and back themselves.”

England captain Paul Collingwood said: “It’s unbelievable - for India to get a total like that, then we made a great fist of it.

“The big difference was an over of 36, it’s hard to drag back. I feel sorry for Stuart but it’s only a matter of time before an over like that was going to come around.”

Despite a disappointing tournament, Collingwood believes there is plenty to be positive about as England head for Sri Lanka for a one-day series.

He added: “We’ve learned so much about the side and about a lot of the players. We can go to Sri Lanka full of confidence.

“It’s disappointing to be knocked out but we’ll learn a lot from this.”