Tour Game: India beat Sussex by six wickets

Hove, Sussex: Half centuries by Virat Kohli (71), Rohit Sharma (61*) and Parthiv Patel (55) took India to a comfortable six wicket win over Sussex in their one day international (ODI) practice game at Hove on Thursday.

Chasing a winning target of 237 in 45 overs, India finished at 238/4 in 40.5 overs as victory was achieved with 25 balls to spare.

The Indians looked in control even though Sachin Tendulkar (21) did not last long as Patel, Kohli and Sharma played around with an average home attack.

Kohli's knock came from 83 balls and included six fours and a six. Sharma's unbeaten 61 came from 65 balls and studded with eight fours and a six.

Tendullkar played some gorgeous strokes before he spooned up a catch at mid-off against left-arm paceman Chris Liddle.

As many as four fours were hit by Tendulkar in his brief 17-ball knock.

Patel was similarly aggressive, relying a great deal on chipped shots behind square before he played back to off-spinner Chris Nash and missed the line completely. He made his 55 runs from 65 balls and slammed nine fours.

But Kohli and Sharma then took over and literally toyed with the home side attack, running their singles crisply and hitting big shots at will.

Earlier, Sussex lost their last five wickets for 18 runs to be dismissed for 236 off the last ball of their allotted 45 overs.

RP Singh took 4/45 for the Indians while Matt Machan struck 56 off 71 balls for the hosts in a clash which was interrupted on three occasions because of rain.

Praveen Kumar provided India with an early breakthrough when he sent back Luke Wells after MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first in a delayed start to the match because of damp conditions.

RP then struck by getting the wickets of Lou Vincent (14) and CD Nash (24) as India kept a check on the Sussex innings.

Sussex lost their fourth wicket when Joe Gatting (46) was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin.

Joe Gatting and Machan then put on 47 runs for the fourth wicket before the former was bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin for 46.

A 65 run partnership between Machan and Ben Brown then took the Sussex total to 170 before Suresh Raina caught Mahan off his own bowling to leave the home team five down.

RP then returned to take two of the last five wickets to fall as the Sussex innings came to a tame end.

India look to hit ODI groove against Sussex

Hove, Sussex: In hopes of bringing an end to their miserable campaign in England so far, Team India will don the blue in the practice game against Sussex here on Thursday and try to do justice to their World Champions' tag after losing the No. 1 rank in Test cricket to England.

India were whitewashed 0-4 by England and the team will expect the induction of youth in the shorter version to provide the spark that has went missing so far in the English summer. However, the management needs to make sure that the injured players prove their fitness before being entrusted with the job of guarding India's reputation in ODI cricket.

Praveen missed the final Test at the Oval due to an ankle injury while Gambhir suffered a concussion making him a mere shadow of his formidable self in the two innings of the match.

Team India would find it difficult to live it down if a recently injured cricketer breaks down in the one-day series like Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag did in the Test matches.

As a result, India would like to throw as many youngsters as possible into the fray to assess their early form and confidence.

In all likelihood, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar would pull out to give a few younger batsmen the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the seaming and swinging conditions.

It would ensure that all four young batsmen of the side - Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma - lose little time in coming to grips with the testing conditions.

If skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni also sits out - and the Indian captain does need a break - than Parthiv Patel would have a critical opportunity.

If this season has been the one to have marred reputations, it can also be one to make reputations. There ought to be scramble for ODI places among young batters as well as bowlers.

Munaf Patel, so far kept in cotton wool, would have an opportunity to show his utility after being discarded in favour of RP Singh in the final Test at Oval last week.

In all likelihood, India would like to test their bowling combination for the one-dayers and hence Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar, R Ashwin and one between Vinay Kumar and young Varun Aaron should play.

They could have a good simulating situation to ODIs since Sussex boasts of some big names and the wicket at Hove is said to assist seam and swing.

Indian cricket fans would be familiar with the names of Murray Goodwin, Matt Prior, Monty Panesar and South African quick Wayne Parnell.

Michael Yardy, Ed Joyce and Luke Wright have all been England players. The two Pakistanis Naved-ul Hasan and Umar Gul need no introduction. In all likelihood, Sussex ought to field a good side.

With a whole lot of new faces - unaffected by the 4-0 whitewash of Tests - clamouring for places, Indians ought to start their campaign with a fresh mind.