After top-order struggles against spin, Dube fires India to 193/6

Ahmedabad, Feb 18 (PTI) Netherlands off-spinner Aryan Dutt bowled a stellar spell in the powerplay as India's struggles against spinners continued in the T20 World Cup, scampering to 193 for six here on Wednesday.

It was only in the second half of the innings that Shivam Dube (66 off 31) was able to break the shackles by hitting a barrage of sixes.

Opting to bat, India were hoping for Abhishek Sharma's return to form ahead of the Super 8 stage but the left-hander had to endure his third consecutive duck in the tournament. In the form of his life not so long ago, he is yet to score a run in his maiden ICC event.

It was the off-spin of Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus, Usman Qadir and Saim Ayub that had troubled the Indians in the previous league games. On Wednesday, it was the turn of Indian-origin offie Dutt to shine against a star studded home team at the world's largest cricket stadium.

On the eve of the match day, the Indian batters focussed on their game against the spinners in the nets but going forward, but they still have work to do.

While Dutt was the standout bowler, the variations used by the Netherlands pacers also tested the Indians.

Dutt, who is used to opening the bowling, was employed for three overs in the powerplay to counter the left-handed trio of Abhishek, Ishan Kishan (18 off 7) and Tilak Varma (31 off 27).

Having played two dot balls in the opening over, Abhishek went for the pull off a faster ball from Dutt only to see his stumps disturbed. The in-form Kishan was quick to get off the blocks before falling to Dutt in a bizarre fashion. Trying to dispatch Dutt on the leg-side, Kishan played on to his stumps with the ball ricocheting from his thigh and elbow.

Tilak, who started with a crisp straight six off pacer Logan van Beek, fell to the same bowler in the ninth over with 41-year-old Roelof van der Merwe taking a stunner at long-off.

India would have been four down inside 10 overs if Michael Levitt had not dropped a sitter off van Beek when Suryakumar Yadav (31 off 27) was on 13.

Having stuttered to 74/3 in 10 overs, Dube gave the innings much needed momentum with half a dozen sixes, most of them in the cow corner region. He too was tested by Dutt initially before clearing his front leg to get a free flow of the arms to clear the ropes at will.

Dube shared a 76-run stand with Hardik Pandya (30 off 21) to provide the push in the last five overs that yielded 75 runs. PTI BS UNG