There are days when Yuvraj Singh feels it. Days when Yuvraj Singh plays one level above the game around him. Today was one such day when on a two-paced pitch, despite mis-hits punctuating the innings, despite dehydration and vomiting on the field, despite Ravi Rampaul taking his first five-for in his first World Cup match, he played some breathtaking shots to bring up his first World Cup century.
India were 51 for 2 when Yuvraj came to bat. Rampaul and Andre Russell were all pumped up trying to bounce India out, and Yuvraj was dropped twice when 9 and 11. The bouncers still kept coming; the odd ball still misbehaved, especially for the left-hand batsman; Yuvraj got dehydrated and barfed, but nothing seemed to be able to stop the Yuvraj specials in between, shots that kept the scoring rate up in the middle overs.
His partner in the middle order, Virat Kohli, was smart too: he had played 21 deliveries when Yuvraj came to join him, but so good was the strike manipulation that Yuvraj had played 12 more deliveries than him by the time their partnership ended.
During the partnership, Yuvraj pulled over midwicket, cover-drove for fours along the ground, swept the legspin of Devendra Bishoo, and on-drove Sammy over long-on for a majestic six.
For good measure, Yuvraj turned up with the ball too to remove Devon Thomas and Andre Russell to seal a comfortable win.