A most incredible match, albeit on the most dodo-dead tracks India has produced, ended with Sri Lanka nearly chasing down the second highest target in the history of one-day cricket. India would have fancied their chances of a series lead after they piled up their highest one-day total of 414 for 7, spearheaded by Virender Sehwag's 102-ball 146, but three dropped catches and some shoddy bowling helped Sri Lanka bolt out of the blocks and nearly give them a coronary attack.
Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga's 188-run opening stand left India stunned, Kumar Sangakarra's exceptional 90 from just 40 balls deflated them, and a brief flurry of wickets after Dilshan fell for a superb 160 was followed by a fifty stand between Thilina Kandamby and Angelo Mathews. But when it most mattered, India's bowling tidied up and choked runs for Kandamby and Mathews. A double-wicket 49th over, with Zaheer Khan bowling full to minimise scoring options and collecting the ball well twice before the batsmen got home, yielded just four runs and left the equation at 11 from six balls.
Ashish Nehra kept his cool to bowl full and straight, Sachin Tendulkar saved a boundary with a leaping catch at midwicket, and India had squeezed a most pulsating match.
Whatever Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar did in the morning was reprised in the afternoon as Tillakaratne Dilshan's magnificent hundred and Upul Tharanga's lively support inspired a riotous start to Sri Lanka's innings. Tilting at a 415-run windmill, they were right in the hunt at halfway, with Dilshan continuing to find the gaps with ease, and Tharanga departing after a stroke-filled 67.
India had the chance to strike early, but with Tharanga on 10, Virat Kohli grassed the simplest of chances at short point, and they were made to pay as Dilshan cut loose with a flurry of boundaries. He pulled and cut anything short or wide, and drove precisely down the ground when the ball was pitched too full. Just for variety, he threw in a couple of scoops as well, each evading the fielder placed at short fine leg to stop it.
He got to his half-century from just 38 balls as 81 came from the first 10 overs. The introduction of Zaheer Khan saw one imperious drive through the covers, while Ravindra Jadeja was greeted with six-four-four as 17 came from the over. Soon after, he had his hundred from 73 balls, and it was Tharanga that then took up the attack, lashing Jadeja straight down the ground for two sixes on his way to 50 from 51 balls.
Suresh Raina too was thumped for a straight six, before an error of judgement saw him stumped. But with only Harbhajan Singh establishing any sort of control, India were far from safe, no matter how huge the total they were defending.
Kumar Sangakkara's decision to bowl first was made to look incredibly foolish as a sensational 102-ball 146 from Virender Sehwag inspired India to their biggest total in one-day internationals, surpassing the 413 made against lowly Bermuda at the 2007 World Cup. Having scored 387 for 4 against England at the same venue a year earlier, Sehwag, in tandem with Sachin Tendulkar and then MS Dhoni, smashed the bowlers with barely a pause. If not for a stutter during the batting Powerplay and more disciplined bowling towards the end of the innings, a total of 450 might have been possible. To compound Sri Lanka's woes, they took nearly four hours to get through the 50 overs, with sanctions from the match referee almost certain as a result.
India had started quietly on a well-grassed pitch, but once the acceleration came, Sri Lanka were helpless. There was some early movement for both Nuwan Kulasekara and Chanaka Welegedara, making his one-day debut, and the openers hadn't taken too many chances. Sehwag twice drove Kulasekara through cover, and there was a lovely back-foot push from Tendulkar as just 19 came from the first five overs. Suddenly, though, the game exploded into life, with Sehwag taking Welegedara for three fours in an over.
Thereafter, Sri Lanka were all over the place, with Tendulkar timing the ball magnificently in the V and Sehwag moving into six-hitting mode. Kulasekara, with his lack of pace, was the ideal target, clouted over cover and then pulled over midwicket with an ease that must have sent a chill down Sangakkara's spine.
Another emphatic pull off Welegedera took him to 50 from just 34 balls and he then spent some time at the non-striker's end watching Tendulkar do his thing. After two glorious lofts down the ground, Tendulkar opted for the impudent, upper-cutting Fernando over gully and slip to reach his own half-century from 48 balls. After overs 6-10 produced 52 runs, the bowling Powerplay cost Sri Lanka 36.
But worse was to follow. Angelo Mathews was introduced, and Sehwag immediately went downtown, thumping one behind the sightscreen and then over cover as the six balls cost 18. Tendulkar joined in with an imperious straight loft off Jayasuriya and it needed Fernando to give the Sri Lankans some breathing space. A beautiful incoming delivery ended Tendulkar's innings at 69, and India responded by sending Dhoni to the middle.
Sehwag, though, doesn't like pauses, and after a brief lull when only singles were taken, he whacked a short one from Jayasuriya over midwicket for six. Two fours off the hapless Mathews later, he had his 12th century, from just 66 balls.
On such a great surface for batting, Dhoni wasn't going to stand and watch the fun. A six off Jayasuriya nearly went out of the ground, and when a desperate Sangakkara turned to the part-time spin of Thilina Kandamby and Tillakaratne Dilshan, the fours continued to flow. Dhoni should have gone on 31, but Sangakkara missed a stumping after Kandamby sent down an innocuous full toss. Dhoni celebrated the reprieve with straight sixes off both spinners as he too reached a half-century from 34 balls.
After 30 overs, India had 261 on the board and with Sehwag picking off the bowling at will, a record individual score was on the cards. But soon after the batting Powerplay was taken, Welegedara returned to get him with a low full toss that lobbed to point off the leading edge. By then, the second-wicket partnership was worth 156.
Dhoni followed four balls later, miscuing a slower ball from Fernando into the hands of cover. His 72 spanned just 53 balls, and he went across 5000 runs along the way. The stutter continued as Gautam Gambhir edged Kulasekara behind, and the Powerplay fetched Sri Lanka three wickets for 33 runs. Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh didn't inflict much damage, but attractive cameos from Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja ensured that the last few overs would be all about watching records fall. Sri Lanka needed some of their own to avoid abject humiliation.
No comments:
Post a Comment