Tendulkar magic see India win Compaq Cup

Chris Dhambarage

Veteran opener Sachin Tendulkar revived some of his memories of the 1990’s with a magnificent century as India bounced back to beat Sri Lanka by 46 runs in the Compaq Cup Tri Series limited overs cricket tournament final worked off under lights at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday.

The 36 year old right hander from Mumbai hit up his highest score against Sri Lanka (138) with one six and ten boundaries to help India rattle a huge 319 for 5 from their 50 overs after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had won the toss and elected to bat first.

Sri Lanka in reply fell short by 46 runs from their target despite a valiant effort from their middle order batsmen. Sri Lanka of course got off to a spectacular start courtesy a blistering opening stand between Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillekeratne Dilshan.

The pair proved that they mean business from the start by putting on 64 runs from just 7.5 overs.

India however came back into the game with a double blow from spinner Harbajan Singh before Kumar Sangakkara and all rounder Thilan Thushara Mirando revived their hopes with a sixth wicket stand of 51 runs from 59 balls.

The Sri Lankan captain of course was dismissed in a bizarre manner when his bat slipped out of his sweaty gloved hands and fell on the stumps while trying to punish a low full toss from Rudra Singh.

Left hander Thilina Kandamby and Chamara Kapugedera then kept Sri Lanka’s hopes alive to a certain extent with a seventh wicket partnership of 70 runs. Kandamby went on to hit a top score of 66 from 94 balls inclusive of four boundaries and was eighth out with the total at 264. Harbajan Singh snapped up two more wickets in his final spell and finished with a superb five wicket haul.

The victory also helped India to overcome the jinx of having not won a final in a multi nation event on Sri Lankan soil for eleven years. Earlier Tendulkar was forced to play with the help of a runner during the latter stages of the innings but still he managed to keep the score moving at a steady pace.

The right hander did not show any discomfort as he hoisted mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis over long off and then decided to reverse sweep the same bowler twice to the fine leg boundary in successive deliveries. The new opening combination of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid gave the visitors the perfect start while adding 95 runs from 17.2 overs before Yuvraj Singh added the finishing touches while compiling a breezy 56 not out from 41 balls inclusive of one six and half a dozen of boundaries.

India decided to change gear mid way in the innings with Tendulkar reaching his 44th one day international hundred in the 33rd over while playing risk-free-cricket.

Even then it was skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who really began the acceleration after he promoted himself in the batting order. This turned out to be a wise move as India reached an impressive 142 for 1 at the half way stage of the innings.

Dhoni then decided to play more aggressively by deciding to take the batting power play in the 35th over and with the score at 185 for 1. India successfully collected 38 runs from the five overs with Dhoni racing to his half century from 55 deliveries with the aid of three boundaries. The Indian captain of course was snapped up by Lasith Malinga but by that time he had done a great amount of damage to the Sri

Lankan bowlers by putting on a splendid 110 runs for the second wicket from 115 deliveries together with Sachin Tendulkar.

INDIA

R. Dravid c Dilshan b Jayasuriya 	 39
S. Tendulkar lbw b Mendis		138
M. Dhoni c Kandamby b Malinga		 56
Y. Singh not out  			 56
Yusuf Pathan c Kapugedara b Thushara	  0
S. Raina c Kulasekara b Thushara  	  8
V. Kohli not out 			  2

Extras: (b1, nb1, w18) 			 20
Total (for 5 wkts, 50 overs)		319
Fall of wickets: 1-95 (Dravid), 2-205 (Dhoni), 3-276 (Tendulkar), 4-277 (Pathan), 5-302 (Raina).
Bowling: Kulasekara 8-0-38-0, Thushara 10-0-71-2 (w8), Malinga 10-0-81-1 (nb1, w5), 
	Mendis 10-0-70-1 (w5), Jayasuriya 9-0-43-1, Mathews 3-0-15-0

Sri Lanka

T. Dilshan b Harbhajan			42	
S. Jayasuriya c Nehra b Pathan		36
M. Jayawardene c and b Harbhajan	 1
K. Sangakkara hit wkt b Rudra Pratap	33
T. Thushara b Sharma			15
A. Mathews c Raina b Yuvraj		14
T. Kandamby b Harbhajan			66
C. Kapugedara c Dhoni b Raina		35
N. Kulasekara not out			 9
L. Malinga c and b Harbhajan	 	 0
A. Mendis st Dhoni b Harbhajan		 7

Extras: (lb3, nb1, w11)			15
Total (all out, 46.4 overs)		273
Fall of wickets: 1-64 (Dilshan), 2-76 (Jayawardene), 3-85 (Jayasuriya), 4-108 (Thushara), 
	5-131 (Mathews), 6-182 (Sangakkara), 7-252 (Kapugedara), 8-264 (Kandamby), 9-264 (Malinga), 10-273 (Mendis).
Bowling: Nehra 7-0-43-0, Sharma 7-0-51-1 (w5), Rudra Pratap 5-0-34-1 (nb1),
 	Harbhajan 9.4-0-56-5 (w3), Pathan 4-0-36-1 (w3), Yuvraj 6-0-24-1, Raina 8-0-26-1.