So near and yet so far for Sri Lanka

Shirajiv Sirimane in India

*Dilshan delights with 160

*Seh(wags)-with a dashing 146 in India’s 414 for 7 in 50 overs

Sri Lanka chasing a record 411 finished three runs short of victory in the first one day international against India at the Rajkot stadium here last evening. India made a record 414 for 7 the highest ever by them in an one day international against any team and Sri Lanka were not to be outdone and entered the record books by scoring their highest score of 411 for 8, batting second, to went down gallantly.

This incidentally is also the second highest aggregate (825) in an ODI after 872 made by Australia and South Africa in Wanderers Stadium in 2005.

Sri Lanka openers, Tharanga and Dilshan with an uphill task ahead of them to break a record total started the reply in spectacular fashion. The duo was never under pressure and executed their shots and was very much faster than the two Indian openers.

After the first 5 overs they had scored 25 and after the tenth over were 81, ten runs ahead of their counterparts. After the 15th over, Sri Lanka were comfortably placed at 130 whereas the India pair had only managed 107.

Dilshan had a free flow of shots but very responsible and never went for rash shots. The pair made sure to stroke a boundary or a six and maintained the eight plus run rate needed to win the match.

After settling down in the first five overs it was Tharanga who started the acceleration hitting Nehra out of the grounds with a nice straight hit.

Following over, Dilshan followed this up with two successive boundaries off Praveen Kumar. Next over Dilshan took Nehra off the attack when he hammered him for four successive boundaries and put the Indian skipper under pressure. The pair brought up the first 50 in 7.2 overs and the 100 in 13.3 overs.

Dilshan guided the ball through cover and mid wicket to reach his fifty in the 38th ball he faced and making it his 10th boundary.

Tharanga worked a ball off his pads to a Harbhajan delivery to bring his 50 made in 51 balls. His knock included three fours and a six.

Dilshan checked his shots more cautiously and reached his fourth one day 100, facing 73 balls. He hammered 16 fours and one six.

Skipper Sangakkara who is in form wasted no time and got in to the act by hitting Raina for a big six and making his interactions clear and at the end of the 30th over were 268 making sure they were ahead of the Indians at the same time.

The skipper just needed 24 balls to reach his 50th ODI 50 and this also had four boundaries and four sixes in including the biggest six of the match which ended up in the tents, off Harbhajan.

However a set back to this was seen when Sangakkara after two dropped chances skied a catch to Jadeja off Praveen Kumar after getting a top edge thus ending a gem of an innings. He made a blistering 90 off 43 balls which had 10 fours and 5 sixes. The pair also brought the score from 188 to 316 to a striking range to victory.

Jayasuriya demoted in the order could not impress and could only manage 6 and was stumped by Dhoni of the bowling of Harbhajan.

The crowd burst in jubilation when the Sri Lankan hero Dilshan had his off stump removed in the 41st over attempting to hammer Harbhajan off the ground. His masterly innings of 160 in 124 balls which was the highest made by a player against India in this ground had 20 boundaries and 3 sixes.

Sri Lanka needed 70 runs for a historic victory in 60 balls a possible ask.

However more bad luck was to follow the visitors when Mahela Jayawardene was run out when he attempted a third run changing the arm of Kohli from mid wicket.

The two new batsmen Kandamby and Mathews needed to score 68 from 58 balls averaging around 7.5 runs per over and the pair cautiously got about the task which was still possible with five wickets standing. But a late order collapse saw them fall short by three runs.

Earlier in the day the Indian team went on a leather hunt humiliating the Sri Lankan team scoring a record breaking 414 for 7.

The Indian innings was powered by a fiery 146 from all rounder Virender Sehwag who also recorded his highest individual score surpassing his 130 made against New Zealand in 2003. The Indian score was further boosted with quick fire knocks from Tendulkar (69) and Dhoni (73).

The Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar after consolidating in the first five overs started their onslaught in blazing style hammering the Sri Lankan bowling to all parts of the ground. As expected Sehwag, the leading run-scorer at this ground, with 259 runs in five innings at an average of 64.75 and a strike rate of 115.62 was the more aggressive of the two.

Sehwag reached his 50 with a four, over extra, off Welegedara in just 34 balls, hitting 8 boundaries and two sixes.

Tendulkar who was playing a subdued role picked up his tempo and reached his 92nd one day international 50 in 48 balls. He had 9 boundaries.

Sehwag continued his aggression scoring free boundaries and sixes freely and reached his 12th one day century in the 12th over. His 66 ball century had 12 boundaries and five sweetly timed sixes.

Sri Lanka will now move to Najpur to play their second match after the venue was shifted from Vishakhapatnam due to internal violence.

SCORECARD

		INDIA

V. Sehwag c Dilshan b Welegedara 	146
S. Tendulkar b Fernando 		 69
M. Dhoni c Mathews b Fernando 		 72
S. Raina c Jayasuriya b Kulasekara 	 16
G. Gambhir c Sangakkara b Kulasekara 	 11
H. Singh c Kulasekara b Mathews 	 11
V. Kohli b Welegedara 			 27
R. Jadeja not out  			 30
P. Kumar not out 			 05
Extras: (b5, lb4, w12, nb6) 		 27
Total (for 7 wkts, 50 overs) 		414

Fall of wickets: 1-153 (Tendulkar), 2-309 (Sehwag), 3-311 (Dhoni),
		 4-325 
		(Gambhir), 5-347 (Raina), 6-352 (Harbhajan), 7-386 (Kohli).

Bowling: Kulasekara 10-0-65-2 (w1), Welegedara 10-0-63-2 (nb1), Fernando 
		9-0-66-2 (nb5, w2),
	Mathews 7-0-60-1 (w2), Jayasuriya 7-0-76-0 (w5), Kandamby 5-0-49-0 (w2), Dilshan 2-0-26-0.
		SRI LANKA

U. Tharanga st Dhoni b Raina 		 67
T. Dilshan b Harbhajan 			160
K. Sangakkara c Jadeja b Kumar 		 90
S. Jayasuriya st Dhoni b Harbhajan 	 05
M. Jayawardene run out 			 03
T. Kandamby run out 			 24
A. Mathews c Tendulkar b Nehra 		 38
T. Samaraweera run out 			 00
N. Kulasekara not out 			 02
C. Welegedara not out 			 01
Extras: (lb7, w13, nb1) 		 21
Total (for 8 wkts, 50 overs) 		411

Fall of wickets: 1-188 (Tharanga), 2-316 (Sangakkara), 3-328 (Jayasuriya), 
		4-339 (Dilshan),
		 5-345 (Jayawardene), 6-401 (Kandamby), 7-404 (Samaraweera), 
		8-409 (Mathews).

Bowling: Kumar 9-0-67-1 (w1), Nehra 10-0-81-1 (w3, nb1), Zaheer 10-0-88-0 (w2), Jadeja 8-0-73-0 (w6),
	 Harbhajan 10-0-58-2, Raina 3-0-37-1 (w1).