India snatch Asia Cup in style
India spearheaded by some splendid seam bowling lifted the Asia Cup
with a convincing 81 run victory over the defending champions Sri Lanka
in the final encounter worked off under lights at the Rangiri Dambulla
International Stadium yesterday.
The Indian seamers broke the back of the Sri Lankan batting with some
real hostile bowling as the home side was dismissed for 187 runs while
chasing a competitive score of 268 runs.
India made early inroads into the Sri Lankan top order while
capturing five quick wickets for just 50 runs. Ashish Nehra led the way
with a three wicket burst from his opening spell and received good
support from Praveen Kumar and Zaheer Khan.
Chamara Kapugedera however put up a fighting performance and remained
unbeaten on 55 from 88 deliveries inclusive of one six and four
boundaries. He also put on 36 runs for the seventh wicket along with
Nuwan Kulasekera during the batting power play overs.
Sri Lanka of course started their run chase disastrously losing
opener Tillekeratne Dilshan in the second over of the innings. Skipper
Sangakkara and Upul Tharanga then made a valiant effort to rebuild the
innings against some superb hostile bowling.
Upul Tharanga who struggled throughout the innings was bowled by
Nehra while leaving a delivery as Sri Lanka slumped to 31 for 2 even
before the 10th over of the innings.
Former captain Mahela Jayawardena and all rounder Angelo Mathews then
departed in the same over in the space of three deliveries and Sri Lanka
had lost half of their side for a mere 50 runs by the 14th over.
Left hander Thilina Kandamby and Chamara Kapugedera rescued the Sri
Lankan innings briefly while putting on a half century stand for the
sixth wicket batting under tremendous pressure. But tragedy struck
almost immediately as Kandamby was run out off a no ball that brought an
end to a promising partnership.
Earlier India piled up a formidable 268 for 6 from their 50 overs
after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had won the toss and elected to bat
first. Their innings was built around a solid half century from opener
Dinesh Karthik who hit a top score of 66 from 84 balls with nine
boundaries.
Karthik put on a useful 62 run partnership for the second wicket
along with Virat Kohli after his partner Gautham Gambhir had departed
early. Skipper Dhoni joined Karthik and the pair added a further 46 runs
for the third wicket.
Sri Lanka of course came back into the game while claiming a couple
of quick wickets mid way in the innings that put the Indians under some
kind of pressure. Thilina Kandamby turned out to be more than a useful
spinner as he snapped up two key wickets during a controlled seven over
spell.
Skipper Dhoni also lost his wicket while attempting to accelerate the
scoring rate for a well compiled 41 from 52 balls inclusive of three
boundaries. Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina also chipped in with valuable
contributions during the latter stages before Jadeja added the finishing
touches with a run a ball 29 not out inclusive of one six.
SCORECARD
India
G. Gambhir run out 15
D. Karthik c Jayawardene b Kandamby 66
V. Kohli c. Sangakkara b Malinga 28
MS Dhoni c Kulasekara b Kandamby 38
R. Sharma c Maharoof b Kulasekara 41
S. Raina lbw b Malinga 29
R. Jadeja not out 25
Harbhajan Singhnot out 7
Extras (b 2, lb 7, w 9, nb 1) 19
TOTAL (6 wickets; 50 overs) 268
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-38 2-100 3-146 4-167 5-217 6-249
BOWLING: N. Kulasekara 9-0-44-1 (w-2), L. Malinga 10-0-57-2 (nb-1, w-6),
F. Maharoof 6-0-41-0, A. Mathews 3-1-16-0, M.
Muralitharan 10-0-34-0, T. Kandamby 7-0-37-2, T. Dilshan 5-0
-30-0 (w-1)
Sri Lanka
WU Tharanga b Khan 16
TM Dilshan c Harbhajan Singh b Kumar 0
KC Sangakkara c Khan b Nehra 17
DPMD Jayawardene c Dhoni b Nehra 11
AD Mathews c Dhoni b Nehra 0
SHT Kandamby run out 31
CK Kapugedera not out 55
MF Maharoof c Dhoni b Khan 10
KMDN Kulasekara st Dhoni b Jadeja 20
SL Malinga c Jadeja b Nehra 7
M Muralitharan c Dhoni b Jadeja 2
Extras (b 4, lb 3, w 9, nb 2) 18
TOTAL (all out; 44.4 overs) 187 (4.18 runs per over)
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-5 2-31, 3-50, 4-50, 5-51, 6-104, 7-132, 8-168, 9-177, 10-187
BOWLING: P Kumar 9-1-29-1, Z Khan 8-2-36-2, A Nehra 9-0-40-4, Harbhajan Singh 9-0-30-0,
V Kohli 3-0-16-0, RA Jadeja 6.4-0-29-2 |
