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Thisara Perera (5 for 28) the hero:
Sri Lanka in easy win over India
Chinthana Wasala reporting from Dambulla
Thisara Perera took a career best 5 wickets for 28 and helped Sri
Lankan batsmen to chase an easy target of 103 to secure their place in
the final of the Micromax Tri Nation Tournament after winning by eight
wickets against India at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium yesterday.
The Sri Lankan opening pair TM Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardena got off
to a cracking start and set an opening partnership of 79 which included
14 boundaries and came in 9.3 overs. Dilshan and Mahela were sent back
to the pavilion in back to back deliveries by Ishant Sharma when they
were 35 and 33 respectively.
Then Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara got together and made sure
that they chase down the target early with a bonus point with 34.5 overs
to spare. Tharanga was not out on 12 and Sangakkara was 13 and finished
the match in style with a boundary.
Earlier, Thisara Perera, led a promising bowling attack that wrecked
the Indian batting line-up, and wrapped up the Indians for a total score
of 103 in 33.4 overs. Giving his best when he was called in back into
the team, Perera bagged the five wicket haul, having bettered his
previous best in all forms of cricket. But the good work was a bit
overshadowed with some controversial decisions given by the umpires.
Sri Lanka, who were in a must-win situation to reach the final of the
tournament, included Suraj Randiv and Thisara Perera replacing Ajantha
Mendis and Rangana Herath.
India batted first after winning the toss, having additional strength
to their batting line-up with Yuvraj Singh who replaced Virat Kohli. But
when they came into bat, only four Indian batsmen reached the double
figures.
Sri Lanka got off to a start of the kind they wanted as a double
strike from Kulasekera and a straight going beauty by Mathews removed
three of India’s top order batsmen early.
Virender Sehwag, the man who was in form, could not take his revenge
over the Lankan bowlers, after the bitter no-ball incident in the
earlier meeting with the hosts. Kulasekera got rid of Sehwag for 12, LBW
in his third over.
Others went out quite cheaply. Dinesh Karthik for 9, Sharma for 11
and Raina 8. India then faced back to back disasters as they lost
skipper Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra within
four and a half overs giving away only 19 runs. India score looked
disastrous at 80 for 8.
Perera had Jadeja and Praveen Kumar in two successive deliveries,
with a loud roar in the background, came out from the pretty good crowd
which was present for yesterday’s game.
Then it was Yuvraj who stood and watched his teammates coming in and
out of the field and hit some cracking shots around the field, hitting
five boundaries and a big six over the mid-off region. Malinga bowled a
full length delivery which caught Yuvi’s pad and then, he was gone for
38, the best score of the Indian innings.
Thisara Perera who was named as the man of the match, then cleaned up
the rest by picking his maiden five wicket haul, bowling out Ishant
Sharma for three runs. With Sri Lanka already through to the finals the
match between the Indians and the New Zealanders will decide who their
opponents will be in the final to be played on August 28.
INDIA
D. Karthik c Sangakkara b Kulasekara 9
V. Sehwag lbw b Kulasekara 12
R. Sharma lbw b Mathews 11
Y. Singh lbw b Malinga 38
S. Raina c Sangakkara b Perera 8
MS Dhoni c Sangakkara b Perera 10
R. Jadeja c Silva b Perera 0
P. Kumar c Tharanga b Perera 0
A. Nehra c Sangakkara b Malinga 2
I. Sharma b Perera 3
P. Ojha not out 2
Extras (lb3, w5) 8
TOTAL (33.4 overs) 103
Fall of wickets: 1-20 (Sehwag), 2-26 (Karthik), 3-50 (R. Sharma), 4-61 (Raina), 5-71
(Dhoni), 6-77 (Jadeja), 7-77 (Kumar), 8-80 (Nehra), 9-99 (Singh), 10-103 (I. Sharma).
Bowling: Malinga 9-1-21-2 (w2), Kulasekara 9-2-31-2 (w1), Mathews 8-3-20-1 (w1), Perera 7.4-1-28-5 (w1).
SRI LANKA
M. Jayawardene c Jadeja b I. Sharma 33
T. Dilshan c Nehra b I. Sharma 35
U. Tharanga not out 12
K. Sangakkara not out 13
Extras (lb6, nb1, w4) 11
TOTAL (for two wickets in 15.1 overs) 104
Fall of wickets: 1-79 (Dilshan), 2-79 (Jayawardene)
Bowling: Kumar 7-1-44-0 (w1), Nehra 5-0-39-0 (nb1, w3), I. Sharma 3.1-0-15-2. |
