|
Sri Lankans back in losing land:
India waltz home by 4 wickets
Elmo Rodrigopulle reporting from Australia
The Sri Lankan cricketers were ordered back into the land meant for
losers when India beat them 4 wickets in a Commonwealth Bank Tri series
game under lights here, today.
After Sri Lanka were restricted to 233 for 8 in their 50, the Indians
waltzed to victory, led by Sachin Tendulkar 48, Virat Kholi making 77
and Suresh Raina 24.At one stage India were 181 for 6 and looked doomed.
But Jadeja and Ashwin took them to victory putting on an unbroken
stand of 53 in 10.4 overs for the seventh wicket. Jadeja made 254 and
Ashwin 30. India made 233 for 6 in 46.3 overs.
After Mahela Jayawardena won the all important toss, the Lankan
batsmen had the advantage of batting on a wicket that looked good for
250 plus score. But that score could not be achieved owing to some
irresponsible batting.
When India began their chase, Virender Sehwag who is hopelessly out
of form, fell for 10 when he tried to cut and holed out to Nuwan
Kulasekera who took a well judged catch at point running in from third
man. 14 for 1.
Still searching
Sachin Tendulkar who is still searching for that elusive 100th 100
and Virat Kohli added 75 for the second wicket, before Tendulkar missed
out again. After making 48 with 5 fours, he tried to cut a ball that
moved in from Angelo Mathews and played on. 89 for 2.
India lost Rohit Sharma 10,Suresh Raina 24, M.S.Dhoni 4 and Virat
Kohli 77 and were struggling at 181 for 6.
Walking into the ground that was looking a picture, it was sad to
note the poor turnout of spectators. The reason was that two of the
worst teams in the game today Sri Lanka and India were playing.
The two teams in the past were great crowd pullers. But of late a
string of defeats has seen them lose their appeal and now they are
struggling to get back that lost appeal. So you can’t blame cricket fans
for tightening their wallets and not flocking to watch them in action.
Five-man pace attack
Sri Lankan selectors had decided to go in with a five-man pace attack
comprising Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera, Dhammika Prasad, Thisara
Perera and Angelo Mathews with Tillakaratne Dilshan to toss his off
spinners.
The playing of a five man pace squad would have been prompted because
the Perth wicket is known for its pace and bounce owing to the grass on
it.
But it came as a surprise when Mahela Jayawardena won the toss and
decided to bat.
India made two changes dropping Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Sharma who
was injured and bringing in Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag. Accept for
Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews, some the
better known batsmen such as Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela
Jayawardena could not contribute substantially.
End of innings
When the innings ended at 233 it was apparent that the Lankans were
30 to 40 runs short considering that the wicket was batsmen friendly. A
bit more responsibility by the batsmen who failed could have taken Sri
Lanka to a challenging total.
Sri Lanka were off to a bad start when Upul Tharanga who did seem at
ease being beaten a few times by Zaheer Khan in his first over, rushed
out to the bowler in his second over and glided a catch to Sachin
Tendulkar at first slip for 4. 12 for 1.
Kumar Sangakkara joined Tillakaratne Dilshan and began to restore the
innings. Dilshan who has been relieved of the captaincy was batting
freely. He was the aggressor hitting boundaries in front of the wicket.
Sangakkara was subdued and after making 26 in 34 balls with 2 fours
was brilliantly held by a diving Dhoni when Khan moved a ball. 74 for 2.
The batsmen put on 62 in 14 overs.
Good catch
Dilshan was looking good for half century and when on 48 attempted to
cut left arm spinner Jadeja and was nicely taken by Kohli at point with
6 fours. 100 for 3.
Jayawardena joined Chandimal who was batting very confidently and put
on 52 for the fourth wicket.
Trying to pull Ashwin, Jayawardena skied to Sharma at square leg for
23 with 2 fours in 33 deliveries.152 for 4.
A fifth wicket stand of 20 saw Sri Lanka reach 172, when Thisara
Perera jumped out to Ashwin and was stumped by Dhoni for 7 in 11 balls.
172 for 5. Chandimal who played a gallant and responsible innings of 64
in 80 with 4 fours was stumped by Dhoni. After Dilshan he was the
batsman to take the fight to the Indians. 189 for 6.
Lahiru Thirimanne from whom much was expected was run out after a
misunderstanding with Angelo Mathews for 7 in 11. 204 for 7.
Mathews and Nuwan Kulasekera put on 24 before Kulasekera top edged
Kumar to Sharma at point for 7 in 8. 228 for 8. Sri Lanka finally ended
on 233 for 8 in 50 with Angelo Mathews remaining unbeaten 33 in 28 with
2 fours.
Zaheer Khan with 2 for 44 and Ravichandran Ashwin with 3 for 32 in 10
were the bowlers to put the brakes on the Lankan batting. Perth,
Wednesday
Sri Lanka:
U. Tharanga c Tendulkar b Khan 04
T. Dilshan c Kohli b Jadeja 48
K. Sangakkara c Dhoni b Khan . 26
D. Chandimal st Dhoni b Ashwin 64
M. Jayawardene c Sharma b Ashwin . 23
T. Perera st Dhoni b Ashwin 07
A. Mathews L. Thirimanne run out 07
N. Kulasekara c Sharma b Vinay Kumar 07
L. Malinga . not out 01
Extras (lb6, w7) . 13
Total (eight wickets for; 50 overs) 233
Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Tharanga),2-74 (Sangakkara), 3-100(Dilshan), 4-152 (Jayawardene),5-172 (Perera), 6-189 (Chandimal),
7-204 (Thirimanne), 8-228(Kulasekara).
Bowling: Khan 10-1-44-2, Kumar 10-0-54-0 (2w), Vinay Kumar 10-1-56-1 (3w), Jadeja 10-0-41-1,
Ashwin 10-1-32-3 (2w).
India:
V. Sehwag c Kulasekera b Malinga 10
S. Tendulkar b Mathews . 48
V. Kohli run out . 77
R. Sharma c Dilshan b Perera 10
S. Raina c sub (Senanayake) b Mathews 24
M.S. Dhoni c Malinga b Prasad . 04
R. Jadeja not out 24
R. Ashwin not out 30
Extras (lb5, w2) . 07
Total (six wickets for; 46.4overs) 234
Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Sehwag), 2-89 (Tendulkar), 3-122 (Sharma),4-157 (Raina), 5-167(Dhoni), 6-181 (Kohli).
Bowling: Malinga 9-0-49-1(1w), Kulasekara 8-0-38-0, Prasad 10-0-47-1, Mathews 9.4-1-31-2, Perera 5-0-37-1 (1w), Dilshan 5-0-27-0. |
