Sport - Cricket   

India `A' bowlers have the last laugh

By G. Viswanath

Murali Kartik (left) is congratulated by teammates for dismissing Anushka Pollonowitha on the final day of the second `Test' between India `A' and Sri Lanka `A' at Pune on Tuesday. — Photo: Vivek Bendre

Pune Dec. 2. The India `A' bowlers dictated terms as the host won the second `Test' by an innings and 92 runs against Sri Lanka `A' here on Tuesday.

There was little resistance from the Sri Lanka `A' batsmen who succumbed to a combination of seam and spin bowling. From the moment Amit Bhandari sent opener Prasanna Jayawardane's off-stump flying, the home team did not allow things to drift and Sri Lanka was dismissed for 124 in its second innings.

In a rare display of penetrative bowling, Munaf Patel uprooted the stumps twice, some twenty minutes before tea, and trapped another batsman in front. He returned with a clutch of wickets as he pitched farther up and in the blockhole. Patel's strikes in his second spell gave a perfect finish to the second `Test.'

Even before the tailenders arrived, Murali Kartik had put India `A' on course to victory. The canny left-arm spinner took full advantage of the worn-out pitch. Some of the deliveries he and off-spinner Ramesh Powar were unplayable. Bowling from closing to the wicket, he not only kept Lanka de Silva guessing but also castled him.

In the absence of the visitor's most successful batsman on the tour and the team's guiding force, captain Naveed Nawaz, Sri Lanka `A' suffered. The mantle fell on de Silva to keep the host at bay, but he had no answer to the vicious delivery from Kartik.

With the spinners in action, the close-in fielders too were in place to apply psychological pressure. Anushka Pollonowita and Ian Daniel were not happy with the decisions given against them by umpire Bomi Jamula as they were adjudged caught by the close cordon which went up spontaneously. However, there was no such doubt when the belligerent Rangana Herath drove in the air between cover and mid-off. The ball did not reach its intended destination, though. Rohan Gavaskar (positioned at wide mid-off), not taking his eye off the ball, timed his run perfectly to take the catch with his left hand while being off-balance, after failing to hold it with two hands. Herath's dismissal gave Kartik impressive figures of 23-11-27-4.

There cannot be a better sight in cricket than a fast bowler's delivery screaming under the bat to knock down the stumps. Patel did so after being asked to break the seventh wicket pair of Kaushalya Weeraratne and Omesh

Wijesiriwardane.

The India `A' team went into a huddle to show its team spirit before walking briskly to the Nagarwala dressing room. The team leads the three-`Test' series 1-0 with the third and final match scheduled to start on Saturday (Dec. 6) at the Brabourne Stadium. India `A' could well have clinched the series here, but Kartik's absence at Motera in the first `Test' denied India `A' that privilege.

The selectors retained the same 14 for the final Test.

The scores:

Sri Lanka `A' — 1st innings: 340.

India `A' — 1st innings: 556 for seven decl.

Sri Lanka `A' — 2nd innings: P. Jayawardane b Bhandari 12, I. Daniel c Das b Kartik 30, J. Mubarak c Sriram b Bhandari 3, Lanka de Silva b

Kartik 20, A. Pollonowita c Kaif b Kartik 2, R. Herath c Gavaskar b Kartik 17, K. Weeraratne lbw b Patel 25, O. Wijesiriwaradane b Patel 12, C. Mudalige b Patel 0, L. Malinga (not out) 0, Naveed Nawaz (did not bat); Extras (b-1, lb-1, nb-1) 3; Total 124.

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-26, 3-61, 4-65, 5-72, 6-95, 7-121, 8-121, 9-124.

India `A' bowling: Patel 8.5-1-28-3, Bhandari 8-1-33-2, Kartik 23-11-27-4, Powar 12-2-34-0.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

Cricket

• India `A' bowlers have the last laugh
• Can the Indians buck the trend?
• Giles puts Lanka on the backfoot
• Draw can take India to fifth place
• Maharashtra fights back
• Mazumdar hits hundred
• Sharath completes century; Tamil Nadu makes 372
• Railways back on track
• N.P. Singh wrecks Karnataka
  
  Tennis
  
• Somdev stops Qureshi's run
  
  Squash
  
• Vora, Harinderpal advance in qualifying round
  
  Table Tennis
  
• Soumyajit, Swarna triumph
  
  Volleyball
  
• Karnataka women enter quarterfinal league
  
  

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu