The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Sri Lanka holds its nerves to win a thriller

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 19, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Sri Lanka holds its nerves to win a thriller

By Sanjay Rajan

DAMBULLA, JULY 18. After two lop-sided contests featuring UAE, there was finally an even match-up of strengths at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium here on Sunday. The clash between two sub-continent giants - India and Sri Lanka - in the concluding Group B day/night match of the Indian Oil-Asia Cup 2004 was inconsequential in the larger sense.

Both sides had qualified for phase two and it didn't really matter whether you topped or not, as the second stage is to be played on a league format, where all four teams (Pakistan and Bangladesh have qualified from Group A) meet each other.

But the hotels in this sleepy, little town were fully booked for the weekend, as a big crowd arrived from Colombo and other parts of the country. This is the kind of passion an India-Sri Lanka clash generates in the Emerald Isle. Some people travel any distance just to be there. Even Indians.

Flag-waving supporters - including the legendary Percy Abeysekera - thronged the 21,000-capacity stadium well in advance of the 2:45 p.m. start.

For both teams, it was a battle within a battle - as the winner would carry forward a psychological advantage.

Sri Lanka opted to bat first on a good batting track - the square wasn't the one used for the earlier two matches - and ran up 282 for four in the allotted 50 overs, which is now the highest score at this venue, bettering Australia's 262 against the host, set in February this year.

Rahul Dravid, by far India's most consistent batsman, took his side to the doorstep of victory, but the strong favourite fell short by 12 runs. A drizzle during the day's second over interrupted play for 77 minutes, but the time lost was made up by reducing interval time and extending play. No-one complained.

It was action-packed, as Lanka's batting guns boomed: skipper Marvan Atapattu, the talented southpaw Kumara Sangakkara and the attractive Mahela Jayawardene scored half centuries while that maverick Avishka Gunawardene (49), opening the innings in the place of an injured Sanath Jayasuriya, provided the side with a 63-run start in 13.3 overs in the company of Saman Jayantha (34).

India retorted with cannon shells, in the form of Dravid and the hard-hitting left-hander Yuvraj Singh (47). Their fifth-wicket stand of 133 off 162 deliveries helped India recover from the depths of despair at 71 for four to even keel. At the end of 40 overs, Lanka had been 199 for three and India was 199 for four, thanks to Dravid's dream touch.

Sri Lanka made three changes to the previous day's XI: Atapattu, spearhead Chaminda Vaas and mediumpacer Farveez Mahroof replaced fast bowler Lasith Malinga, batsman Thilina Kandambi and Jayasuriya.

India replaced an injured V.V.S. Laxman - he developed a thigh strain in the morning - with wicketkeeper-bat Parthiv Patel. Skipper Sourav Ganguly was left with no choice. He would otherwise have had to pick an extra bowler. Dravid, for a change, returned to his favourite position - the first slip.

The heavy breeze from the pavilion side hampered mediumpacer L. Balaji, bowling from the far end. While the predominantly in-swing bowler had Avishka Gunawardene in a spot of bother - beating the left-hander outside the off-stump repeatedly - he was, at the same time, straying down the leg-side to the right-hander and conceded quite a few runs in that region.

Ganguly tried left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan from the far end for one over, before reintroducing Balaji, who put an end to the opening-wicket stand when he dismissed Jayantha caught behind. In all, the lanky speedster conceded seven wides and one no-ball.

The Lankan Lions can be ferocious at home. On this day, their batsmen were unstoppable, decimating the Indian attack with a combination of power and precision. They planned the assault brilliantly; skipper Atapattu and Gunawardene, who top-scored the previous day, put on 65 in 83 deliveries, pushing ones into twos and punishing the loose deliveries, of which there were many.

Gunawardene was run out, falling prey to over-enthusiasm while Atapattu fell to a neat throw by Yuvraj Singh from backward point to the non-striker's end. But Sangakkara and vice-captain Jayawardene provided the Indians with no respite taking the score to 272 with their 116-run fourth-wicket stand off just 90 deliveries. Sangakkara was out in the 49th over, giving left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan the charge.

Leg-spinner Anil Kumble bowled tidily, so did Zaheer, who pulled a muscle while fielding, and Irfan but the day seemed to belong to the roaring Lions.

Left-arm speedster Nuwan Zoysa, bowling from the far end, dismissed both openers in no time: Sachin Tendulkar, who became India's most capped player, going past former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin's record of 334 matches, was caught by a diving Jayantha at short cover driving away and Parthiv Patel was caught behind.

Zoysa struck again, after Virender Sehwag was run out, this time from the pavilion end, when he had Ganguly changing halfway through in his pull shot, to be caught at short mid-on.

Dravid, who smashed left-arm pacer Vaas with disdain, and Yuvraj, the maker of dreams, had Lanka pressing panic buttons when the latter, in trying to hit Vaas across the line, top-edged to be held by 'keeper

Sangakkara.

Lanka was clearly missing the left-arm spin of Jayasuriya as the fourth bowler and India, on the other hand, the reach of Laxman. Dravid kept the tempo on, striking Zoysa, who conceded 10 wides and a no-ball, for a six over mid-wicket. But Muralitharan, whose whole family had come to watch the match, dismissed Dravid, forcing him onto the backfoot and foxing him with his width of spin.

Young speedster Farveez Mahroof bowled impressively in the death overs. Pathan and Balaji tried to force the pace. But it was too much for the tail to handle. The second stage begins on July 21.

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

Sport