The Hindu : Front Page : India outplays Sri Lanka

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 26, 2005

Front Page

Front Page

India outplays Sri Lanka

S. Ram Mahesh

Everything clicked for us — our batting, our bowling and our fielding, says Dravid.

HEROIC RETURN: Sachin Tendulkar's masterly 93 laid the foundation for India's commanding performance against Sri Lanka in the Nagpur ODI on Tuesday. It also answered all questions about his fitness as the maestro returned to international cricket aft er six months following an elbow surgery. — Photo: S. Subramanium

Advertisement

Nagpur: India defeated Sri Lanka by 152 runs in the first game of the seven-match Videocon Cup series at the VCA Stadium here on Tuesday.

Sachin Tendulkar returned to international cricket after a six-month injury break with his twelfth half century against the Lankans. The 32-year-old missed his 39th hundred by seven runs.

Capitalising on a 164-run partnership between Tendulkar and Irfan Pathan for the second wicket, captain Rahul Dravid scored an unbeaten 85 in 64 balls to take India to 350 for six in 50 overs. He was declared the man of the match for his innings and captaincy. Sri Lanka started strongly but succumbed to the spin of Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik, who took three wickets each.

Debutant fast bowler S. Sreesanth captured the last two wickets. For Sri Lanka, wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara top-scored with 43. Dravid called the Indian performance a "fantastic team effort" and said Tendulkar had been "sorely missed in the last few months."

"Not complacent"

UNI reports:

``Today was one of those days when everything clicked for us — our batting, our bowling and our fielding,'' said Dravid. However, the team would not become complacent.

"The whole team knows that this is just the first match and we have to play six more against a very strong team," the skipper said. "In fact I would not even have to tell the boys not to get complacent, they all will know that." About his form, Dravid said, "I had not performed too well in the recent past, so it felt good to stroke the ball beautifully in the early part of the series."

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

Front Page

News Update

Stories in this Section