The Hindu : Sport : Lankan batting fails yet again

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 11, 2005

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Sport

Lankan batting fails yet again

Dilshan produced a cameo but his effort proved to be more of a face saving exercise

W. V. RAMAN

It must have come as a big disappointment for the spectators at Rajkot that the match did not produce as much fireworks as expected. The pitch at Rajkot was as batsman friendly as ever but the Sri Lankans could not put up even a competitive score on the board. They folded without getting to the 200 mark, which meant that the Indians did not have to sweat much.

The batting form of the Lankans has been way below par and their top order somehow could not get cracking in the second half of the series as well. Tillakaratne Dilshan produced a cameo but his effort proved to be more of a face saving exercise for the visitor.

Indian seamers impress

The morning belonged to the Indian bowlers as they stuck to their task in earnest and bowled in the right areas. R.P. Singh playing only in his third one-dayer turned out to be the star and the outstanding feature of his bowling was the bounce he generated on the docile surface. The youngster was not only effective in terms of picking up wickets but was economical too.

Sreesanth picked up the big wicket of Jayasuriya who was a victim of his indecision as he ended up playing a silly shot. The lack of confidence was evident, as Jayasuriya seemed to relying more on hope than conviction.

However, the Indian seamers should be given all the credit for keeping the visiting batsmen on a leash, thereby creating a lot of pressure. The Lankans could not somehow recover from the early blows and with Harbhajan bowling a crafty spell, they found the Indians too hot to handle.

Yuvraj dazzles

The focus was on Yuvraj Singh and he was under pressure to get a few runs. He had the opportunity to get back to rhythm and he made the most of the opportunity. Once he got over his early nerves, he got stuck into the Sri Lankan attack with gay abandon. He went after the spinners with a vengeance and the big hits provided the entertainment the crowd expected.

Chandana and Dilshan were treated with confidence bordering on arrogance as they were carted to all parts of the ground. With Kaif at the other end, it provided the extra bit of comfort to the left-hander as they both work together as well as Laxman and Dravid do. Kaif become inconspicuous out in the middle given the belligerent mood Yuvraj was in.

The final one-dayer is academic with the Lankans failing miserably to even compete let alone challenge the Indians. The solitary victory at Ahmedabad must have provided some solace to the visitor but considering that Sri Lanka had the psychological advantage before the start of the series, there were expectations of real good cricket.

Unfortunately, that was not to be but the Indians will be satisfied with the way the youngsters have responded to the team management's call. R.P. Singh is the latest to join the list of who have performed when the opportunity was provided.

The tie at Baroda will provide Sehwag another opportunity to run into form as he has had a quiet series so far. Somehow he has not got going and is the only top order batsman who has not made the Sri Lankans pay.

He had to shift down to one drop to accommodate Gambhir but it will be a big comfort for Dravid if Sehwag can put up a big score. This will make India get into the next series with all guns blazing as everyone has made his presence felt in the ongoing series.

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