The Hindu : Sport : Gautam Gambhir’s century, the highlight of an abandoned game scoreboard

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Gautam Gambhir’s century, the highlight of an abandoned game scoreboard

S. Dinakar

The left-hander’s fascinating duel with Muralitharan lights up the ’Gabba

— PHOTO: AP

STERLING KNOCK: Gautam Gambhir’s unbeaten century and his partnership with skipper M.S. Dhoni when the team was in a bit of trouble showcased his growing maturity.

Brisbane: A truncated game threw up a fascinating duel that lit up the ’Gabba on a murky day. Gautam Gambhir would remember his match of wits and skills against Muttiah Muralitharan.

The left-hander’s unbeaten 101-ball 102 showcased his footwork and growing maturity.

Eventually, both teams took two points each from the abandoned second CB series match after a persistent drizzle prevented Sri Lanka from replying to India’s 267 four in 50 overs.

Sachin Tendulkar went past the 16,000-run mark in the ODIs but India stumbled before subsequently recovering from a precarious 83 for four. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s responsible yet well-paced 95-ball 88 not out reflected the skipper’s resolve.

During his third ODI hundred, Gambhir furiously struck fast bowler Lasith Malinga over long-off for a six, but his handling of Muralitharan in a pressure situation was clearly the highlight.

Decisive footwork

Gambhir was decisive in his footwork, either coming down the track or staying back and playing the ball late. When Muralitharan flighted the ball, he jumped out to strike it over the infield. He used the crease brilliantly while coping with a flatter trajectory, waiting for the ball to turn and essaying the most delicate of late cuts. The southpaw forced Muralitharan to think about his line by using the sweep effectively.

When Muralitaharan shortened his length by flicking out a flipper with his wrist, Gambhir pulled the ball to the boundary in a flash. The Sri Lankan changed the angle by going round the wicket but then Gambhir used his wrists for strokes square off the pitch.

Against a left-hander, Muralitharan could not bring into play the off-spinner-doosra routine.

Gambhir also made the most of a reprieve on 10 when ’keeper Kumar Sangakkara floored an offering after paceman Ishara Amerasinghe angled one across the left-hander to find the edge.

Resolute Dhoni

Skipper Dhoni worked the ball around in the initial stages — the running between the wickets during the unbeaten 184-run partnership in 175 balls was brilliant — before launching into the bowling.

The Lankans will think long and hard about the composition of the attack. Although part-time seamer Chamara Kapugedera was economical, the nature of his bowling allowed the batsmen to settle down when a couple of wickets might have tilted the scales heavily in Sri Lanka’s favour. Farvez Maharoof, a useful seam and swing bowler, could have created greater pressure in this crucial phase.

The innings also reflected how the mandatory change of the ball after the 34th over favoured the batsmen. The harder ball travelled quicker off the bat and there was no reverse swing for someone like Malinga.

Played on

Malinga removed Tendulkar in the 15th over after the openers had put on 68 in 14.3 overs. It is not the easiest of tasks to pick Malinga’s line from a low sling-arm action; Tendulkar was well set when he drove outside the line of a Malinga delivery to drag the ball on to his stumps.

Virender Sehwag was harnessing the pace of the ball well when he under-edged a pull off Amerasinghe to a diving Sangakkara. On a day when the wily Chaminda Vaas was off-colour, Amerasinghe hit the deck, generated pace and bowled with discipline from a high-arm action.

Jayawardene took his power plays straightaway and India was 83 for two in 20 overs. Then, a double strike from Muttiah Muralitharan threatened to derail the Indian innings.

The remarkable aspect of Muralitharan’s bowling is how effortlessly he is able to switch his line. He spun the ball away from the left-handed Yuvraj Singh to have the batsmen pouched at slip and then turned one away from the right-handed Rohit Sharma for Sangakkara to complete the dismissal.

It’s another matter that Rohit was desperately unlucky to be adjudged caught behind by umpire Rudi Koertzen.

In the evening, Rohit was fined 10 per cent of his match fee by Match Referee Jeff Crowe for a level 1.3 offence that includes showing dissent at an umpiring decision.

India: V. Sehwag c Sangakkara b Amerasinghe 33, S. Tendulkar b Malinga 35, G. Gambhir (not out) 102, Yuvraj c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 2, Rohit c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 0, M.S. Dhoni (not out) 88, Extras (lb-3, w-4): 7; Total (for four wkts. in 50 overs): 267.

Fall of wickets: 1-68 (Tendulkar), 2-80 (Sehwag), 3-83 (Yuvraj), 4-83 (Rohit).

Sri Lanka bowling: Vaas 10-0-72-0, Malinga 10-1-56-1, Amerasinghe 10-2-30-1, Muralitharan 10-0-51-2, Kapugedera 6-0-23-0, Dilshan 1-0-8-0, Jayasuriya 3-0-24-0.

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