Indians stumble again

By S. Dinakar

COLOMBO, JULY 22. A vital toss lost, a pitch not exactly conducive to strokeplay, a demanding target on a huge outfield against a spirited set of bowlers and fielders...the Indians had their task cut out in the `Big Game' on Sunday. Could they buck the odds?

And in the Coca Cola triangular competition at the Premadasa Stadium, the Indians made a brave bid, in front of a passionate home crowd on a sultry night, yet ended up short by six runs, chasing a challenging 222 in 50 overs

The pitch was slightly better than the double-paced one that came under scrutiny in the first two games at the same venue. Skipper Sourav Ganguly sparkled in the middle-order with a combative 69, and vice-captain Rahul Dravid played the role of the anchor with a determined unbeaten 49.

However, the big hits just did not materialise towards the end, with offie Kumara Dharmasena, to the cheers of the crowd, conceding just five runs in the last over, when India needed 12 for a victory. Earlier skipper Sanath Jayasuriya sent down a brilliant 49th over, bowling wicket-to-wicket and giving away just five runs.

The constant chopping and changing in the opening slots has hardly helped the cause of Indian cricket, and there was a sense of deja vu as a new combination of Amay Khurasia and Yuveraj Singh - as expected Ganguly chose to come down the order - walked in to the middle.

Yuveraj, whose knock against Australia in the ICC knock-out tournament seems a mirage now, departed in his attempt to clout the nippy Suresh Perera, Muralithran taking a high catch behind square.

Khurasia's comeback ended on a note of failure, the Madhya Pradesh left-hander shuffling across to Perera, and the ball straightening to catch him in front. The openers had made 12 each, and it was hardly the start India expected.

The Indian think-tank came up with a piece of innovation at this stage with Harbhajan Singh walking out as the pinch hitter at No 4. It was a gamble that failed to come off the Punjab cricketer holing out to Jayasuriya at mid-off, Vaas being the bowler.

V.V.S. Laxman and skipper Ganguly joined forces at this stage and the two did raise the Indian expectations with some sparkling strokeplay, the captain's scorching cut off off- spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan standing out.

The duo had added 41 runs in 58 balls when Laxman departed, a lifting delivery outside the off-stump from fiery paceman Dilhara Fernando consuming him, 'keeper Romesh Kaluwitharana completing the catch. Laxman though appeared unhappy with the verdict.

The shuffle in the batting order however suited Ganguly and he was in the clearly in a mood to battle it out, with a determined Dravid for company.

Ganguly once again square cut Muralitharan to the fence - the offie's first spell read 6-1-17-0 - and when Sanath Jayasuriya came on with his left-arm spin, pulled him to the boundary.

The 100 came in 26.4 overs and at the end of 30, India was 112 for four, which meant it needed exactly 110 more at 5.5. Ganguly was aware of the need to keep the score moving, reaching his fifty in 50 in 93 balls (5x4) and celebrating the occasion by striking Jayasuriya over long on for a six. The 50-run stand had come in 93 balls.

And the Indian captain ploy to go after his opposite number had paid off. Jayasuriya's first three overs had yielded 20 runs to the Indians and the Lankan skipper took himself off.

The Indian skipper then turned his attention to off- spinner Kumara Dharmasena, hitting the Lankan straight down the ground to the fence. At the 35-over mark, the score was 140, which meant things were becoming rather dangerous for the Lankans.

Inspired captaincy

It was finally an inspired piece of captaincy by Jayasuriya that ended Ganguly's tenure. Russell Arnold was introduced at the crunch time and Ganguly's attempt to sweep the part-time offie only resulted in Jayasuriya gleefully accepting the catch at square-leg. The Bengal lefthander's 105- ball 69 was nevertheless a brave effort, and the 80-run stand for the fifth wicket between Ganguly and Dravid had consumed 120 balls.

Dravid cleverly held one end up, it was important to save wickets on this before the final onslaught on this pitch, and he was now joined by Reetinder Singh Sodhi.

Sodhi provided a much-needed boundary pulling Jayasuriya, and was picking his ones and the twos well too, but his attempt to steer a Murali ball too close to his body was a non-percentage shot. He was castled.

Dravid and new man Virendra Sehwag kept the heat on the Lankans. The Indians required 36 in 36 balls, and it soon became 30 in 30. It was promising to become close. The duo's running between the wickets was particularly impressive.

However, it was not intelligent cricket by Sehwag in the last over, when he holed out to at long-off attempting to hit Muralitharan out of the ground.

At the start of the 49th over India required 17, and Dighe, who had joined Dravid, and enjoyed a slice of luck, when Kaluwitharana muffed a stumping off Jayasuriya.

And when the last over commenced India required 12. Dighe swung the first ball from Dharmasena for the single, but Dravid was unable to get a run off the second. He took a run off the next and India now needed 10 in three. A boundary was needed but Dighe just managed a single. It was the same story off the next delivery and the asking rate was an impossible eight off the last ball. It was all over for the Indians.

It was a bit like a curate's egg for India on the field. It held the whip-hand by the 38th over, reducing Sri Lanka to 154 for seven, but could not quite blow away the tail.

Lanka sets challenging target

In the end, the host managed to wriggle itself out of a tight corner to set India a challenging target of 222.

Left-handed opener Avishka Gunawardene, capitalising on two dropped catches, top-scored with 63, which was a mix of both audacious and indifferent batting, but it was the 49-run partnership for the eighth wicket between the fighting Kumara Dharmasena and Suresh Perera that really seized the initiative for India.

Once again Harbhajan Singh, the off-spinner who seems to improve with every match, was the standout performer with three for 29 off 10 beautifully bowled overs. And he was well supported by the part-time spinners left-armer Yuveraj Singh and offie Virender Sehwag.

The lion-hearted support paceman Reetinder Singh Sodhi too contributed his bit. However, the Indian fielding, brilliant on Friday, impressed only in patches.

When the match got underway in front a much healthier crowd, Jayasuriya began on a rousing note, smashing Debasis Mohanty, who received a surprise look-in after Ashish Nehra caught a viral infection, square of the wicket. The Lankan captain then stood on his toes to strike left-armer Zaheer Khan to the point boundary.

At the other end though, Gunawardene, fighting for his place in the team, appeared all at sea, with his feet not moving properly.

The southpaw did unleash a searing straight drive off Mohanty, but soon enjoyed a slice of luck, when he edged Zaheer, but Sehwag at second slip could not latch on to the rapidly travelling ball on his left. The Lankan was just eight at that stage.

The Lankan captain, by far the dominant partner, kept the moderate but noisy crowd in good spirits by contemptuously lofting Mohanty over the long on fence. Jayasuriya was now changing gears.

Ganguly had to act fast and he did just that by bringing on trumpcard Harbhajan Singh in the 12th over. There was a buzz in the stadium as the young Sardar immediately had Jayasuriya in a spot of bother.

Operating from round the wicket to the left-hander, Harbhajan spun the ball into the left-hander and Jayasuriya, playing for the off-break, was lucky to survive the leg-before shout.

Harbhajan had his man soon, slipping one down the leg- side, noticing Jayasuriya's attacking instincts, and Dighe had the bails off. It was intelligent bowling and Lanka had lost its first wicket for 48, with Jayasuriya getting 34 of those.

SCOREBOARD

SRI LANKA

S. Jayasuriya st. Dighe b Harbhajan      34
(41b, 3x4, 1x6)
A. Gunawardene b Sehwag                  63
(107b, 7x4) 
M. Atapattu c Khurasiya b Harbhajan       5
(6b)
M. Jayawardene c Dighe b Sodhi            0
(4b)
R. Kaluwitharana c Dighe b Yuveraj       36
(52b, 2x4) 
R. Arnold (run out)                       1
(5b)
K. Dharmasena c Ganguly b Zaheer         26
(43b, 2x4)
C. Vaas lbw b Harbhajan                   1
(5b)
S. Perera c Ganguly b Yuveraj            28
(31b, 1x4, 1x6)
M. Muralitharan (not out)                 6
(5b, 1x4)
D. Fernando (not out)                     5
(4b)
Extras (b-3, lb-4, nb-3, w-6)            16
                                        ---
Total (for nine wkts. in 50 overs)      221
                                        ---

Fall  of  wickets:  1-48  (Jayasuriya),  2-60  (Atapattu),   3-61 
(Jayawardene),   4-144  (Gunawardene),  5-147   (Arnold),   6-149 
(Kaluwitharana),   7-154   (Vaas),  8-203   (Dharmasena),   9-210 
(Perera). 


India  bowling:  Zaheer 9-0-42-1 (w-1), Mohanty  5-0-27-0  (w-1), 
Harbhajan  10-1-29-3 (w-3), Sodhi 9-0-42-1 (nb-1, w-1), Sehwag 7-
0-33-1 (nb-2), Yuveraj 10-1-41-2.

INDIA

Amay Khurasiya lbw b Perera              12
(23b, 2x4)
Yuveraj Singh c Muralitharan b Perera    12
(17b, 2x4)
V.V.S. Laxman c Kaluwitharana
b Fernando                               17
(29b, 2x4)
Harbhajan Singh c Jayasuriya b Vaas       1
(6b)
Sourav Ganguly c Jayasuriya b Arnold     69
(105b, 7x4, 1x6)
Rahul Dravid (not out)                   49
(80b)
Reetinder Singh Sodhi b Muralitharan     19
(20b, 1x4)
Virendra Sehwag c Perera b Muralitharan  12
(14b)
Sameer Dighe (not out)                   11
(12b)
Extras (lb-1, w-6, nb-6)                 13

                                        ---
Total (for seven wkts. in 50 overs)     215
                                        ---

Fall   of  wickets:  1-26  (Yuveraj),  2-29   (Khurasiya),   3-30 
(Harbhajan), 4-71 (Laxman), 5-151 (Ganguly), 6-178 (Sodhi), 7-200 
(Sehwag).

Sri Lanka bowling: Vaas 7-1-22-1 (w-1); Perera 7-0-29- 1  (nb-4); 
Muralitharan 10-1-35-2; Dharmasena 10-0-46-0; Jayasuriya  7-0-44- 
0; Arnold 3-0-12-1.

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