Sunday, Jul 07, 2002
Sunday, Jul 07, 2002 |
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Cricket
By G. Viswanath
India's Rahul Dravid drives Sri Lanka's Samaraweera in the NatWest triseries match in Birmingham on Saturday. — Photo: N. Sridharan
Rahul Dravid (man of the match) played the role to perfection and steered India to its third win - by four wickets - in the NatWest Trophy III tri-series. With fourteen points from four matches India will meet England in the final. England plays the demoralised Sri Lankans in a day match at Old Trafford on Sunday. It was nothing short of hard work for the Indians though there was a touch of gusto in the end when it became certain that India will win the match. Chaminda Vaas and the rest of the Sri Lankans put the Indians through the wringer. It was an exercise worth experiencing for the Indians, among whom was a young fellow, whose eminence has been growing every time he has stepped on the field with a bat in hand. Yuveraj Singh made 37 of 68 balls, but it was the time in which he put up a stoical show that baulked the Sri Lankans. India needed a bit of luck after Vaas sent back Sehwag off the first ball. Ganguly was all at sea with the ball wobbling around. Sachin Tendulkar, lucky to be dropped by Dilhara Fernando off leg spinner Chandana, perished when Fernando made him to drive into the hands of Atapattu. It was a day for the left-arm seamers. Vaas bowled eight on the trot and picked up two wickets apart from giving agonising moments for the batsmen. The weakling was Wickremasinghe. Dravid plundered runs off him while putting up a stand of 91. He struck the ball hard and straight, through mid-wicket and past point and when Samaraweera tossed one up he charged down the pitch and cleared it over the straight field. Earlier there was no display of daring deeds from a team that was the clear underdog. The Sri Lankans were skittled out for 187 fourteen minutes ahead of time by India's seam and spin attack. In the forefront were left-arm seamer Nehra and spinner Kumble. Nehra has shown signs of developing into a top quality bowler. He is a natural, but lacks experience having made only thirteen appearances for India. Had Khan proved to be an ideal foil, Nehra may have captured a clutch of wickets in his first spell. Nehra troubled Jayasuriya who had cut Khan for a smashing six over point and a four. Jayasuriya could not confront Nehra in the same vein. Nehra passed his bat many times, cramped him to make those shots square of the wicket and finally dismissed him with a well-directed delivery on his body, which he under-edged on to the stumps. The tussle between Nehra and Jayasuriya was the highlight in the first half an hour. A straightforward catch put down by Dinesh Mongia at second slip did not deter Nehra. With Jayasuriya removed from the scene, the pressure was too much on Sri Lanka. Kaluwitharana fell a first ball victim to Agarkar for the second time. The fall of two wickets demanded a specific course of action from Atapattu and Jayawardene. Both took upon the challenge dutifully, making the offerings from Sourav Ganguly's six overs and a couple of full tosses bowled by Tendulkar. Sri Lanka's run-rate picked up slowly during the third wicket stand, before Jayawardene decided to dance down the pitch and hit Kumble out of the ground. The inside out shot did not carry enough punch to sail over the fielder Nehra who had made ground from his position at long off. The third wicket produced a useful 84 runs off 118 balls. Kumble who had figures of 10-0-46-0 against England and 10-0-43-0 against Sri Lanka waited for another 14 balls before getting his first wicket in the tri-series. It was a big breakthrough, but by beating Atapattu in the air and off the pitch, he literally dashed hopes of Sri Lanka posting a big total. Atapattu drove in the air and missed the googly that eventually hit the top of the off stump. It was a matter of time before Sri Lanka folded up. Khan, Agarkar and Nehra removed four of the middle and lower order batsmen. And though Nehra was swatted around for three fours in his tenth over, he still finished at 10-2-28-2. He was indeed the pick of the Indian attack.
SCOREBOARD
India bowling: Nehra 10-2-28-2, Khan 8.2-0-36-2, Agarkar 9-1-31-2, Ganguly 6-0-30-0, Tendulkar 5-0-18-0, Kumble 10-0-36-2.
Sri Lanka bowling: Vass 10-2-26-2, D. Fernando 10-0-22-2, Wickremasinghe 9-0-47-1, Chandana 6.1-0-32-0, Samaraweera 10-1-35-0, Jayasuriya 3-0-23-0.
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