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| Sunday, 31 July 2005 |
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Jayasuriya displays bravado to steer Lanka home Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from Dambulla DAMBULLA, July 30 - With his right dislocated shoulder strapped up like a wounded soldier veteran cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya displayed bravado to steer Sri Lanka to a close three-wicket win over India with 10 balls to spare in the opening match of the IOC one-day tri-nation tournament played under lights at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium here today. The veteran cricketer who is the most capped for Sri Lanka guided the team from a shaky 104-4 in the 28th over to past the victory target of 206 with an undefeated knock of 43 off 50 balls (6 fours). Sri Lanka replying to India's total of 205-9 finished on 209 for seven wickets off 48.2 overs. Jayasuriya is the Sri Lankan batsman India fears the most. They only know him only too well on how many occasions he has upset all their plans either with his flashy blade or with his left-arm spin. Today the old maestro played a sensible innings and did not allow India to gain the upperhand even after they had reduced Sri Lanka to 172-7 in the 41st over. He deservedly won the man-of-the-match award. Jayasuriya was forced to leave the field in the 11th over of the Indian innings when he dislocated his right shoulder trying to stop a shot from Yuvraj Singh. He was assisted off the field in a great deal of pain and batted with pain killing injections. Farveez Maharoof proved his value as an all-rounder and came out well in a pressure cooker situation to help Jayasuriya in an unfinished eighth wicket stand of 37 off 47 balls that saw Sri Lanka through despite some nervous moments. Maharoof showed no signs of nerves as he struck four fours in an unbeaten 23 off 32 balls.The earlier Sri Lanka batting had looked shaky with the top order batsmen playing themselves in and getting out without going on to make a big score, the highest partnership coming from Tillakaratne Dilshan and Russel Arnold who put on 44 for the fourth wicket. Sri Lanka put up an outstanding performance on the field to restrict India to a total of 205-9 after Rahul Dravid had called correctly and chose to bat first. Sri Lanka's new ball attack was one of the least experienced in one-day internationals with Farveez Maharoof having appeared in 17 ODIs and Dilhara Lokuhettige making his debut in comparison to the experience of Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa who count for 337 ODIs and 425 wickets. Both of them were out due to injuries but Maharoof and Lokuhettige performed their task admirably in their absence. In his second over Maharoof bowled danger man Virender Sehwag with a beauty that moved off the seam to knock back his off stump. Sehwag had looked dangerous having hit Lokuhettige for 13 runs in the previous over inclusive of three fours. After an uneventful start Lokuhettige struck twice in his first spell of eight overs, which yielded 26 runs. Considering the fact that he conceded 13 runs in one over to Sehwag, it was a great comeback for a debutant to give away only another 13 in his next seven overs and claim the wickets of the inform batsman Dhoni for two and left-hander Yuvraj Singh for12. Dilhara Fernando and Muttiah Muralitharan who picked up a wicket each in their second overs continued the good work of the opening bowlers. Fernando accounted for Mohammed Kaif for eight when the batsman fell to his slower ball and gave a catch to Muralitharan at mid on. Debutant Raina was foxed by Muralitharan?s doosra and was bowled for a first ball duck as India lost half the side for 64 in the 20th over. Dravid stood out a lone figure among the wreck and found a useful ally in second debutant for India in the match Venugopal Rao who helped forge a 58-run stand off 81 balls for the sixth wicket with his skipper. But the introduction of leg-spinner Upul Chandana brought about Dravid?s downfall when he was bowled around his legs for a well-compiled 54 off 96 balls (5 fours). Every frontline bowler introduced by Atapattu picked up a wicket and they were backed up superbly on the field. The bowlers were well disciplined and bowled to their field, which made run making for the Indians a difficult task. That India was able to at least cross the 200-run mark was due to a 43-run stand off 34 balls for the ninth wicket between Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan who made 20 runs apiece. Muralitharan finished as the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers with three for 33. It could have easily have been four wickets for the master spinner had Arnold not spilled a catch at deep mid wicket when Harbhajan was on 10. INDIA
V. Sehwag b Maharoof 14
M. S. Dhoni b Lokuhettige 2
Y. Singh c sub (Tharanga) b Lokuhettige 12
R. Dravid b Chandana 54
M. Kaif c Muralitharan b Fernando 8
S. Raina lbw b Muralitharan 0
V. Rao c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 38
I. Pathan c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 21
H. Singh not out 20
Z. Khan run out 20
A. Nehra not out 2
Extras (lb6, nb2, w6) 14
TOTAL (for nine wickets) 205
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-17, 2-22, 3-44, 4-63, 5-64,
6-122, 7-159, 8-159, 9-202.
BOWLING: Maharoof 9-0-27-1, Lokuhettige 10-2-31-2,
Fernando 10-1-61-1, Muralitharan 10-1-33-3,
Chandana 5-0-26-1, Dilshan 3-0-14-0,
Arnold 3-0-7-0.
SRI LANKA
K. Sangakkara lbw b Pathan 14
M. Atapattu run out 29
M. Jayawardene b Zaheer 15
T. Dilshan lbw b Harbhajan 17
R. Arnold b Harbhajan 22
S. Jayasuriya not out 43
D. Lokuhettige b Pathan 21
U. Chandana c Dhoni b Zaheer 11
F. Maharoof not out 23
Extras (b4, lb3, w7) 14
TOTAL (for seven wickets in 48.2 overs) 209
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-19, 2-55, 3-60, 4-104, 5-112,
6-140, 7-172.
BOWLING: Pathan 10-2-43-2, Zaheer 10-1-32-2,
Nehra 10-1-34-0, Harbhajan 10-0-44-2,
Sehwag 8-0-45-0, Raina 0.2-0-4-0.
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