India in 6-wkt. win over Sri Lanka
by Shirajiv SIRIMANE in India
CRICKET: India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in a nail-biting T20
international to square the series at the Mohali international stadium
last night.
Electing to bat Sri Lanka made 206 for 7 and India riding on some
fielding lapses reached the target in the last over.
Indian openers Sehwag and Gambhir after taking 9 runs off the first
over bowled by Weeraratne which also included a six by Sehwag reached 50
in the sixth over with out losing a wicket.
Sehwag was given a life when he misguided a hit to long on and both
Jayasuriya and Dilhara Fernando from mid wicket just let the ball drop
between them.
Capitalizing on this and another would be run out missed by Angelo
Mathew’s at covers throwing to the wrong end when Gambier was not even
in the frame India rode to 58.
However Sri Lankan team bounced back to take revenge when
Kulasekara’s direct hit from mid off get Gambier run out for 21 while
attempting the third run. The introduction of Mathews proved expensive
when he gave away 16 runs in the 8th over with one drop Dhoni taking a
boundary and a six in the first two balls.
The pair mixed caution to aggression and scored around 10 runs per
over ensuring that boundaries and sixes were not drying up unlike in the
previous T20 match. India scored their first 100 in the 9th over.
Lasith Malinga who went wicket less in the first match and proving to
be very expensive bounced back and had the price scalp of Sehwag, held
out in the deep by Weeraratne while attempting yet another skier.
Yuvraj joined Dhoni and the pair guided the team to 150 in 13.4 overs.
At the end of the 15th over India needed 48 runs from 30 balls.
The introduction of Kulasekara in the 16th over proved to be very
expensive as Yuvraj leathered him for 20 runs and sealed the match in
favour of the home team. Yuvraj reached his fifth T20 50 in the next
over in just 20 balls. His 50 which was a match winner included four
sixes and three boundaries.
Skipper Dhoni who was playing a supporting role was bowled by Dilhara
Fernando for 46. The pair had added 80 runs for the second wicket in
just 32 balls.
In a desperate attempt to slow down proceeding Sri Lanka introduced
Dilshan but it was too late to stop an Indian victory and they stoked
the winning hit in the first ball of the last over with a towering six
from Yuvraj Singh off Mathews. He was unbeaten on 60.
Wining the toss and rightly batting first opened with Sanath
Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan under lights yesterday.
After taking 10 runs off the first over with Jayasuriya stoking two
boundaries Sri Lanka suffered a major blow in the second ball of the
second over when Dilshan was clean bowled with his leg stump sent cart
wheeling by Shan Sharma for 1.
Skipper Kumara Sangakkara who played for Panjab Kings XI, and is
familiar with the pitch joined Jayasuriya and the pair put on a 50 run
partnership in just 21 balls and in 19 minutes.
SRI LANKA
T. Dilshan b Sharma 01
S. Jayasuriya lbw b Pathan 31
K. Sangakkara c Nehra b Yuvraj 59
C. Jayasinghe c Jadeja b Yuvraj 38
M. Jayawardene c Tyagi b Sharma 12
C. Kapugedera c Karthik b Yuvraj 02
K. Weeraratne run out 03
A. Mathews not out 26
N. Kulasekara not out 10
Extras (lb7, w17) 24
Total (for 7 wkts, 20 overs) 206
Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Dilshan), 2-91 (Jayasuriya), 3-121 (Sangakkara),
4-141 (Jayawardene), 5-155 (Kapugedera), 6-167 (Jayasinghe), 7-167 (Weeraratne).
Bowling: Nehra 3-0-44-0 (w2), Sharma 4-0-42-2 (w6), Tyagi 2-0-21-0 (w3),
Pathan 3-0-29-1 (w2), Raina 1-0-10-0 (w3), Jadeja 4-0-30-0 , Yuvraj
3-0-23-3 (w1).
INDIA
G. Gambhir run out 21
V. Sehwag c Weeraratne b Malinga 64
M. Dhoni b Fernando 46
Y. Singh not out 60
S. Raina run out 09
D. Karthik not out 04
Extras (lb2, w5) 07
Total (for 4 wkts, 19.1 overs) 211
Fall of wickets: 1-58 (Gambhir), 2-108 (Sehwag), 3-188 (Dhoni), 4-200 (Raina).
Bowling: Weeraratne 3-0-43-0 (w2), Kulasekara 4-0-50-0 (w1), Malinga
4-0-28-1 (w2), Fernando 4-0-29-1, Mathews 3.1-0-49-0, Dilshan 1-0-10-0. |
