Yuvraj and Sehwag set up series win

Sri Lanka v India, 3rd ODI, Colombo

Yuvraj and Sehwag set up series win

February 3, 2009

India 363 for 5 (Yuvraj 117, Sehwag 116, Pathan 59*) beat Sri Lanka 216 (Sangakkara 83, Ojha 4-38) by 147 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag hammered hundreds to set Sri Lanka a massive target © AFP

Muttiah Muralitharan equalled Wasim Akram's world record of 502 one-day wickets, but there was little else for a voluble crowd to celebrate as swashbuckling centuries from Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag led India to a comprehensive 147-run victory at the Premadasa Stadium. There was a big-hitting cameo from Yusuf Pathan and four wickets for the promising Pragyan Ojha as the series was wrapped up with two games to spare. Kumar Sangakkara's classy 83 proved to be little more than a footnote on a day when Sri Lanka were again way off the pace.

Yuvraj and Sehwag were in sensational form, though Sri Lanka didn't really help their cause with some decidedly poor fielding. After being reduced to 24 for 2, it was Yuvraj who cornered most of the strike, stroking some magnificent boundaries on either side of the wicket. Too often, the bowlers strayed on to the pads and he was more than happy to work them fine or swat them contemptuously over midwicket. There was much for the purist to admire too though, with beautifully timed shots through cover and backward point.

Sehwag was a spectator in the early part of the partnership, but when the opportunity presented itself, he was no less ruthless. Nuwan Kulasekara was taken for three successive fours, after which he enjoyed his first moment of good fortune. A slower ball struck him initially on the pad in front of middle stump, but the proximity of the bat to the pad and the subsequent contact fooled the umpire.

Not that Sri Lanka made their own luck either. Farveez Maharoof didn't sight the ball when Yuvraj miscued Ajantha Mendis over midwicket, and Dilhara Fernando palmed a tough chance over the rope when Sehwag, then on 45, lifted the same bowler over wide long-on. Sanath Jayasuriya was the next culprit, grassing a routine caught-and-bowled chance with Sehwag on 72.

You can't give such batsmen such reprieves. It took Yuvraj only 82 balls to score his 11th one-day century. It took Sehwag seven deliveries less. By then, they were dismissing the bowling at will. It didn't matter whether it was Murali or Mendis, or Fernando. The ball kept disappearing over the infield or into the gaps, and some appalling fielding, epitomised by Mendis letting one through his legs, merely increased Mahela Jayawardene's angst.

Yuvraj finally departed after making 117 off 95 balls, but there was no real zest to Murali's celebration. By then, the partnership was worth 221, from just only balls. Sehwag left not long after, for 116 off 90 balls, when Jayasuriya threw the stumps down from mid-off. The scoreboard showed 265, and there were still 15.1 overs to be bowled. Yusuf Pathan then clouted three mighty sixes down the ground on his way to a 33-ball half-century, and though Mahendra Singh Dhoni was initially circumspect, the damage had already been done.

India would argue that they were due a rub of the Colombo green. Sachin Tendulkar, who had thumped an enormous six off a free hit, was unlucky to be given out leg-before for the third time in the series. The Fernando delivery was slanting down the leg side, but the umpire decided otherwise, leaving Tendulkar with 18 runs after three matches.

Gautam Gambhir, dropped before he had scored by Thilina Kandamby at point, was then run out after backing up too far. Again, Fernando's luck was in, with Sehwag's firm straight drive just brushing his fingertips before colliding with the stumps. It wouldn't halt India's momentum though, against pace and spin alike. They took 50 off the bowling Powerplay and 43 from the batting one, and a mammoth total gradually took shape.

But for a 67-run partnership between Sangakkara and Jayawardene, Sri Lanka were never in the contest. Sanath Jayasuriya chopped the first ball he faced on to the stumps. Praveen Kumar's relative lack of pace and a hint of swing provided the breakthrough, and though Tillakaratne Dilshan got the scoreboard moving with a couple of streaky fours, the required rate was a Damocles sword hanging over Sri Lankan heads from the outset.

Dilshan pulled Praveen for one mighty six, but his attempt to cleave Zaheer over midwicket only resulted in the middle stump being pegged back. The captain and his deputy briefly resurrected hopes, taking 39 from the bowling Powerplay, but India tightened their grip once Sri Lanka opted to take the batting one immediately afterwards.

Jayawardene miscued Praveen to Virender Sehwag at mid-off and the spell was broken, and Kandamby, nearly the hero in the last game, followed soon after, with an ill-judged reverse sweep. Dhoni had waited till the end of the fielding restrictions to introduce spin, and the gamble worked a treat.

Pragyan Ojha, taken for two fours in his opening over, turned one right across Chamara Kapugedera's bat to hit middle stump. And with the ball gripping and turning, Ojha turned in his best one-day display. Farveez Maharoof was smartly caught at slip and Sangakkara's resistance ended with a miscue to short fine leg, before Murali under-edged one to Dhoni.

A last-wicket partnership of 26 was merely academic, and there was plenty to ponder for a Sri Lankan side that bore no resemblance whatsoever to the one that was once so formidable on home turf.

India survive Kandamby scare in thriller

Sri Lanka v India, 2nd ODI, Colombo

India survive Kandamby scare in thriller

January 31, 2009

India 256 for 9 (Yuvraj 66) beat Sri Lanka 241 (Kandamby 93*, Jayawardene 52, Ishant 4-57) by 15 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Thilina Kandamby hit an unbeaten 93 under pressure, but failed to stop India from clinching a 15-run win © AFP

Thilina Kandamby almost masterminded a great escape for Sri Lanka, but just fell short in the face of Ishant Sharma, who kept his nerve and struck three crucial blows in the last 10 overs of a thrilling chase.

India's 256 was at least 30 short of what they would have expected after a fiery start, but half-way through Sri Lanka's innings it seemed they had shot over by at least 30. Kandamby had other ideas, though, stringing together a 100-run partnership with Mahela Jayawardene from 36 for 3, and smaller crucial ones with the lower order to take the match into the last over. Coming into the match Kandamby had scored 171 runs in eight matches, with one prior half-century, and ended unbeaten on 93 today.

After all three Indian pace bowlers had struck a blow in the first eight overs, slicing open the line-up, Jayawardene and Kandamby had no choice but to consolidate and rely on the death overs to make up for the slow run-rate. The asking-rate crossed six in the 19th over, and seven in the 30th over, but the two kept their cool. There were extremely quiet spells during their partnership: early on in the Powerplays they went through a 34-ball span where they scored only eight runs; in the middle overs they spent 88 balls without hitting a boundary.

Slyly during that period, Mahendra Singh Dhoni got through his weaker bowlers, and had nine overs from Ishant and Zaheer Khan in the kitty when the match entered the death overs. Jayawardene ended the boundary-less span with a six off Suresh Raina in the 34th over, but was dismissed soon after reaching his first half-century for 16 matches. Sri Lanka needed 121 from 94 balls at that stage, with Kandamby on 48 off 91 balls.

Upon reaching his half-century Kandamby accelerated, and Chamara Kapugedera (31 off 29) provided the impetus. Kandamby didn't have the power to clear the field, but he kept finding the gaps regularly. Boundaries started coming regularly, and the two took Sri Lanka to a stage where they needed 91 in the last 10 overs. In the 42nd over Sri Lanka opted for the batting Powerplay, and forged a string of overs that gave them at least one boundary. Overs No. 41 to 47 went for 11, 9, 11, 9 ,11, 8 and 7. But during those overs Ishant stayed cool and used the slower delivery well. He dismissed Kapugedera, Faveez Maharoof and Thilan Thushara with the equation reading 70 off 53, 51 off 36, and 29 off 21 respectively.

Zaheer and Ishant bowled two tight overs after that, giving away four and one, and panic set in. Two run-outs left Sri Lanka needing 20 off the last over with one wicket in hand. Praveen Kumar, who had bowled a superb first spell of 8-1-18-1, bowled a wide and two low fulltosses, the second of them resulting in Ajantha Mendis' run-out. Had Kandamby - who scored 45 off the last 38 deliveries he faced - managed the jailbreak, this would have been the third-highest chase at the R Premadasa.

That Sri Lanka were still in the match when they came out to bat was thanks largely to the efforts of Maharoof and Muttiah Muralitharan, who thwarted India's rapid progress twice after Dhoni had won yet another toss against Sri Lanka.

After Sachin Tendulkar got a second ordinary lbw decision in as many matches (the ball was heading down leg), Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir looked ominous in the first Powerplay. They took India along to 62 in the first nine overs, engaging in a sort of boundary-hitting contest. They were tied with four boundaries each when Jayawardene introduced Maharoof, and with immediate results. The third ball he bowled pitched within the stumps, nipped away with extra bounce, and took Gambhir's edge. Three overs later, Sehwag tried to pick up his third three on a relay throw, but was beaten by the Murali-Sanath Jayasuriya combo.

Yuvraj and Suresh Raina recovered well from that double-strike and their own shaky starts. After edging Mendis' carom ball between Kumar Sangakkara and Jayawardene when on 18, Yuvraj went on to unleash his trademark crunchy boundaries, the most satisfactory being a six over long-off in Mendis' next over. But with Murali came further troubles for the batsmen: in his first over he made both Raina and Yuvraj cut and miss. With Murali in the vicinity, Yuvraj couldn't quite break away, but reached his half-century in 74 deliveries.

Bowling changes then worked for Jayawardene again. Although Raina slogged Tillakaratne Dilshan's first ball for a six, the bowler had his back in his third over, surprising Raina with some extra bounce. The major blow came two overs later, in the first over of Nuwan Kulasekara's second spell. Yuvraj was given out lbw, but replays showed he had clearly played the ball onto his pad. India could add only 76 in the following 16.5 overs, including only one boundary in their batting Powerplay.

Maharoof was exceptional in the Powerplay, choking the batsmen with slower deliveries. His stock pace was the variation then, and the batsmen couldn't get any power into their shots. He gave only 40 runs in his 10 overs, six of them bowled in the Powerplays. But the efforts of Kandamby and Maharoof were not enough to deny a cool India their seventh win in a row.

India ease to six-wicket win in opener

Sri Lanka v India, 1st ODI, Dambulla

India ease to six-wicket win in opener

January 28, 2009

India 247 for 4 (Gambhir 62, Raina 54, Dhoni 61*) beat Sri Lanka 246 for 6 (Jayasuriya 107, Ishant 3-51) by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	With his hundred, Sanath Jayasuriya corrected his poor personal record at this venue - 364 runs in 17 innings before this © AFP

Half-centuries from Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni outdid a superlative century from Sanath Jayasuriya as India successfully chased the highest total in a day game in Dambulla. The pursuit never got out of hand for India, despite the early fall of Sachin Tendulkar. Once Gambhir and Raina got going, the asking-rate went above five only towards the last ten overs.

India got vital contributions from three batsmen, and were disciplined in the field. Sri Lanka relied on a spectacular Jayasuriya alone for their runs, and dropped both Gambhir and Raina in the initial stages of their innings.

Both the chances came in a frenetic first Powerplay of India's innings, after Kumar Dharmasena erroneously sent Tendulkar on his way as his first umpiring victim, lbw off a ball that pitched outside leg. In the over following that dismissal, Nuwan Kulasekara came up with an athletic effort to catch a low leading edge from Gambhir off his own bowling. But after various replays Gambhir benefited from lack of sufficient evidence, although the take could well have been clean.

In the next over Raina cut Thilan Thushara straight to Tillakaratne Dilshan at point and survived. Insult was added to injury in the next over, when Raina unleashed two delightful straight drives and a lofted six off Kulasekara. Two overs later, Gambhir edged Farveez Maharoof, but Mahela Jayawardene failed to hold on to a high chance.

Both went on to hurt Sri Lanka - Raina was 6 when dropped, and Gambhir 11. On a slow track, in hot and humid conditions, India needed a quick start, and that's what they provided. The chances notwithstanding, they took India to 54 in the first 10 overs. After that they settled down. Gambhir took the aggressor's role, often stepping out to medium-pacers and looking to go over extra cover. He also showed cheek when he upper-cut a Thilan Thushara bouncer over slips.

When the two fell within 11 runs of each other, Dhoni was there to guide India through to the target. He negated the threat of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis by playing them extremely late, often taking the ball virtually out of Kumar Sangakkara's gloves and placing it. His first scoring shot was a slice from in front of stumps, guiding it past the wicketkeeper for four. The slow pitch didn't help the spinners either.

The outstanding feature of Dhoni's knock was not the power, but the placement: two of his five boundaries came after he had ensured India would win. He nudged and patted his way to 27 singles and seven twos. True to his image, he stayed unbeaten. How Jayasuriya would have wished that somebody in the Sri Lankan batting line-up followed up on his effort, like Dhoni did after Gambhir and Raina's dismissals. That Jayasuriya played a different game from his team-mates was evident: when he got out in the 40th over he had scored 107 in 114 balls, while the rest had managed 64 in 122 deliveries.

Joy for Jayasuriya Jayasuriya became the oldest man to score an ODI century When he brought up his 37th run, he also became the second man to reach the 13,000-mark in his career He also crossed 50 for the 95th time to go one clear of Sourav Ganguly, and in second place behind Sachin Tendulkar who has 132 His knock was the second ODI century in Dambulla, and the highest individual score as well

Jayasuriya's innings came on the 212th day of his 40th year, making him the oldest centurion in ODIs. He did owe the team a big performance, however, after being implicated in the first over run-out of Dilshan. Jayasuriya responded to Dilshan's call but stopped after taking two steps, and with Sri Lanka's in-form batsman out of the equation, what followed was an asphyxiating opening spell by Zaheer Khan. But Jayasuriya targeted Munaf Patel from the other end. He took at least one boundary - choosing to go over covers - in the first four of Munaf's overs, not letting the scoring stagnate.

But the runs hardly came from the other end. By the time spin was introduced, in the 16th over, Sangakkara had scored 18 in 47 deliveries and Jayasuriya 38 in 41. With spin came further shackles, and the slow nature of the pitch made boundary-hitting all the more difficult. In demanding conditions, Jayasuriya showed he was supremely fit at his age - running 18 twos, six of them for Sangakakara and four of those back-to-back. He cramped up, kneeled down between deliveries to recover, but the short cut was not to be taken.

He broke the ten-over boundary-less spell, hitting Pragyan Ojha onto the sightscreen, and followed it up with a pulled four off Yusuf Pathan in the next over. But he lost Sangakkara at a stage when one of the two could have gone for an all-out assault. Jayasuriya himself fell at an inopportune time, the second over of the batting Powerplay, but he had lost all his energy by then and lobbed a slower full toss to mid-off. The batting bar was lowered once again, as Zaheer and Ishant Sharma bowled superbly in the final overs. They used the change of pace to good effect, and Zaheer also managed some late swing. Mahela Jayawardene's struggle continued, and only 82 runs were scored in the final 12 overs.