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| November 4, 2005 | Friday | Shawwal 1, 1426 |
Agarkar sets up ODI series win for India
PUNE (India), Nov 3: Paceman Ajit Agarkar captured five wickets as India beat Sri Lanka by four wickets in the fourth One-day International on Thursday, winning the seven-match series with an unassailable 4-0 lead.
Agarkar, 27, removed both openers and added three more scalps at the end in a splendid swing display to bowl out struggling Sri Lanka for 261 with a delivery to spare.
India themselves faced some anxious moments before reaching 262 for six in 45.4 overs.
Agarkar, who also took a catch and produced a direct run out, was named Man-of-the-Match.
Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu top-scored with 87 and figured in two useful partnerships but a late order collapse and shoddy catching added to his team’s woes.
India skipper Rahul Dravid, who chose to bowl in the morning, led the chase by top-scoring with 63, but his dismissal reduced the innings to 180 for six.
Mahendra Dhoni (45 not out) and youngster Suresh Raina (39 not out) then shared an unbroken 82-run seventh wicket partnership to seal victory.
Dhoni, who smashed 183 not out — the highest one-day score by a wicket-keeper — in the third game on Monday, hit spinner Russel Arnold for two consecutive sixes at the end.
Sri Lanka’s left-arm paceman Chaminda Vaas removed Sachin Tendulkar for 11, uprooting his off-stump as he gave the charge.
However, Sehwag was dropped twice before he had scored 20 — by Muralitharan off a mis-hit to long off and by wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara.
Sehwag went on to score 48 and raised 78 runs for the third wicket with Dravid until he edged off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan to slip.
Dravid added another 64 runs for the fourth wicket with newcomer Venugopal Rao, who made 38.
The Indian captain hit seven fours facing 72 balls before he pulled a short delivery from Dilhara Fernando to square leg.
Agarkar, in and out of the team due to injury and poor form, had rocked Sri Lanka straightaway in the morning.
He produced fine swing with his whippy action to trap both openers Kumar Sangakkara (8) and fellow left-hander Sanath Jayasuriya (16) leg before to reduce Sri Lanka to 51-3.
Atapattu, batting down at number five, added 97 runs with Tillekeratne Dilshan, who made 52, for the fourth wicket and 83 for the next wicket with Russel Arnold (32).
Atapattu, who scored only 22 runs in the first three games, dropped himself down the order in the absence of Mahela Jayawardene, who missed the game to get married in Colombo.
He was eventually dismissed in the final overs, giving a stiff return catch to occasional off-spinner Sehwag.
Sri Lanka were coasting at 231 in the 43rd over before losing their last five wickets for 30 runs.
The fifth game will be played in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
SCOREBOARD
SRI LANKA:
K.C. Sangakkara lbw b Agarkar 8
S.T. Jayasuriya lbw b Agarkar 16
W.U. Tharanga c Agarkar b Sreesanth 21
T.M. Dilshan c Tendulkar b Harbhajan 52
M.S. Atapattu c and b Sehwag 87
R.P. Arnold b Pathan 32
M.F. Maharoof b Agarkar 3
W.P.U.J.C. Vaas c Dhoni b Agarkar 11
M. Muralitharan b Agarkar 9
D.N.T. Zoysa run out 2
C.R.D. Fernando not out 0
EXTRAS (LB-11, W-9) 20
TOTAL (all out, 49.5 overs) 261
FALL OF WKTS: 1-17, 2-36, 3-51, 4-148, 5-231, 6-237, 7-241, 8-252, 9-261.
BOWLING: Irfan Pathan 9-0-49-1 (1w); Agarkar 9.5-1-44-5 (1w); Sreesanth 8-2-49-1 (1w); Yadav 4-0-23-0; Harbhajan Singh 10-0-35-1 (1w); Yuvraj Singh 2-0-14-0 (1w); Sehwag 7-0-36-1.
INDIA:
V. Sehwag c Arnold b Murali 48
S.R. Tendulkar b Vaas 11
Yuvraj Singh c Dilshan b Zoysa 10
R. Dravid c Vaas b Fernando 63
Y. Venugopal Rao c S’kkara b Murali 38
M.S. Dhoni not out 45
Irfan Pathan c S’kkara b Murali 0
S.K. Raina not out 39
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-4, NB-2) 8
TOTAL (for six wkts, 45.4 overs) 262
FALL OF WKTS: 1-23, 2-34, 3-112, 4-176, 5-180, 6-180.
DID NOT BAT: J.P. Yadav, A.B. Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh.
BOWLING: Vaas 6-1-29-1 (2nb); Fernando 9-1-43-1 (1w); Zoysa 8-0-46-1 (1w); Maharoof 4-0-41-0 (1w); Muralitharan 9-0-35-3 (1w); Jayasuriya 3-0-18-0; Dilshan 5-0-28-0; Arnold 1.4-0-20-0.
UMPIRES: A.V. Jayaprakash (India) and B.F. Bowden (New Zealand).
TV UMPIRE: I. Sivaram (India).
MATCH REFEREE: A.G. Hurst (Australia).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Ajit Agarkar.
NEXT MATCH: Ahmedabad (D/N) on Sunday.
SUBSTITUTIONS: India – S.K. Raina for Sreesanth; Sri Lanka – T.T. Samaraweera (unused).—Agencies
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