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| August 21, 2008 | Thursday | Sha'aban 18, 1429 |
Zaheer stars as India level series with tense win
DAMBULLA (Sri Lanka), Aug 20: Mahendra Singh Dhoni capped Zaheer Khan’s new-ball devastating spell with a crucial 39 as India posted a tense three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second One-day International here on Wednesday.
Left-arm seamer Zaheer ran through the top order in his incisive opening spell to finish with 4-21 as India bundled Sri Lanka out for a meagre 142. He was brilliantly backed by paceman Praveen Kumar (3-34).
But India skipped a few heartbeats before achieving the modest target with more than 10 overs to spare to level the five-match series 1-1.
They were wobbling at 75-5 after seamers Thilan Thushara and Nuwan Kulasekara shared four wickets, but skipper Dhoni and debutant Subramaniam Badrinath (27 not out) held their nerve under pressure. When Dhoni inside-edged paceman Dilhara Fernando’s delivery on to his stumps, his team were just eight runs short of the win with four wickets in hand.
Unorthodox Sri Lankan spinner Mendis yet again made the Indian batsmen struggle for runs with shrewd variations, getting the big wicket of Yuvraj Singh before finishing with 2-22 off 10 overs.
Yuvraj (20) tried to ease the pressure by smashing Thushara for three fours in two overs, but his flourish did not last long. He was trapped leg-before by Mendis to leave his team wobbling at 52-3.
India appeared to have squandered the advantage given by Zaheer when they lost makeshift opener Irfan Pathan and Suresh Raina in Kulasekara’s opening spell and then Virat Kohli (37) and Rohit Sharma in Thushara’s one over.
Dhoni and Badrinath then applied themselves well to add 60 for the sixth wicket which proved vital in a low-scoring game.
Sri Lanka were earlier in danger of falling to their lowest-ever total of 96 against India when they were reduced to 44-6, but Thushara (44) and Kulasekara (25) rallied their side with a defiant 74-run stand.
The Indian skipper’s decision to put the hosts in to bat after winning the toss produced instant results as Zaheer bowled Kumar Sangakkara with his sixth delivery which moved in sharply to hit the off-stump.
Man-of-the-Match Zaheer claimed two wickets in his third over, removing in-form Jayawardene and Chamara Kapugedera.
Kumar had Chamara Silva caught by Kohli at point to reduce the hosts to 11-4. He also ended Sri Lanka’s fightback when he dismissed Thushara and Kulasekara in the same over.
Sri Lanka’s aggressive opener Sanath Jayasuriya, watching the disaster unfold from one end, was not allowed to play strokes as he faced 37 balls for his 13 runs before being trapped leg-before by Zaheer.
Sri Lanka named Fernando in their playing eleven in place of left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas.
Scoreboard
SRI LANKA:
S.T. Jayasuriya lbw b Zaheer 13
K.C. Sangakkara b Zaheer 2
M. Jayawardene c Yuvraj b Zaheer 2
C.K. Kapugedera c Dhoni b Zaheer 0
L.P.C. Silva c Kohli b Kumar 0
T.M. Dilshan c Badrinath b Pathan 16
N. Kulasekara c Badrinath b Kumar 25
T. Thushara c Kohli b Kumar 44
B.A.W. Mendis c and b Harbhajan 0
C.R.D. Fernando c Kohli b Harbhajan 12
M. Muralitharan not out 11
EXTRAS (LB-6, W-11) 17
TOTAL (all out, 38.3 overs) 142
FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-10, 3-10, 4-11, 5-33, 6-44, 7-118, 8-118, 9-122.
BOWLING: Kumar 10-2-34-3; Zaheer Khan 9.5-3-21-4; Patel 6-1-24-0; Pathan 5-0-21-1 (3w); Harbhajan Singh 5.4-0-26-2 (7w); Yuvraj Singh 2-0-10-0 (1w).
INDIA:
I. Pathan c Sangakkara b Kulasekara 5
V. Kohli c Kapugedera b Thushara 37
S.K. Raina lbw b Kulasekara 1
Yuvraj Singh lbw b Mendis 20
M.S. Dhoni b Fernando 39
R.G. Sharma lbw b Thushara 0
S. Badrinath not out 27
Harbhajan Singh lbw b Mendis 1
Zaheer Khan not out 2
EXTRAS (B-3, LB-4, W-2, NB-2) 11
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 39.4 overs) 143
FALL OF WKTS: 1-8, 2-16, 3-52, 4-75, 5-75, 6-135, 7-139.
DID NOT BAT: P. Kumar, M.M. Patel.
BOWLING: Kulasekara 9-2-26-2; Thushara 7-1-32-2 (2w); Mendis 10-1-22-2; Fernando 5-0-25-1 (2nb); Muralitharan 8.4-0-31-0.
RESULT: India won by three wickets.
UMPIRES: M.G. Silva (Sri Lanka) and B.R. Doctrove (West Indies). TV UMPIRE: T.H. Wijewardene (Sri Lanka).
MATCH REFEREE: B.C. Broad (England).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Zaheer Khan.
NEXT MATCH: Colombo, Sunday.—AFP
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