Sri Lanka beat India by five runs in the second one-day international on Sunday, taking a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
RAJKOT: India found the worst timing to display their lack of finesse and threw away a game that they should have had in the bag on the eve of the announcement of the World Cup squad. In chase of a target that the experienced line-up should have overhauled without much ado, they huffed and puffed and then choked in the death to present Sri Lanka with a six-run win.
With less than a month for the mega event in the Caribbean, the manner of India’s loss even after a 100-run partnership between Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar and a 66-run stand between MS Dhoni and Dinesh Kaarthick in search of 258 must rankle the team management.
Sanath Jayasuriya, the wily veteran, bowled the last over off which India needed 11 to win and when S Sreesanth tried to send the last ball of the innings into the stands and missed, India still needed another six runs.
The first ball of Jayasuriya’s over saw Kumble being run-out as Dhoni pushed hard for a second run to keep the strike. Off the penultimate ball Farveez Maharoof made good ground in the deep cover to pouch Dhoni who hoped to settle the issue.
Lasith Malinga used the older ball well to dismiss Ganguly and then trap in front a well-set Dinesh Kaarthick to keep Sri Lanka in the game.
But the Indians failed to take a leaf out of Kumar Sangakkara’s century under pressure as no one in the middle-order took it upon themselves to bat through the innings.
India were pegged back by the loss of opener Robin Uthappa and skipper Rahul Dravid early, but Ganguly and Sachin combined for a stroke-filled partnership to help India race past 100 within the 15th over.
Both departed after making half-centuries and in walked Virender Sehwag. Playing his first match since his recall to the team, Sehwag initially showed the patience his role in the middle-order demanded but failed to make his innings count as he cheekily tried to cut spinner Malinga Bandara into Sangakkara’s gloves.
Kaarthick and Dhoni promised to steer India home and for a while the game looked done and dusted but the Lankans hit back. Jayasuriya, Maharoof and Malinga combined to bring the runs down to a trickle as the equation became a run a ball and then the asking rate climbed for the Indians.
Earlier, Munaf Patel and Sreesanth struck early blows to set the game up for India.
Patel, who finished with four wickets, completed an impressive comeback from an ankle injury. In the rain-affected one-dayer at the Eden Gardens, Patel had picked up two wickets and in Rajkot he reinforced his form with probing first spell that included the wickets of Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu.
S Sreesanth bowled 10 overs on the trot in a game in which India played two frontline spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh and left out strike bowler Zaheer Khan (sore shoulder).
In the absence of Ajit Agarkar (flu) and Irfan Pathan (shoulder) it was vital for Munaf and Sreesanth to fire and they did not disappoint. However, India let all the advantage slip as they struck flat notes towards the end of the day. Their World Cup squad is said to be more or less set, but Greg Chappell’s squad went through an unsettling experience on Sunday.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka innings
Upul Tharanga c Tendulkar b Sreesanth 12
Sanath Jayasuriya c Dhoni b Patel 9
Marvan Atapattu lbw b Patel 15
Kumar Sangakkara c Sehwag b Patel 110
Mahela Jayawardene c Dhoni b Sreesanth 4
Tillekaratne Dilshan b Singh 56
Russel Arnold lbw b Tendulkar 7
Farveez Maharoof c Karthik b Patel 17
Nuwan Kulasekera not out 3
Malinga Bandara not out 4
Extras (13lb, 4w, 3nb) 20
Total (for eight wickets) 257.
Overs: 50.
Fall of wickets: 1 16, 2 31, 3 53, 4 58, 5 166, 6 188, 7 249, 8 249.
Bowling: Munaf Patel 9 0 50 4 (2nb, 2w), Shantakumaran Sreesanth 10 1 39 2 (1nb, 1w), Sourav Ganguly 2 0 14 0, Harbhajan Singh 10 0 41 1, Anil Kumble 10 1 59 0, Sachin Tendulkar 9 0 41 1 (1w).
India innings
Robin Uthappa c Jayawardene b Maharoof 7
Sourav Ganguly c Sangakkara b Malinga 62
Rahul Dravid b Maharoof 5
Sachin Tendulkar st Sangakkara b Bandara 54
Virender Sehwag c Sangakkara b Bandara 19
Mahendra Dhoni c Maharoof b Jayasuriya 48
Dinesh Karthik lbw b Malinga 31
Harbhajan Singh c Jayawardene b Maharoof 2
Anil Kumble run out 2
Shantakumaran Sreesanth not out 0
Munaf Patel not out 0
Extras (1b, 5lb, 7nb, 9w) 22
Total (for nine wickets) 252.
Overs: 50.
Fall of wickets: 1 14, 2 29, 3 129, 4 154, 5 169, 6 235, 7 241, 8...
Bowling: Lasith Malinga 10 0 75 2 (5nb, 4w), Farveez Maharoof 10 0 42 3 (2nb, 3w), Nuwan Kulasekera 10 0 48 0 (1w), Malinga Bandara 10 0 36 2 (1w), Sanath Jayasuriya 9 0 38 1, Tillekaratne Dilshan 1 0 7 0
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