India stutters to win over under performing Lankans
By Dinouk Colombage-Reporting from Australia
India stuttered to a 4 wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second game of the Commonwealth Bank Series. The victory came courtesy of a man of the match performance from Ravichandran Ashwin.
A disciplined bowling display by the World Champions was the deciding factor between the two World Cup finalists, as Sri Lanka’s batsmen once again failed to convert their starts.
An unbeaten 53 run stand for the eight wicket between Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja ensured that India recorded only their second win of their tour of Australia.
Chasing a moderate 234 for victory, India’s chase was far from convincing as their players seemed intent on throwing their wickets away. A 75 run partnership between Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli was nearly undone as a string of Indian batsmen were guilty of rash shots in what should have been a comfortable chase.
The chase was rocked early on when the horribly out of form Virender Sehwag was caught at third man off Lasith Malinga trying to clear the boundary. With his wicket, the Sri Lankans would have felt that they were in with a chance at defending an otherwise mediocre score on the flat batting track in Perth.
Tendulkar was joined by India’s stand out batsman of the tour, Virat Kohli. The pair put on 75 valuable runs as they saw off the new bowlers and looked to score off the back up fast bowlers. Sri Lanka’s decision to play five quick men seemed to have backfired as none of them looked to be troubling the two.
Angelo Mathews looked the most dangerous of the five fast men as he picked up two wickets, including the prized scalp of Tendulkar, for only 31 runs.
With Tendulkar and Kohli going strong many people began uttering the dreaded ‘100th 100’; of course as he neared 50 runs, the little master was dismissed trying to play a late cut off Mathews. Rohit Sharma, who has had a fairly uneventful tour, joined Kohli and the two kept India marching on to the target. At 120-2 it seemed as though they would stroll home, however, it was not to be with Sharma being caught at point by a diving Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Suresh Raina, who has much to prove, came out to the middle looking to attack from the start. For 22 runs it seemed like the left-hander was taking the game away from Sri Lanka. As has been the case all summer, India seemed determined to make the game difficult for themselves. With less than 80 runs needed, at only 4.5 runs an over, Raina tried to pull Thisara Perera into the stands. He only succeeded in skying it, giving midwicket an easy catch.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who continues to leave questions surrounding his form,did not last long as he too gave a looping catch to Malinga at mid-on. With wickets falling the Sri Lankans would have felt the game was theirs for the taking, the favour tilted further in Sri Lanka’s favour when the cramping Kohli was run out attempting a suicidal single.
Despite the collection of loose shots India’s numbers seven and eight took their team home and gave India a valuable win in the series.
Earlier in the day Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first on a wicket that looked to have an abundance of runs in it. Despite a collection of starts from Dilshan, Kumar Sangakarra and Mahela Jayawardena none of the seniors went on to post the big score needed.
Dinesh Chandimal’s 64 proved to be a highlight once again for a team that is struggling to find a batsman in the middle order as he appeared committed to staying at the wicket. Angelo Mathews, who has been under pressure, ended the innings with a well-timed contribution of 33 runs off 28 balls.
India’s bowling was led by Ashwin who turned in figures of 3-32 in his ten overs, certainly not figures expected from an off-spinner on the WACA track. His performance also helped show up Sri Lanka’s team selection who failed to choose a front line spinner.
With India and Australia both having recorded a victory, Sri Lanka will know that Friday’s game against the hosts at the same ground is a much win affair. The unstable batting line up and the ineffective bowling will pose many questions for the selectors in the next couple of days. Jayawardena, and all of Sri Lanka, will be hoping that the new skipper’s fortunes turn around and fast.
