The closest match of the competition provided another example of the growing maturity as a batsman of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The free spirit of the past has necessarily had to be shackled through growing responsibility as both batsman and captain, but the street-smart Jharkhandi has shown that he is as much at home playing the nip-and-tuck game as he is brutalising bowling attacks.
At the Adelaide Oval on a nerve-wracking Tuesday, Dhoni made the most significant of his 19 half-centuries to steer India to a thrilling two-wicket victory over Sri Lanka. His unbeaten 50 was notable not so much because it was the first time in 40 innings he had crossed 40 and not hit a boundary as the fact that he kept his wits around him even as a majority of his team-mates didn’t.
Kumar Sangakkara (128, 155b, 12x4) had provided the first instance of meticulous innings-building with an exceptional seventh one-day hundred that pulled the Lankans out of early trouble to a respectable 238 for six. Again a batsman light, India needed to play with like responsibility; while several promised, it was Dhoni who delivered, steering the team to 239 for eight with five deliveries remaining and taking India to 12 points, six clear of their competitors in the race to seal a finals spot against Australia.
Impressive Malinga
Not for the first time, India lost wickets in a rush early on, Sachin Tendulkar cleaned up for a duck by a screamer from Lasith Malinga, Robin Uthappa failing to make the most of being promoted to number three and Gautam Gambhir wrongly adjudged caught behind by Tony Hill. The stage was set for Yuvraj to show what he is made of, and the Chandigarh left-hander entertained like only he can.
The first signs that he was shedding his lean trot had come on Sunday against Australia; two days later, he did what he did against the Aussies, only much better and for far longer. The hesitancy that accompanied him in the early part of the competition made way for a purposeful, confident Yuvraj, moving beautifully into his strokes and striking the ball crisply.
Neither pace, nor the spin of Muttiah Muralitharan made any impression. Strokes cascaded off his willow with stunning regularity, drawing admiring gasps from an anaemic crowd of 6,228. Rohit Sharma was an able ally in the first stand of substance, 64 (70b) for the fourth, which preceded associations of 59 (58b) between Yuvraj and Dhoni, and 58 (75b) between Dhoni and Irfan Pathan for the next two.
Again, though, some of the stroke-selection was atrocious. Rohit and Pathan were both guilty of indiscretion, and in between, Yuvraj had been cleaned up by a yorker from Chaminda Vaas. Praveen Kumar rounded off an evening of misadventures with an ill-advised pull of his own, but through it all, Dhoni stood tall, more annoyed than flustered by the rash of injudiciousness.
The skipper hared outstandingly between the wickets to compensate for lack of boundaries, seldom looked like getting out, and it was no surprise that he didn't. Sangakkara might have been the man of the match for his superb compilation, but the innings that sealed the contest came from his wicket-keeping counterpart.
Not that the Lankan stumper’s essay was any less classy. Tillakaratne Dilshan fell in the first over and Sanath Jayasuriya was unfortunately run out backing up; when Mahela Jayawardene strode out to join his great buddy, some work had to be done to justify the Lankan captain's call to bat first.
Cautious innings
While Jayawardene kept the board busy, Sangakkara put his head down, making it obvious that he wanted to bat through the innings. Risks were at a premium, the ball was played late and with great deliberateness. The two men, who enjoy batting with each other, ran wonderfully between the wickets whilst adding 153 (213b) when Jayawardene fell not unlike Jayasuriya, magnifying the responsibility on his deputy’s shoulders.
India’s fielding was up to scratch, Rohit producing a great diving stop at point and a cracking direct hit when on his knees to run Chamara Kapugedera out, but Sangakkara was in a different league. With Chamara Silva for struggling company, the left-hander reached three-figures off 141 deliveries, then cut loose to provide the acceleration. India held up well under the onslaught even if the last 10 overs yielded 72; but for Dhoni, those could have hurt badly.