JOIN USSri Lanka eliminate Indians
After restricting India to 163 for five — much less than what they had promised after the first 10 overs — Lanka replied with 167 for five, winning the match off the last ball and knocking India out of the tournament.
Needing 14 runs from the last over, Angelo Mathews carted Ashish Nehra for a six over long on to give a bright start to the over. Nehra, however, did well to concede just four runs off the next four deliveries that brought the equation to three off the last ball. Kapugedera slammed the left-arm seamer for a huge six as the Lankan camp erupted in ecstacy.
India have to blame themselves for the mess. From a seemingly commanding 90/2 at the half-way stage, India could only manage 83 in the last 10 overs to post a disappointing total on slowish pitch. After Tillakaratne Dilshan (33) and Kumar Sangakkara’s (46) show, Mathews stole the show with a 37-ball 46.
Earlier, Suresh Raina (63, 47b, 7x4, 1x6) and Gautam Gambhir (41) had done well to put India on top, but their inability to pace the innings towards the end cost them dear.
Dhoni called it right at the toss for the fifth time in a row and he had every reason to believe that this was the most crucial spin of coin he had won at this tournament.
Having come up short while chasing on the previous two occasions, Dhoni had little hesitation in opting to bat first. With the match scheduled for an afternoon start, he didn’t have to be wary of medium pacers causing many problems.
The intention of the Indian batsmen was clear from the word go as Dinesh Kaarthick, coming in place of Murali Vijay, slapped Angelo Mathews to the fence through covers off the first ball of the innings. The Tamil Nadu batsman didn’t last long but Suresh Raina and Gautam Gambhir got stuck into Lankan bowlers.
Raina started the assault taking 16 runs off his Chennai Super Kings’ mate Thilan Thushara including three fours. Mathews went for 13 runs in the next as runs began to come at fast clip. The left-handed duo, clearly at home on a pitch that didn’t offer much for the faster bowlers, raised 66 runs in 42 balls before Gambhir nicked one behind to Sangakkara off Lasith Malinga.
Raina, however, motored along bringing up his 50 in 33 balls. Dhoni, who promoted himself up the order, began with a six off Jayasuriya and India, at 119/2 after 14 overs, looked set for a big total.
Inexplicably though both Raina and Dhoni failed to maintain the same tempo as the next three overs yielded just 20 runs. To make matters worse a well-set Raina holed out at square leg at this stage as did Yuvraj Singh at deep mid-wicket, both caught by Jayawardene off Thushara, who made great amends to his generosity in the first over.
Despite their best efforts Dhoni and Yusuf could only manage to take India to 163. The tidy Lankan bowlers gave little room for the batsmen to chance their arms as only four fours and 50 runs came off the last six overs.
SCOREBOARD
INDIA
Kaarthick c&b Malinga 13
(12b, 2x4)
Gambhir c Sangakkara b Malinga 41
(32b, 3x4)
Raina c Jayawardene b Thushara 63
(47b, 7x4, 1x6)
Dhoni (not out) 23
(19b, 1x6)
Yuvraj c Jayawardene b Thushara 1
(2b)
Yusuf c Kapugedera b Perera 13
(9b, 2x4)
Extras (B-1, LB-1, W-6, NB-1) 9
Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 163
Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Kaarthick), 2-96 (Gambhir), 3-144 (Raina), 4-147 (Yuvraj), 5-163 (Yusuf).
Bowling: Mathews 3-0-29-0 (nb-1), Perera 3-0-15-1 (w-1), Thushara 4-0-41-2 (w-3), Malinga 4-0-25-2, Randiv 3-0-25-0 (w-1), Dilshan 2-0-14-0 (w-1), Jayasuriya 1-0-12-0.
Scoring pattern: after 5 overs: 35/1; 10: 90/1; 15: 126/2; end of innings: 163/5 in 20 overs.
Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 52/1.
SRI LANKA
Jayawardene c Yusuf b Nehra 4
(3b, 1x4)
Jayasuriya c Kaarthick b Vinay 0
(5b)
Dilshan c Yuvraj b Yusuf 33
(26b, 5x4)
Sangakkara b Vinay 46
(33b, 2x4, 3x6)
Mathews (run out) 46
(37b, x4, x6
Kapugedera (not out) 37
(16b, 2x4, 3x6)
Thisara Perera (not out) 0
(0b)
Extras (LB-1) 1
Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 167
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Jayawardene), 2-6 (Jayasuriya), 3-49 (Dilshan), 4-105 (Sangakkara), 5-161 (Mathews).
Bowling: Nehra 4-0-44-1, Vinay 4-0-30-2, Harbhajan 4-0-35-0, Yusuf 3-0-23-1, Chawla 4-0-28-0, Yuvraj 1-0-6-0 Scoring pattern: after 5 overs: 37/2; 10: 58/3; 15: 107/4; end of innings: 167/5 in 20 overs.
Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 41/2.