da dobrowin： In spite of a ton from Sachin Tendulkar, the target set by India wastoo small on a slow track which was playing true
da 888： AC Ganesh20-Oct-2000In spite of a ton from Sachin Tendulkar, the target set by India wastoo small on a slow track which was playing true. Sanath Jayasuriyaand his young players Russel Arnold (59, 70 balls including 7 hits tothe fence) and Kumara Sangakkara (40 not out off 64 with four 4s)helped them pull off an easy victory over the Indians by five wicketsin the first match of the Coca Cola Champions Trophy at Sharjah onFriday. Tendulkar was named man-of-the-match for his heroic effort.Tendulkar’s 26th one day international century was the highlight of agenerally lacklustre Indian innings. The 27-year-old batting maestrohit 101 but except for Robin Singh, none of the other batsmancontributed anything substantial and India were restricted to 224 foreight in 50 overs. Four run outs compounded the Indians’ agonyWinning the toss, India were off to a bright start with skipper SouravGanguly and Tendulkar putting on 33 runs off 6.3 overs. But thetroubles started with Ganguly being held by Gunawardene off Vaas for17.Rahul Dravid seemed to have settled down when he was run out for 16 bya direct throw from Sanath Jayasuriya. Dravid’s failure to ground hisbat cost him dearly. His fall made India 64 for two in the 15th over.Vinod Kambli also seemed to be shaping well but was also run out for12. Sent back by Tendulkar when there seemed to be a single, he couldnot beat Jayasuriya’s throw to wicketkeeper Romesh Kaluwitharana. Thenew Indian batting hero Yuvraj Singh did not last long, beaten andbowled by Muthiah Muralitharan’s flight and turn when he had scoredjust seven.At this stage India were 102 for four in the 24th over but their hopeswere revived by Tendulkar and Robin Singh. The two put on exactly 100runs for the fifth wicket off 22 overs before Robin Singh played alofted drive off Muralitharan but could not clear Marvan Attapattu.The 37-year-old left hander had batted in exemplary fashion, facing 61balls for his 35 and hitting only one boundary.Tendulkar, who had in the meantime, reached his century was run out inthe next over following another direct throw, this time fromGunawardene. He faced 140 balls for his 101 and hit just threeboundaries, besides a six. That made India 205 for six in the 47thover.Anil Kumble and Ajit Agarkar took the score to 222 when in the lastover, the former was bowled by Chaminda Vaas. Off the next deliveryVijay Dahiya became the fourth run out victim of the innings and theIndians could not have been very happy at their final total. Vaas andMuralitharan were the pick of the bowlers and finished with twowickets each for 40 and 36 runs respectively.The Sri Lankans began their reply on a positive note and playedattacking cricket throughout. They were off to a disastrous startlosing opener Avishka Gunawardene (9) and Marvan Atapattu (0) – bothfalling to the Vijay Dahiya-Venkatesh Prasad combination with just 21runs on the board. A timely third wicket partnership off 73 runsbetween Jayasuriya (48) and Mahela Jayawardene (38) rescued Sri Lankaand helped them stabilise the innings.The Sri Lankan batsmen, especially Jayasuriya was severe on Prasad,who conceded 37 runs in his first 5 overs. Both the Sri Lankan captainand Jayawardene took full advantage of the field restrictions in thefirst 15 overs as they scored the runs freely. Even the pace of ZaheerKhan could not unsettle the Sri Lankan players.Sri Lanka lost Jayasuriya (48 off 53 balls, seven 4s) caught by YuvrajSingh at point off Agarkar. Nineteen runs later, Jayawardene (38 off57 balls, two 4s) was bowled by a Kumble top spinner. But the twotalented young left-handers Russel Arnold and Kumar Sangakkara did notshow any signs of panic. The two ensured that there was no battingcollapse with some sensible batting. They added 95 runs for the fifthwicket in 18.3 overs as Sri Lanka finally romped home. Arnold was outto a poor shot trying to play the ball to third man and was taken byDahiya off Agarkar, giving the Indian wicketkeeper his third catch ofthe innings. Kaluwitharana (9 not out) joined Sangakkara and the twoknocked off the required runs with 6.1 overs to spare.The Indians were outplayed in every department of the game. The resultwas disappointing for the Indians came to the tournament after anencouraging show in the ICC Knock-out tournament in Nairobi. India nowtake on Zimbabwe in their next match on Sunday.
