Inspired by a superb all-round performance from Virender Sehwag, who scored 81 and then claimed three crucial wickets, India beat Sri Lanka by four runs and advanced to the final of the Asia Cup on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka looked set for victory after a brilliant 130 off 132 deliveries from Sanath Jayasuriya, but his dismissal changed the complexion of the match and hosts ended up on 267 for the loss of 9 wickets.
Earlier, half-centuries from Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh helped India score 271 for the loss of six wickets.
India innings
India left out middle order batsman V V S Laxman, who has a badly bruised knee, seamer Lakshmipathy Balaji and left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra.
Zaheer Khan returned to the team for the must-win match, having recovered from a hamstring injury.
Sri Lanka were without Muttiah Muralitharan, who travelled to Kandy to attend his grandfather's funeral.
Left-armer Nuwan Zoysa replaced Chaminda Vaas, who is down with flu.
The confidence Sachin Tendulkar has gained after his last two innings and the bad patch Virender Sehwag is in the midst of meant that it would be Tendulkar and not Sehwag who would take first strike.
The master batsmen announced his intentions with two delightful fours, flicked off his pads with sublime ease. In fact, for the first two overs Sehwag did not get any strike at all as India reached 16.
While Sehwag looked tentative, Tendulkar was exactly the opposite. All the rust had given way to sublime timing and balance. The batsmen seemed to have exchanged roles, at least to start with. Tendulkar decided to be the aggressor and Sehwag the grafter, more in his Test mode.
Sehwag survived a dropped chance at second slip when on 10, but, on the whole, his apprehension was understandable as this year he has scored only 413 runs in 15 One-Day Internationals at an average of just 27.53. In comparison, in Tests he has scored 557 runs at 92.83.
Zoysa has been a revelation during this series. Prior to this match he had already claimed eight wickets in three matches. He added the prized scalp of Tendulkar to his kitty. The little master was looking very good when he tried to turn a delivery that pitched in line and moved late. Unable to counter the late movement, Tendulkar was trapped in front of his stumps. He scored 18 off 21 balls with three boundaries. (34 for one)
Things proceeded at snail's pace after Tendulkar fell in the seventh over. By the tenth over India had reached only 43.
Someone had to accelerate the scoring. Sehwag took it upon himself and slammed Zoysa for 11 runs in the 11th over. Then Ganguly took a liking to Malinga and hammered him for 12 in the next over. 23 runs had come in two overs. Sri Lanka's stranglehold on the batsmen was broken.
Sri Lankan skipper Marvan Atapattu responded almost immediately by introducing spin, and brought off-spinner T Dilshan into the attack. Sehwag tried to attack but never quite got hold of the ball. India got just two runs off the over and the game of cat and mouse was resumed.
Dilshan's next over was a mixed one. The first ball was slammed for six. Two singles came off the next three deliveries. Then, Sehwag, on 33, mis-hit another attempted hoick and was lucky to survive his second chance of the innings.
By the end of the 15th over, India were 79 for 1.
A period of relative calm followed with Maharoof and Dilshan striking a good line and length. The Indians were looking to consolidate and milk the bowling for ones and twos.
Sehwag's 50 came off 67 balls with four boundaries. It was certainly one of his most composed knocks in One-Day Internationals.
Every once in a while the batsmen would dance down the track and hit a six or four. By doing so the bowlers were kept guessing, never quite sure of where to pitch the ball.
By the 30th over, India had reached 152 for 1, at over five runs an over. The trick now would be to maintain the run-rate and reach at least 280. Sehwag was beginning to find his touch and so was Ganguly.
But then the drinks break did the trick for the Sri Lankans. The first over after the second drinks break saw Sehwag go for a slog sweep against Jayasuriya, who was bowling only his second over, but only get a bottom edge, which was brilliantly held by Sangakarra, though television replays later suggested that there was some element of doubt in the dismissal. The right-hander scored 81 off 92 balls and shared a 134-run partnership with Ganguly. (168 for 2)
Rahul Dravid walked in next and headed back to the pavilion after scoring only one. He lasted just seven balls. Trying to drive through the off-side he edged the ball to Sangakarra, who dived to his right to take a good catch. (169 for 3)
But India recovered well from this double blow with a 71-run partnership between Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh. The need was for quick runs and that's exactly what the Indians attempted. They succeeded for a while before some good bowling by Malinga snared Ganguly.
The Indian skipper, frustrated by two dot balls, tried to loft the bowler over mid-on but only hit it as far as Chandana. He scored 79 off 129 balls, with 9 boundaries.
Mohammad Kaif, who scored only 1, (248 for 5) was unlucky to be run-out in the next over and Yuvraj Singh was gone in the over after. Yuvraj scored the fastest fifty of the tournament, which came off only 45 balls. The left-hander was caught on the long-on fence by Avishka Gunawardene off Malinga. (225 for 6)
Parthiv Patel (13) and Irfan Pathan (8) threw their bats around in the last few overs to help India reach 271 at the end of their allotted overs.
For Sri Lanka, Malinga was the most successful bowler with two wickets for 56 runs while Maharoof showed great potential.
India would have liked to have at least 280 on the board considering Sri Lanka were without their best bowlers and even Zoysa was injured during the innings. The score is certainly competitive but Sri Lanka know it's not an impossible chase.
Sri Lanka innings
When defending a target between 270-280 it is important to make sure that the opposition does not get off to a quick start. Fast scoring at the beginning of the innings means that the team chasing does not have to take risks later on.
Things seemed to going exactly to plan for India when they claimed the wicket of Gunawardene (7) in the fourth over. The opener hit a six over third man in Zaheer Khan's first over. He tried to repeat the stroke but holed out to Irfan, at the third man fence. (20 for 1)
Three overs later, Pathan got into the act and had new batsman Saman Jayantha (5) caught behind, fishing outside the off-stump. (36 for 2)
But India did not take into account that their old tormentor, Sanath Jayasuriya, was back at his best. The eighth over of the innings was probably the most thrilling of the tournament as Jayasuriya slammed five boundaries.
Zaheer was charging in after claiming a wicket. He got the ball to move away from the right-handers but looked lost in the face of Jayasuriya's power hitting.
Marvan Atapattu had joined Jayasuriya at the wicket. As has become the norm, he took a few deliveries to get going. Things seemed to settle down as Jayasuriya played the shots and Atapattu rotated the strike.
Then, out of the blue, Atapattu jumped down the track to in a bid to loft Harbhajan Singh, who was in his very first over, and was deceived by the flight and turn. He dragged the ball to square leg where Yuvraj Singh accepted the catch with glee. (76 for 3).
Jayasuriya was striking the ball very well and all the other batsmen needed to do was stay with him. But somehow the message did not get through to Sangakarra. From the first ball he faced, he went for his shots. It was only a matter of time before he would be heading back to the pavilion. The inevitable happened when he hit the ball straight to Tendulkar at mid-on off Virender Sehwag. (103 for 4).
Suddenly, Sri Lanka were gasping for breath. Despite the quick-fire start they were struggling; too many wickets had been lost and they had too little on the board.
Mahela Jayawardene was confidence personified. The singles kept coming and an effortless six over long off showed the right-hander's true class. After 25 overs, Sri Lanka were 129 for 4.
The Indians were on top but one man held the key to victory or defeat for Sri Lanka. He was Jayasuriya. He continued to bat with ease, and the Indians had no answer to his unorthodox hitting.
Tendulkar struck a huge blow for the Indians in his first over when he dismissed Jayawardene with a jaffer. The ball pitched outside the leg stump and turned viciously; the batsman defended on the back foot but the ball rolled back on to the stumps.
Five wickets down, with only 136 on board, all seemed lost for Sri Lanka. But Dilshan and Jayasuriya batted with great calm. Dilshan, in particular, was very impressive. To start with, he worked the singles, but once he found his bearings he was not afraid to play his shots.
A partnership of 103 followed. Not once during this partnership did the run-rate drop and the Indians started to feel the pressure. Shoulders drooped and a few fumbles were seen in the field.
Jayasuriya suffered from cramps but bravely carried on. Dilshan applauded and encouraged his partner at every turn. For Sri Lanka to win, Jayasuriya had to stay there till the end.
At the end of the 40th over, Sri Lanka were 214 for the loss of 5 wickets. At the same stage, India were 203 for three. In the last ten overs, India scored just 68 runs, including just 31 runs in the last five. One wondered if they had got enough.
While Jayasuriya was at the wicket runs came easily. But it was just as important that the partnership kept going. It was Sehwag who got the breakthrough India badly wanted.
It was a perfect off-spinner's dismissal. The ball pitched outside the off-stump, drew the batsman into the drive, turned and crashed into the middle stump. Dishan was gone after scoring a valuable 39 off 46 balls. (237 for 6)
Chandana took Dilshan's place in the middle. Jayasuriya was tired but his presence at the wicket was vital for Sri Lanka to win. A few quiet overs followed and by the 45th over Sri Lanka had reached 241.
Jayasuriya looked to rectify that with a few big shots. But Sehwag saw him charge out and dropped the ball a little short; it turned, took a top edge, ballooned. Sehwag called early and moved to take a simple catch. India were back in the match.
Jayasuriya's 130 off 132 balls, including 14x4 and 1x6, was one of the best one-day innings seen in recent times. It almost carried his team to victory. It was a heroic effort but it was now left to the lower order to get the 18 runs off 17 balls needed for victory.
For the second last over, the ball was handed over to Irfan and the youngster responded superbly. He conceded just four runs in the over and claimed the vital wicket of Chandana (11).
It all came down to the last over. The Indians had a choice to make. They could continue with Sehwag, who had already claimed three wickets -- including that of Jayasuriya -- or go with Zaheer, who had been slammed for 21 runs in his fourth over.
Ganguly chose Zaheer. Sri Lanka required 11 runs off the last over. They got only seven and India won by four runs and advanced to the final, against Sri Lanka, on August 1.
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