India vs Sri Lanka: Commonwealth Bank Tri Series 2012

Live Cricket Scorecard

Post match Commentary

Dhoni: It is always nice to speak after a win. Praveen had an off-day and Ashwin had to do the hard work. I am happy with the way he bowled. We wanted to improve in some areas and I am happy that we did so. We need to put in a better performance going further. The cramps will be an issue in many venues here, we need to adjust to the hot conditions. The batsmen need to make runs while the bowlers need to take wickets. We need to do things that are in our control and that will help us in future.


Ashwin : We were keen to get points on the table. There was some spin and bounce from the wicket and I enjoyed bowling on this surface. I want to contribute to the team's cause and I am happy to do so today. We needed to have a cool head and I told Jadeja just that. He batted very sensibly and that rubbed off in our partnership.

Ashwin is the MoM for his all-round efforts. He took 3/32 and then chipped in with an unbeaten 30.

Mahela: We did not have any momentum going through our innings. We lost wickets at the wrong time. We should have got 250-260 on this surface. We did not play the spinners well, we needed to rotate the strike. We took wickets, but we were not good enough to close the match. We will have a good talk and will look to do better against Australia on Friday




India's feted openers exited the stage too early, and the inexperienced middle order succumbed to old failings, but their bowling allrounders Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin showed admirable poise to steer a wobbly chase home. Virat Kohli's authoritative 77 set the agenda for India, but they began to falter when he contracted cramps around the mid-point of the innings. His exit, run out for 77 attempting a hopeless single, meant India had lost their sixth wicket 53 adrift of the target. Ashwin and Jadeja guided India to the finish, braving the Lasith Malinga threat and the epidemic bout of nerves that had blighted the middle order.

Sri Lanka deserved some part of the blame, not going at India hard enough after Kohli's fall. Malinga, who yorked the stumps with a typical sling-shot throw from mid-on to catch a diving Kohli short in the 36th over, had four overs left. Mahela Jayawardene brought his trump card on quickly, but didn't provide him with the Test-match fields that the situation demanded. Malinga was off after two quick overs that were handled well, and by the time he came back on in the 45th over, India had inched to within 17 runs of the target. It was too late - Ashwin and Jadeja had played themselves in, and ticked the runs away with composure.

The only moment of indiscretion came when India needed one run to win. Ashwin tried to loft Angelo Mathews down the ground and mis-hit it straight up in the air. Three men converged, and mid-off, who should have taken it easily, backed off following some tragic miscommunication, as India scrambled through to win. That the fielder at mid-off was Malinga was fitting - he just didn't turn up in the end overs.

The batting effort capped Ashwin's best day on tour, on a day when he reduced his pace, tossed up the ball, and extracted a lot more spin than is the norm at Perth. He came into the attack at an ideal moment, soon after Zaheer Khan had extracted Kumar Sangakkara in the 16th over with a peachy away seamer. That was Zaheer's second moment of excellence against a left-hand batsman, after he took just 10 balls in his opening spell to work over Upul Tharanga. Thereafter, Ashwin applied the squeeze, suffocating Sri Lanka's momentum in partnership with Zaheer. Between them, they dismantled the heart of the Sri Lanka line-up with combined returns of 20-2-76-5. That included 14 of the 20 Powerplay overs, which yielded 4 for 42.


25 overs India 115 for 2 (Kohli 44*, Rohit 10*) need 119 runs to beat Sri Lanka 233 for 8 (Chandimal 64, Dilshan 48, Zaheer 2-44, Ashwin 3-32)

India's inexperienced middle order was left facing a tricky final quarter after the openers perished inside the first half of their chase of 234. Sachin Tendulkar's fans enjoyed 48 runs of sublime batting, before he once again succumbed without completing the most eagerly anticipated century in cricket history. Tendulkar's fall left the baton in Virat Kohli's hands, and he looked capable of steering India home during the course of his unbeaten 44 off 63 balls.

Sri Lanka's all-seam attack, in contrast to their opponents earlier in the day, attempted to use pace and bounce to unsettle India on a grassy pitch. The approach had no visible impact on Virender Sehwag, who looked to camp beside the line and upper-cut early in his stay. Lasith Malinga's extra pace, though, hustled him into the shot, which ended as a swirling catch to third man.

Tendulkar seemed to be in a calm state of mind, head stationary and feet moving well as he lined up a bunch of pleasing shots. A firm front-foot push off Malinga rocketed past mid-off for his first four, before he towered over a short one and creamed it through the covers. Tendulkar was constantly on the lookout for off-side boundaries, and Sri Lanka habitually bowled short to encourage his method. On 26, he survived a scare when he arched back drastically to steer a straight ball from Angelo Mathews through third man, and the resultant inside edge flew close to the stumps.

Thereafter Tendulkar resorted to a series of tucks and nudges to the leg side, until he was tempted into attempting another late cut. Mathews craftily took the pace off the offcutter, and cramped Tendulkar once again. This time the edge deflected onto leg stump, and Tendulkar once again walked off looking listless.

Kohli sparkled from the outset, flicking his second ball authoritatively through square leg for four. The extra pace on the pitch seemed to play into Kohli's hands, as he pranced into position early to play attacking shots on either side of the pitch. His control was epitomised by the ease with which he pulled a pacy Dhammika Prasad bumper through square leg.

Rohit Sharma's lethargic movements were accentuated by Kohli's quick feet and hands. Rohit miscued a pull but the ball landed safely in front of fine leg, and he needed time getting used to the pace. But Kohli's assurance at the other end meant Sri Lanka weren't allowed to string together a series of quiet overs.

50 overs Sri Lanka 233 for 8 (Chandimal 64, Dilshan 48, Zaheer 2-44, Ashwin 3-32) v India



Zaheer Khan came back into the Indian team, R Ashwin came into his own at long last, and the result was an immeasurably improved bowling performance from India that pegged Sri Lanka to 233 for 8 in Perth. Between them, Zaheer and Ashwin dismantled the heart of the Sri Lanka line-up with combined returns of 20-2-76-5. That included 14 of the 20 Powerplay overs, which yielded 4 for 42.

Such was their control, that India were allowed to coast despite the Kumars, Praveen and Vinay, enduring an off day. If not for Dinesh Chandimal's adhesive 64 in the middle overs, and the presence of Angelo Mathews at No. 7 to pick up the pace at the death, Sri Lanka would have finished with a far poorer score. Despite their efforts, the indications were that they were about 25 runs short.

The conditions were different, the crowd was smaller and the buzz absent, but that didn't stop the two teams from beginning the tussle in a manner strikingly reminiscent of the World Cup final. Once again, Zaheer produced a couple of supreme spells, while Tillakaratne Dilshan showed promised before throwing it away, setting up the game for Mahela Jayawardene in the latter half of the innings. But Ashwin's crafty spells meant the plot deviated considerably from the Wankhede script thereafter.

Every time Sri Lanka looked set to break free, India induced a momentum-killing breakthrough. Zaheer took just ten balls to extend his mastery over left-hand batsmen, as he worked over Upul Tharanga to deny Sri Lanka a quick start. Just as Kumar Sangakkara launched a recovery with Dilshan, Zaheer came back to dispatch him with another one that seamed away. Sangakkara's fall stalled the rest of the Powerplay, which yielded only 12 runs in all.

Dilshan fought through, and was primed to take off after beavering his way to 48, but gifted Ravindra Jadeja his wicket. That pushed Jayawardene to the forefront, but Ashwin induced him to top-edge a sweep straight to fine leg for 23. Ashwin then dented hopes of a quick recovery by weaving a sharp offbreak past Thisara Perera, before dismissing Chandimal for 64 in the 44th over. That put paid to Sri Lanka's prospects of a flying finish, though Mathews provided some succour.

Sri Lanka would have been disappointed with the finish, given how well Dilshan started. His indiscretions outside the off stump had almost become an epidemic in South Africa, but India didn't have the pace or kick to test him there. A couple of emphatic carves through the covers, followed by two controlled off drives suggested Dilshan was looking to get forward. But the advent of spin, coupled with Sangakkara's untimely exit, reined Dilshan in. Sri Lanka went 65 balls without a boundary, and though Dilshan broke that sequence, his impatience eventually got the better of him.

Jayawardene was uncharacteristically jittery in his short stay, with a couple of leading edges, and a late dab into Dhoni's gloves that was dropped. Chandimal was more comfortable, walking across his stumps to clip Praveen fine, steering with soft hands into the covers and setting himself up early for swings to the leg side. The pair had added 52 in 11.2 overs before Ashwin got Jayawardene to hole out.

The breach seemed to give the offspinner the confidence to reduce his pace and pitch the ball further up. The result was two more well-deserved strikes as Sri Lanka lost their way in the lead-up to the slog. Their decision to play seven batsmen was about to pay off, though, as Mathews slogged hard, and ran harder to take the score past 230.

 

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