Yuvraj
Singh powers India to 5-1 lead in one-day series
Rajkot:
Out of form Yuvraj Singh cocked a snook at all doubting Thomases
over his poor batting form, by stroking a powerful knock of
77 not out enabling India to beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets
and take an unassailable 5-1 lead in the seven- match Videocon
Series. Yuvraj and Kaif brought up their third century partnership
to guide India through. Young Indian fast bowler R P Singh,
however, was declared the Man of the Match for scalping four
Lankan wickets. Earlier India skittled out Sri Lanka for a
modest 196. The Lankan batting, which had fired on full cylinders
in the Ahmedabad one- dayer, failed to negotiate their full
quota of overs. The visitors` innings revolved around a defiant
half-century from Tillekaratne Dilshan. The middle order batsman,
who was the Man of the Match in Sri Lanka`s five-wicket win
in Ahmedabad, stroked his way to a fine 59 from only 63 balls
with nine fours.
Apart
from Dilshan, Upul Chandana (30) and Upul Tharanga (28) were
the only other batsmen to score more than 20 runs. Chandana
played a subdued knock and added 29 runs for the eighth wicket
with Dilshan. Rudra Pratap Singh grabbed four for 35, but
it was a collective bowling performance from the hosts who
were also brilliant in the outfield. It turned out to be a
good toss to win for the Indians who have already secured
an unassailable 4-1 lead in the seven-match series. The pitch
had promised loads of runs but the shiny surface proved otherwise.
There was enough uneven bounce to force wicketkeeper Mahendra
Singh Dhoni to keep wickets to the spinners with a helmet
on. It was one such awkwardly rising delivery from left arm
pacer Rudra Pratap Singh that snared the well set opener Upul
Tharanga, caught behind for 28. But there was nothing awkward
about the ball from Sreesanth that got Sanath Jayasuriya,
the first Lankan wicket to fall in the eighth over. The batsman
simply played outside the line for a thin inside edge to the
wicketkeeper for 19. But off the 17 balls that he faced, the
veteran showed glimpses of his old form, striking four fours
via his favourite shots, slash to third man and square drives
through the off side. Sangakkara (9) failed to fire, spooning
a simple catch to mid-on off Irfan Pathan. Mahela Jayawardene
(14) and Marvan Atapattu (9) fell in the space of six balls,
leaving the score at 83 for five. Russel Arnold (8) and Tillekaratne
Dilshan, whose unbroken partnership of 131 runs had helped
the Lankans to their first win of the series in Ahmedabad
two days ago, added 35 runs for the sixth wicket before the
former failed to beat Mohammad Kaif`s throw to the striker`s
end at 118. It needed a brilliant piece of fielding from the
ever agile Yuvraj Singh to end Dilshan`s innings.
The
Punjab batsman swooped down on a gentle push from Dilshan
to point and broke the stumps at the non-striker`s end with
a direct throw. It was the third fifty on the trot for Dilshan
who struck nine fours. Chaminda Vaas (9) played on to Kartik
and Farveez Maharoof (4), super sub for Nuwan zoysa, spooned
a straightforward catch to Kaif at short extra-cover. Chandana,
who faced 33 balls for his valuable 30 runs, ran out of partners
before he became the last batsman out, bowled while playing
all over against R P Singh. The Lankan innings ended with
more than seven overs of their quota unutilised. The Indians
lost three early wickets -- that off Gautam Gambhir, Sachin
Tendulkar and Virendra Sehwag -- before Yuvraj and Mohammad
Kaif steadied the innings and took their team home. Kaif,
who returned to the national squad after missing out the first
five matches of the series due to a problem with his fitness,
scored an unbeaten 37. The teams: India: Virender Sehwag (captain),
Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Singh
Dhoni, Murali Kartik, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Rudra
Pratap Singh, Gautam Gambhir and S Sreesanth. 12: Suresh Raina.
Sri Lanka: Marvan Atapattu (captain), Mahela Jayawardene (vice-
captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillekeratne
Dilshan, Russel Arnold, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, Dilhara
Fernando, Upul Tharanga and Upul Chandana. 12: Farveez Maharoof.
Umpires: Mark Benson (Eng) and A V Jayaprakash (Ind). TV Umpire:
K Hariharan (Ind). Match Referee: Alan Hurst (Aus).