Sri Lanka dig the most beautiful hole with the help of a debutant Praveen
India vs Sri Lanka ODI match at Hobart 26 February, 2008 - A Fun Report
Other possible headlines
- Sri Lanka dig the most beautiful hole with the help of a debutant Praveen
- Tendulkar fires in time for the final showdown with Aussies
- Gambhir did what he seems to have mastered - the art of grafting runs
- Jayasuriya should file for retirement before life takes over
India won the toss and elected to bowl? Well like an honourable Rajput, India likes to make the field even before the fight and the only way Sri Lanka could stand even in statistical probability is when they bat first. Well so we started out in the match at an even level. I mean India threw away the sword!
We Sri Lanka caught on after an initial hiccup (Perera) and were on their way. Then Praveen Kumar was called to bowl. He had had a dismal show in the series and was keen to prove (people who follow domestic cricket in India knew that he’s a very talented all rounder and must be keen to see him being fielded). Jayasuriya and Sangakkara had belted the opening bowlers out of attack and were looking hungrily at the newly christined bowler. Perched merrily at 1/72 Sri Lanka seemed all set to take the bull by his horns. However, Praveen Kumar got 3 wickets in a snap and Sri Lanka were down to 4/81 in a flash. Ishant Sharma and Pathan could smell blood and moved in for the kill and suddenly Sri Lanka were 7/93 and it looked that they had been struggling all day. With the not successful batsman Kapugedera left, things looked doomed for them. But Kapugedera straightened out the creases with the help of Malinga and Muralitharan and got Sri Lanka to finish at 179. Munaf was the only bowler who looked off color.
Well India didn’t have much work left and we saw Utthapa being promoted to open the innings. Well though he didn’t last long, he and Tendulkar set the tone that India were not interested in a long haul this time. And India blasted away at around 6 RPO with Sachin back to his self striking 10 fours in his 63, and Gambhir doing what he seems to have mastered - the art of grafting runs. Finally, when Sachin fell, India was almost there. Now Yuvraj came in for a small cameo, and by the time he left it was near the finish line. Excepting maybe Vaas no other Sri Lankan bowler has looked good in this series.
With this Sri Lanka have the joy of a free mind and they can try out their new comers in the next match. I suggest Jayasuriya should file for retirement before life takes over. I am a big fan of his and would not like to see him go ungraciously. He has done a lot for his country!
With Praveen Kumar joining the melee, it’s now a riot as far as team India is concerned as now the fast bowlers read like this: Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Praveen Kumar, VRV Singh and the backup from Joginder Sharma, Ajit Agarkar, Pankaj Singh, Balaji, and maybe I forgot one or two already. And these are not ones who shone and went, all are performing and ready to field. And that’s the way instant cricket is - a strong bench is required to constantly field teams.
(the above are written in a funny mood and not intended to hurt your sentiment - i doubt if any actual players gets time to read - so please don’t (get) hurt yourself defending them)
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