Sri Lanka cruise to eight-wicket win in first ODI

Sri Lanka cruised to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over India in the first one-day international on Monday.
Spinners Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan grabbed three wickets each to help dismiss India for 146 in 46 overs after the visitors had won the toss. Mendis took three for 21 and senior bowling partner Muralitharan three for 37.
India, missing in-form opening batsman Virender Sehwag due to injury, struggled from the start, with Yuvraj Singh the top-scorer with just 23.
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene guided his team to their modest victory target with 15.1 overs to spare, scoring 61 from 82 balls with seven boundaries.
Jayawardene shared an unbroken 102 run third-wicket partnership with Chamara Kapugedera, who scored 45 from 72 balls with four boundaries.
The pair steadied the innings after pace bowler Munaf Patel struck two early blows, reducing Sri Lanka to 45 for two.
Sanath Jayasuriya was caught by Irfan Pathan for 10 as he charged down the pitch and Kumar Sangakkara was caught and bowled for 19.
In the morning, left-arm swing bowler Chaminda Vaas struck in the first over, bowling Gautam Gambhir for a duck with a delivery that nipped back.
His new ball partner Nuwan Kulasekera trapped Virat Kohli leg before for 12. The former under-19 captain came into the side after Sehwag twisted his ankle in practice on Sunday.
Kulsekera also had Suresh Raina (17) caught at short cover by Chamara Silva, the batsman mistiming his drive on the slow-paced pitch to reduce India to 36 for three.
India hinted at a recovery with Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma (19) adding 37 for the fourth wicket but wickets tumbled once spin was introduced, with Mendis bowling Yuvraj in his first over.
Mendis also claimed the prize scalp of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (six), his counterpart Mahela Jayawardene taking a sharp catch at slip off an attempted cut.
Thilan Thushara, Sri Lanka's third seamer in a five-bowler line-up, then had Sharma caught at slip.
Muralitharan was fortunate to remove Irfan Pathan (seven), adjudged leg after playing a doosra delivery onto his pads, before he had Zaheer Khan (12) caught in the deep and dismissed Harbhajan Singh (12).
Pragyan Ohja (16 not out) and Munaf Patel (15) added 29 runs for the last wicket.

Source:rediff

Sri Lanka cruise to series win over India

Sri Lanka clinched a 2-1 series victory with an emphatic eight-wicket victory against India in the deciding third Test in Colombo on Monday.
The hosts were left chasing 122 for victory after bowling out India for 268 in their second innings and finished 123 for two after 33.1 overs.
There was an early wobble with Sri Lanka collapsing to 22 for two but Malinda Warnapura (54 not out) and Mahela Jayawardene (50 not out) then added an unbroken 101-run partnership.
India, resuming on 161 for five at the start of the day, were eventually bowled out after fighting innings from Rahul Dravid (68) and VVS Laxman (61 not out).
Unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis , the man of the series, claimed three for 81 from 34 overs to complete a match haul of eight for 137 in the game.
Mendis was a revelation for Sri Lanka in his first series, breaking Englishman Alec Bedser's 24-wicket record for the most wickets in a debut series set against India in 1946.
The 23-year-old claimed 26 wickets at 18.38 during the three-match series.
Veteran off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan claimed three for 99 from 37.5 overs, extending his series tally to 21 wickets at 22.23.
In the morning, India looked set to bat out the first session without losing a wicket before two quick wickets before lunch.
Dravid scored his first half-century of the series, a patient 68 from 166 balls including six fours, before Mendis changed his angle of attack and had the right-hander caught at slip from around the wicket.
Muralitharan, also bowling around the wicket, then trapped Anil Kumble lbw for nine.
MISSED CATCH
Sri Lanka could also have dismissed Laxman but they grassed two difficult chances.
Thilan Samaraweera missed a diving catch at short mid-wicket on 39 and Warnapura missed a sharp one-handed chance at short leg when Laxman was on 50.
Sri Lanka took the new ball after lunch and Chaminda Vaas broke through in his first over, trapping Harbhajan lbw with an inswinger.
The innings then ended quickly as Samaraweera ran out Khan with a direct hit and Sharma was brilliantly caught at backward short leg.
Sri Lanka's run chase started badly with opener Michael Vandort (eight) cleaned bowled by off spinner Harbhajan.
India were forced to open the bowling with Harbhajan because of a leg injury sustained by Ishant Sharma on Saturday.
Left-armer Khan then grabbed the scalp of Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka's first innings centurion, as the left-hander mistimed a drive straight to mid off.
Jayawardene and Warnapura reached tea on 45 for two and after the interval the third-wicket pair hunted down the target aggressively in front of the largest crowd of the game.
Warnapura cracked five boundaries in his 99-ball unbeaten 54 and Jayawardene stroked three fours in his 50 from 85 balls.

Source:rediff

Mendis shines as India's top order fails

Spinner Ajantha Mendis claimed 5-56 to help Sri Lanka bowl India out for 249 on the first day of the third Test on Friday.
India hit back with an early wicket, as Ishant Sharma bowled Malinda Warnapura (eight), before Sri Lanka closed on 14 for one with Michael Vandort on three and nightwatchman Chaminda Vaas on nought.
The unorthodox Mendis extended his wicket tally in his first series to 23 as India failed to take any advantage from winning the toss on a good batting pitch.
However, the early damage was done by debutant pace bowler Dammika Prasad, who recovered from a nervous start with the new ball to dismiss Virender Sehwag (21), Rahul Dravid (10) and Sachin Tendulkar (six) in the first session.
Opener Gautam Gambhir continued his good form from the second Test in Galle, which India won by 170 runs to level the series, to score 72 from 128 balls with 10 boundaries.
India were given a flying start with Sehwag and Gambhir plundering boundaries off some wayward bowling from Prasad and Chaminda Vaas, adding 51 in seven overs.
Sri Lanka's fielders also missed early opportunities with Malinda Warnapura dropping Sehwag on 14 at short square leg following a Vaas bouncer.
Tillakaratne Dilshan , fielding at point, missed a run out chance a few minutes later when Sehwag backed up too far.
Sri Lanka finally broke through when Prasad found the outside edge of Sehwag's bat with an outswinger.
Prasad, who was rested briefly, returned to bag two more wickets before lunch.
Dravid, initially given not out, was trapped lbw by an inswinger after Mahela Jayawardene called for an umpiring review.
Tendulkar was also given out lbw to an inswinging delivery, a decision against which he appealed unsuccessfully with television replays showing the ball missed the bat.
After lunch, Gambhir and Saurav Ganguly (35) extended their partnership to 49 before Muralitharan had Ganguly caught at slip by Mahela Jayawardene.
Minutes later Sri Lanka won their second review of the day, winning an lbw decision against Gambhir after television replays indicated the ball hit pad before bat.
Laxman and Parthiv Patel battled hard as the run rate slowed, adding 35 runs for the sixth wicket, before Laxman was stumped three balls before tea.
After the break Mendis made quick inroads into the lower order, trapping Patel lbw for 13 and bowling Anil Kumble for one.
When Harbhajan Singh (three) was caught in the deep trying to slog Muralitharan, India were reeling on 198 for nine.
Fortunately for the tourists, Zaheer Khan (32) and Ishant Sharma (17 not out) made the total more respectable with a 51-run last wicket stand before Mendis claimed his fifth wicket.

Source:rediff

Tendulkar, Zaheer back in ODI squad

Sachin Tendulkar , Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh have made a comeback to the Indian ODI squads for the five-match series against Sri Lanka and forthcoming 2008 ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan.
Young pace sensation Ishant Sharma was rested for the one-dayers in Sri Lanka, but made it to the 15-member Champions Trophy squad at the expense of fellow-pacer Munaf Patel .
Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Virat Kohli was the surprise inclusion in both squads. The 19-year-old Delhi batsman was one of the top performers for India in the Emerging Players' Tournament in Australia last month, scoring 204 runs in five matches at an average of 51.
Indian Premier League's top performers Yusuf Pathan and Piyush Chawla also failed to make the cut for both the tournaments. Yusuf played seven matches in the tri-series in Pakistan and Asia Cup, but failed to make an impression.
Tendulkar was forced to miss the tri-series in Bangladesh and Asia Cup after failing to recover fully from a groin injury.
Zaheer last played in an ODI match in November, against Pakistan, after which he was troubled by a spate of injuries.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will return to captain the side. The wicketkeeper-batsman opted out of the ongoing three-Test series in Sri Lanka, citing fatigue due to constant cricket.
As expected, the senior batting duo of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly were again kept out after lacklustre batting displays in the ongoing Test series in Sri Lanka.
The five-match ODI series in Sri Lanka begins in Dambulla on August 18.
The 2008 ICC Champions Trophy, in Pakistan, will be played between September 11 and 28.

SQUADS:

Sri Lanka ODIs	Champions Trophy
M S Dhoni (captain)	M S Dhoni (captain)
Yuvraj Singh	Yuvraj Singh
Virender Sehwag	Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir	Gautam Gambhir
Sachin Tendulkar	Sachin Tendulkar
Suresh Raina	Suresh Raina
Rohit Sharma	Rohit Sharma
Harbhajan Singh	Harbhajan Singh
Pragyan Ojha	Pragyan Ojha
Zaheer Khan	Zaheer Khan
RP Singh	RP Singh
Praveen Kumar	Praveen Kumar
Irfan Pathan	Irfan Pathan
Virat Kohli	Ishant Sharma
Munaf Patel	Virat Kohli
Parthiv patel

Source:rediff

Coach Kirsten unavailable for third Test

The Indian team will go into the third Test against Sri in Colombo without coach Gary Kirsten.
The former South Africa batsman has been granted leave by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to attend to his mother, who is critically ill.
'Gary Kirsten, coach, Indian Team has been granted leave to go to South Africa to be with his mother,' the BCCI said in a statement on Tuesday.
'Kirsten will not be available for the third Test Match as he will be leaving from Colombo for South Africa tonight. There will not be any replacement in his absence.'

India leveled the series 1-1 after beating Sri Lanka by 170 runs in the second Test match in Galle. The hosts had won the first Test at the SSC in Colombo by an innings and 239 runs.
The third and deciding Test will take place from August 8 to 12.

India bat themselves to a strong position

A spirited India tilted the balance of the second cricket Test in their favour by taking an overall lead of 237 runs to push Sri Lanka on the backfoot at close on the third day here today.

The visitors first dismissed the hosts for 292 to snatch a vital 37-run lead with Harbhajan Singh (6/102) playing a key role and then gave a solid batting display to reach a comfortable 200 for four when play was called off early due to bad light.
After two days of ding-dong battle, the Indians have now put themselves in a position to push for a series-levelling victory after being trounced by an innings and 239 runs in the first Test in Colombo.

Sourav Ganguly and the stylish VVS Laxman were at the crease at stumps without having opened their accounts on an absording day's play which saw nine wickets fall.
With two full days left in the match, the Indians will now seek to take a substantial lead and hope to polish off the islanders quickly in the fourth innings when the track at the Galle International stadium was expected to deteriorate.

The day unfolded perfectly for the tourists as Harbhajan completed his 22nd five-wicket haul to bring Sri Lanka's first innings to an end just at the stroke of lunch. The off-spinner was ably supported by captain Anil Kumble who bagged three wickets.
Mahela Jayawardene was the top scorer for the home team with a responsible 86 as they lost the remaining five wickets for the addition of 77 runs.
The Indians again got off to a solid start with the dashing Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir putting on 90 runs for the opening wicket to provide the platform for a big innings.

Sehwag scored a brisk 50 off 52 balls before falling to paceman Chaminda Vaas with Tillakaratne Dilshan taking a smart catch at the cover region.
Gambhir (74) and Dravid, who has not been in the best of forms, took the score to 144 before 'mystery' spinner Ajantha Mendis struck for the hosts by castling Gambhir with a gem of a delivery.
The Indians could have been in a more commanding position had they not lost Dravid (44) and Sachin Tendulkar (31) in quick succession in the fag end of the day.

The experienced Vaas accounted for Tendulkar as he induced an edge and Prasanna Jayawardene made no mistake behind the stumps.
Dravid was then adjudged leg before to Muttiah Muralitharan by the third umpire after the hosts opted to call for a review. Dravid appeared disappointed as he walked back to the pavilion.
From a comfortable 200 for two, the Indians slipped to 200 for four but still had a good control on the game.

Earlier, resuming at their overnight score of 215 for 5, Jayawardene resisted the Lankan innings from falling apart completely.
Just when it appeared the Sri Lankans would manage a sizeable lead in the first innings, the Sri Lankan skipper edged an Anil Kumble delivery to wicket keeper Dinesh Kaarthick, who did not make any mistake in gathering the ball.

Jayawardene, who made 86 in 188 balls, with the help of 10 fours, also shared a 63-run partnership with wicketkeeper batsman Prasanna Jayawardene to help the Islanders bridge the deficit..
Kumble plucked three wickets in tandem with Harbhajan Singh, who added two more scalps to his yesterday's tally of four exploiting the turning nature of the wicket.

Once Jayawardene returned to the pacilion, Ajantha Mendis was trapped leg before wicket off Kumble without scoring and Muttiah Muralitharan followed suit being caught by Sourav Ganguly off Harbhajan.
Prasanna, who was lucky to survive an appeal for catch by Rahul Dravid as soon as the play began, finally succumbed to the menacing Harbhajan.
The turbanator got his fifth wicket of the Sri Lankan innings when he forced the batsman to scoop a straight forward catch to VVS Laxman at backward short leg.

On an earlier occasion, the leg break of Kumble on the middle stump line drew Prasanna forward and he jabbed off the outer edge of the bat quite low in front of Dravid. The third umpire declared him not out.

Source:rediff

Sehwag, Harbhajan help India stay in the fight

Virender Sehwag stood bravely amid the ruins with a swashbuckling, unbeaten 201 before Harbhajan Singh scalped four wickets to leave the
second Test between India and Sri Lanka evenly poised at the end of the second day in Galle, on Friday.
The dashing Sehwag again did the bulk of the scoring as the Indians folded up for 329 in the first innings, with 'mystery' spinner Ajantha Mendis tormenting them with a six-wicket haul.

The hosts lost opener Michael Vandort in the first over but recovered to some extent through a 133-run second-wicket partnership between Malinda Warnapura (66) and Kumar Sangakkara (68) before Harbhajan (4/71) then broke their backbone and left them on 215 for 5 at close, 114 runs behind.
Captain Mahela Jayawardene (46) and Prasana Jayawardene (5) were unbeaten at the end of the day, which saw as many as 11 wickets tumble at the Galle International stadium.
Resuming at the overnight score of 214 for four, the Indian innings came to an end at the stroke of lunch, with Sehwag carrying his bat through for an unbeaten 201, which included 22 boundaries and four sixes.

Sehwag and the stylish V V S Laxman (39), the two overnight batsmen, showed signs of consolidating the innings, but Mendis provided the breakthrough for the the hosts, evicting Laxman.
None of the other batsmen could hang around for long as the remaining five wickets fell for the addition of just 51 runs.

Mendis, whose mesmerising variations and guile continues to trouble the Indians, was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers, claiming his maiden five-wicket haul and finishing with impressive figures of 28-1-117-6.
The Indians, who desperately needed to win the match to keep themselves afloat in the three-match series, will now have to stop the islanders from piling up a mammoth first innings total to remain in the game.

With three days remaining, it is the home team that has a slight advantage at this stage of the Test.
The Sri Lankan innings began on a disastrous note. Paceman Zaheer Khan fired the first salvo, getting rid of Michael Vandort (4) in his first over.
The tall left-hander (4) got a thick inside edge, off Khan, which was well taken by Rahul Dravid at third slip.
But Sangakkara and Warnapura then got into one-day mould, scoring at more than a run-a-minute during the first hour after lunch, hitting Zaheer and Ishant Sharma all over the ground.

During his first spell, Ishant, in one over, was hit for two boundaries -- one to point and the other to cover -- much to the glee of the over 7000 strong crowd.
It was then Sangakkara's turn to send the tall and lanky Indian pacer to cover boundary.
The wicketkeeper-batsmen then took Harbhajan head on, dispatching him for two consecutive cover drives.

Sangakkara took 69 balls to complete his 26th half century.
Warnapura then hoicked Kumble to long-on for a six and Sri Lanka's 100 runs came off 120 balls in 87 minutes.
Harbhajan could have had the wicket of Sangakkara but for a miss by Wicketkeeper Dinesh Kaarthik, who could not collect the ball to stump him.
The off-spinner finally dismissed Warnapura in the 35th over when Gautam Gambhir took a sharp catch.

In his next over, Harbhajan induced a leading edge from Sangakkara for a caught and bowled decision.
Though Mahela Jayawardene looked rock solid, Harbhajan struck twice in the 53rd over to peg back the Lankans.
He trapped Thilan Samaraweera (14) with the third ball of the over and three balls later, had Tillakratne Dilshan (0) caught by Gambhir at forward short leg as the Lankans lost their top half for 192 runs.

Both the Jayawardenes, however, played cautiously to ensure there was no further loss on the second day of the match.

Source:rediff