Consolation win for Sri Lanka in 5th ODI

Sri Lanka scored a convincing 112-run victory in the fifth and final one-dayer on Friday to leave India as 3-2 series winners.


India were bowled out for 103 after rain reduced their target from 228 to 216 in 44 overs, fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekera and spinner Ajantha Mendis sharing eight wickets. The game was interrupted with India on 70 for three in the 15th over. When it resumed after an 85-minute delay the visitors collapsed like a pack of cards, losing their last seven wickets for 33 runs.

Earlier, an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 94 between Jehan Mubarak and Thilan Thushara helped Sri Lanka reach 227 for six in 50 overs after they had slumped to 133 for six. Mubarak finished 47 not out while all-rounder Thushara continued his excellent series with an unbeaten 54, his maiden one-day half-century.

Sri Lanka got off to a poor start after Mahela Jayawardene won his first toss of the series.

The hosts lost Sanath Jayasuriya for one when he top-edged a short ball from Zaheer Khan to third man.

A 77-run stand between Malinda Warnapura and Mahela Udawatte lifted Sri Lanka before paceman Irfan Pathan dismissed both batsmen in quick succession.

Warnapura was caught at cover for 30 while Udawatte was trapped lbw for 43 when he shuffled across his stumps. The innings lost momentum as Kumar Sangakkara's dismal form continued when he went for one and Jayawardene (12) and Chamara Kapugedera (26) were dismissed by left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha.

Kulasekera, who took four top-order wickets, was named man of the match and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni took the man of the series award.






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India struggles to take 2-1 lead over Sri lanka

India struggled to put up 237 on board and despite pegging Sri Lanka back at 59 for six found them close to taking a lead in the five-match series.India's total was boosted thanks to half-centuries by Suresh Raina (53) and Dhoni (76).Raina was run out when he responded to a risky single having faced 80 balls and hit four boundaries and a six.

Dhoni, meanwhile, faced 80 balls and hit eight fours during his knock of 76 and was out in the penultimate over of the innings. He added 54 runs for the fifth wicket with Raina and less than run a ball 67 for the sixth wicket with Rohit Sharma, who hit 32 in 32 balls.

Spinner Ajantha Mendis had a rare off day and had only one wicket in his first nine overs, but bounced back in his last over by claiming two wickets in successive balls, that also included the wicket of the Indian captain.
Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilina Tushara Mirando ended with two wickets apiece, but veterans Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas went wicket less.

Chasing 238 for victory,wicket after wicket went down and at an embarrassing 59 for six, the hosts seemed to have lost sight of the victory target, but Mahela Jayawardene played a scorcher to spark interest the contest. Batting with a runner in the latter part of his innings, his 94 from 111 balls nearly translated artificial excitement into anxiety for the Indian team, before a soft paddle-shot straight into Praveen Kumar's hands off Munaf Patel brought the smiles back.


Zaheer Khan was instrumental in dismantling the Lankan top-order, as he got the ball to move both ways off the seam to dismiss both Kumar Sangakkara and Chamara Silva leg-before. Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel provided excellent support, the former tempting Jayasuriya with an away-going delivery to earn a snick, before catching Kapugedera plumb in front. Though Munaf got a bit of stick towards the latter half, his three wickets were just reward for his nagging line and length.

Thilan Thushara, who walked in at number nine, made a valiant effort, contributing 30 in an 81-run eighth-wicket partnership. But once he was yorked out by Zaheer, Jayawardene was left with too much on his plate.

Click here for Scorecard.






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India fightback to level series at 1-1

India levelled the five-match one-day series with Sri Lanka with a tense, three-wicket victory in a low-scoring second one-day international on Wednesday. left-arm fast bowler Zaheer Khan claimed four for 21 to bowl out Sri Lanka for a paltry 142 in 38.3 overs in the morning.

               Chasing 143 for victory, At one stage, as India slumped to 75 for five, Sri Lanka looked capable of pulling off a shock victory but Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni settled the visitor's nerves, leading from the front with his 39 off 54 balls. Dhoni added 60 with S. Badrinath, who scored a composed 27 from 57 balls on his debut.

               Earlier, Khan had ripped through the top order with the new ball after India won the toss, dismissing Kumar Sangakarra (two), skipper Mahela Jayawardene (two), Chamara Kapugedera (nought) and explosive opener Sanath Jayasuriya (13). Sri Lanka, who had been 1-0 up after an eight-wicket win on Monday, were reduced to 33 for four and later 44 for six. Lower order batsman Thilan Thushara provided some resistance, top-scoring with 44 from 46 balls including seven boundaries and adding 74 runs for the seventh wicket with Nuwan Kulasekera (25). Khan was supported by seamer Praveen Kumar, playing instead of left-arm spinner Pragyan Ohja, who took three for 34.

                          Although Sri Lanka pressed hard, chopping and changing their bowlers in pursuit of wickets, Dhoni and Badrinath were able to guide India a  victory.
              
                      With only eight required for the win, Dhoni was bowled by Dilhara Fernando and then spinner Ajantha Mendis, who finished with two for 22, trapped Harbhajan Singh (one) lbw to leave India on 139 for seven.

                   However, Badrinath and Zaheer Khan (two not out) pushed India past the winning line.
Young opener Virat Kohli also impressed for India with a skilful and mature 37.                                  



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Sri Lanka win 1st ODI by 8 wicket - Idea Cup

The same old story repeated at Darmulla International stadium. Though, young Indian team looked favorite to win...Spin twins Murli & Mendis collapsed the batting order of Indian team.

M S Dhoni, after winning the toss, elected to bat first, After that It all went wrong with what Dhoni expected.Kohli’s debut was not a happy one as opening partner Gautam Gambhir uncharacteristically departed to the second ball of the innings. A Chaminda Vaas inswinger went through the gate and the Indians were rocked

 The problem with India was they kept losing wickets at regular intervals, as if on cue, and the Lankans didn't even need to unleash the potent Mendis until the 20th over.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).

Sri Lanka 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.

However, Indians at 87/7 at one stage, managed to reach 146 with Pragyan Ohja (16 not out) and Munaf Patel (15) added 29 runs for the last wicket.

After that, It was very much easy for Sri Lankans to win. After a early blow, with Sri lanka at 45/2.Jayawardene shared an unbroken 102 run third-wicket partnership with Chamara Kapugedera, who scored 45 from 72 balls with four boundaries.

Cheergirls were also seen in ODI for the first time.However, it did not motivate the 'Indian' spirit.

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.RESULT: Sri Lanka won first ODI by 8 wickets
 
Sri Lanka lead 1-0 in five match series.



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Sri Lanka beat India by 8 wickets - Idea cup

Finally, Sri Lanka won Idea cup 2008, winning series by 2-1 to India.

Skipper Jayawardane & Warnapura finished off the match, both scoring half-century, to reach 123 runs required for win. India in its 3rd innings scored 269/10.thus, Sri Lanka required 123 runs to win. Earlier, Bhajji & Zahir stroked, when hosts were on 22-2.but skipper & Warnapura manged to reach 123 with 101 runs partnership for the third wicket.

Earlier in 2nd innings,a huge contribution from tailenders for Sri Lanka, the total reached 396/10 in their first innings.India started their second innings confidently as Virender Sehwag (34) and Gautam Gambhir (26) added a run-a-ball, 62-run opening stand.

However, pace bowler Dammika Prasad made an important double strike after tea with Thilan Samaraweera pulling off a sharp catch in the gully off Sehwag and Gambhir chopping on to his stumps. After that, another blow struck India at 108 by Mendis.

India were 161 for five, leading Sri Lanka by 14 runs, at the close of the third day of the deciding third test on Sunday. Dravid added 85 runs for the sixth wicket with Laxman. Dravid was caught at second slip by Skipper in the bowling of Mendis....Interestingly, Mendis took the wicket of Dravid.. on which Kumble said that Dravid can face Mendis easily.(Lekin Pachka ho gaya...haha)

Dravid scored 68, highest from India in 3rd innings. tailenders of India, however, did not support Laxman, who remained unbeaten at 61. Only Bhajji scored 24 to help India.India managed to score 268/10 with lead of 122 runs.

Unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis, Sri Lanka's most successful bowler in the series, claimed three for 65 from 31 overs and off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan two for 89.The three wickets carried Mendis to a series tally of 26 wickets, breaking the previous record for the most wickets in a debut series held by English seamer Alec Bedser, who took 24 wickets against India in 1946.

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Sangakkara helps Sri Lanka close on India

Kumar Sangakkara scored an unbeaten 72 to guide Sri Lanka to 175 for four at tea on the second day of the deciding third test against India on Saturday.
Sri Lanka had resumed on 14-1 after bowling India out for 249 and added 100 runs in the 28-over morning session for the loss of only Michael Vandort (14).
However, India struck back in a tense post-lunch session with Harbhajan Singh claiming the wickets of night-watchman Chaminda Vaas for a valuable 47 and Mahela Jayawardene for two.

Middle order batsman Thilan Samaraweera, who was 21 not out at the break, then shared a slow-scoring 34-run partnership with Sangakkara to leave Sri Lanka still trailing India by 74 runs at the interval.

Harbhajan, who claimed a ten-wicket haul in the second test in Galle, was the most successful of the bowlers with figures of 2-61 from 23 overs.
Earlier, Zaheer Khan provided early hope for the Indians by trapping Vandort lbw with an inswinger.

He also came close to dismissing Sangakkara without scoring, when a thick edge flew just wide of the man at gully.
However, the patient Vaas and more aggressive Sangakkara were able to see off the early threat of the new ball and when batting became easier, a partnership started to blossom.

DROPPED CHANCE
India, though, were left ruing a dropped chance at slip by Rahul Dravid when Sangakkara was on 36 just before lunch.

Vaas and Sangakkara extended their partnership after the interval but India's bowling improved and the run-scoring slowed.
Eventually, the pressure told when Vaas mistimed a drive to short cover, having scored his runs from 111 balls with nine boundaries, ending a 95-run partnership.

Harbhajan then dismissed the Sri Lanka captain, who misjudged the length and was trapped lbw, a decision he appealed against unsuccessfully.

India were convinced they also had Samaraweera trapped lbw on five, Anil Kumble calling for a review when the initial appeal was turned down.

The television umpire gave Samaraweera the benefit of doubt, deciding not to overrule the original decision, visibly upsetting the India dressing room.
A couple of overs later, India's frustration mounted as Samaraweera successfully called for a review after been given out caught at short leg.

Sri Lanka weathered that difficult spell and started to score more freely just before tea.
The three-match series is tied at 1-1.








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India fights back to win at Galle to level series

After three days of intensely fought competitive cricket involving spin bowling - spinners running through and batsmen countering them - an unexpected, fiery spell of fast bowling by Ishant Sharma on the fourth day of the second Test match between India and Sri Lanka at Galle, tilted the match in India's favor, helping them win the match by 170 runs.
And a what a well contested match it was! If Mendis shrugged off Sehwag's assault to take 10 wickets, Harbhajan shrugged off his indifferent form in recent times to match that effort. The Lankan top order's composed batting was matched by Gambhir's crucial fifties. Until Ishant's spell sprinted forward India to the finish line, both teams were running close all through the match.

The real difference for India, of course, was Sehwag's heroic, assaulting double century. In the very first session of the match, he had tamed the 'unreadable' Mendis, dismissed the wily Murali, calmed India's nerves and single-handedly laid the platform for a memorable win.
Apart from methodically and completely destroying the spinners, his best moment was not during one of the 250+ runs he scored in the match, but the one run he didn't score in the third ball of the 81st over - the one that would have taken him to 200 with last man Ishant at the other hand. He refused the easy single to shield Ishant and waited until the last ball of the over to get to his personal landmark! That moment once again exemplified his style of batting - treating each ball in its own context. Forget text book technique, his simple approach to cricket is what every young cricketer should be taught

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Sehwag scores double ton : Mendis takes six wickets

Opener Virender Sehwag scored a magnificent undefeated 201 as India were bowled out for 329 on the stroke of lunch on the second day of the second test against Sri Lanka on Friday.

Sehwag, resuming on 128, continued his domination of the Sri Lanka bowling from the first day while wickets tumbled at the other end with spinner Ajantha Mendis claiming career-best figures of six for 117.Sehwag became first Indian to make double century against Sri Lanka.

Except Sehwag, All the four biggies didn't showed their class & experience of years. Tendulkar, Ganguly were sent back by Vass & Dravid was trapped by Mendis. Earlier, Kumble said that Dravid will show-off all the tricks of Mendis...but on the contradictary, Mendis took the wicket of Dravid.

Laxman was the first to perish as he attempted a wristy pull but was surprised by some extra bounce and caught at mid-wicket. Dinesh Karthik (7) was pinned lbw by Mendis's straighter ball. Muttiah Muralitharan also chipped in with a couple of wickets, finishing with two for 93, as Anil Kumble was stumped and Zaheer Khan top edged a slog-sweep.
Mendis wrapped up the innings with a leg break to bowl Harbhajan Singh and a straighter ball to win an lbw shout against Sharma, who offered no stroke.

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Pitch is made to help spinners in second test

The pitch of second test at Galle starting on July 31, is made such that it helps the spinner. Earlier, the spin wicket at Colombo helped Muralitharan and Mendis,which resulted into the defeat for India. Skipper Jayawardane told the pitch curator to make spin wicket , after watching the performance Indian batsman towards the spin bowling of Sri Lanka.

             Pitch curator, Warnavira, at Galle agreed on this statement. He said, " Yes, the wicket at Galle will help the spinners only; Fast bowlers won't get any help. I want Sri Lanka to win. "

            In general, ICC make a pitch so that it supports batsman & bowlers too. but Sri Lanka, Not showing the sporty spirit, ordered curator to make a pitch for spinners only. Indian fans believe that ICC should take strict action against Sri Lanka.

         Since the pitch will now help spinners, it seems that Indian Batsman will have to work harder to overcome their weak points against the new 'spin-twins'.







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Sri Lanka win by an innings and 239 runs.

Indian batting totter as mystery man Mendis and danger man Muralitharan proved dangerous in 2nd innings too. The new 'spin twins', playing their first test match together, then ripped through the tourists top order for the second time, dismissing Virender Sehwag (13), VVS Laxman (21), Sachin Tendulkar (12), Gautam Gambhir (43), Sourav Ganguly (four) and Rahul Dravid (10).

Poor batting by top order of India and some fantastic bowling by the two spinners led Sri Lanka to victory by an innings and 239 runs. Muralitharan continuing his great form,snared five for 84 from 29 overs in the first innings and then claimed a further six for 26 from 13 overs in the second innings. Mendis, an unorthodox finger spinner, claimed four for 72 from 27.5 overs in the first innings and another four for 60 in the second innings to finish with eight for 132 on his test debut.

In the morning, the only resistance to Sri Lanka's spinners came from VVS Laxman, who batted patiently for his 56 off 118 deliveries and was the only Indian to pass 50 in the game.

With India on 159-6 overnight, Mendis struck early in the morning when Anil Kumble was trapped lbw for one. It looked like the Indian batsman were overconfident of their batting line-up. poor fielding & ordinary batting by Indian batsman , resulted in a record victory at home for Sri Lanka.

In the second innings, Muralitharan needed just four balls to strike as Virender Sehwag (13) padded away a delivery from around the wicket. the initial appeal was turned down but Sri Lanka successfully challenged the decision, with third umpire Rudi Koertzen adjudging the ball had pitched in line with the stumps.

Muttiah Muralitharan claimed match figures of 11-110 as Sri Lanka won the first test against India by an innings and 238 runs on Saturday.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 600-6 dec (Warnapura 115, Jayawardene 136, Samaraweera 127, Dilshan 125 not out )
India 223 (Muralitharan 5-84, Mendis 4-72) & 138 (Muralitharan 6-26, Mendis 4-60)

The second test at Galle starts on Thursday.







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India in a big danger : Murli strikes

After a huge score from Sri lanka (600-6 dec), Indian batting collapsed on day 3 of first test match at SSC stadium, Colombo. Laxman & skipper Kumble were batting at the end of the day. At stumps, India was struggling at 159-6.



As stated by Harbhajan Singh earlier, Murli proved more dagerous than Mystrey Man Mendis. He took four wickets including Tendulkar. The pitch was slow at the time of Indian bowling, but when Sri lanka started bowling..the pitch was rough enough to get a turn for ball.

Mendis and Kulasekara took 1 wicket each...However, the wicket of Dravid was taken by Mendis.Earlier, Kumble had said that Dravid will easily face Mendis & show-off his all tricks.

Earlier, Sri lankan batsman played a very good innings which had four centuries.They were Warnapura, Jayawardane, Samarweera and Dilshan. After loosing two wickets earlier, they fought back to put up a good score of 600-6 dec.However, the poor fieling of India also helped them to reach 600. wicket-keeper Karthik dropped the catch of Jayawardane twice.

The man who destroyed the batting line-up of India, Murlitharan took the wickets of Ganguly, Tendulkar,Gambhir & Karthik.he had a brillient spell of 15-3-38-4

India now trail by 441 runs, & it seems that India might get follow-on as they have only four wickets in hand.

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Idea Cup begins with Rain & Badlight

This post is from http://www.cricketnext.com/

It is all about mind games and how to cope with them. For a start, India are going to feel quite happy with the result of the shortened first day's play of this Test series against Sri Lanka.


You can guarantee though that Kumar Sangakkara doesn't feel that way. After waiting four hours for the drizzle to stop and also the ground staff to get the outfield ready, the tall elegant left-hander's batting plans were undone by Zaheer Khan's ability to deliver the unexpected.

He had seen opener Michael Vandort offer the slips catching practice off Ishant Sharma 18 minutes into the Sri Lanka first innings and by the time he was becoming settled after a classic off-drive Zaheer's penchant for getting the most out of unresponsive conditions created an early opportunity for success.

The delivery he bowled cut sharply away off the seam and pulled Sangakkara forward, ball catching the outside edge of the bat and flying through to Rahul Dravid at second slip. Little wonder there was an overdose of high-fives. To pick up this wicket so early in the Sri Lankan innings was a bonus.

When bad light curtailed play after only 22 overs, India would feel comfortable with a brief afternoon's effort. Sri Lanka at 85-2 is better than 85-1 and the look of the pitch – dry and fissured – suggests that new cap Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan are in for a lot of hard work.

Link to: http://www.cricketnext.com/

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Indian batting collapse as Ajantha Mendis takes six wicket haul

India as usual lost in the final match of Asia cup on sunday as Ajantha Mendis strikes hard on India batsman.Sri Lanka won the Asia cup and that was given by President of Pakistan Parvez Musharraf.

India had googd start though they lost Gambhir earlier, but all that changed with the introduction of Mendis in the 10th over. With his second ball Mendis had Sehwag stumped. Yuvraj Singh had no clue to one that skidded through. Suresh Raina showed the carelessness of youth when he tried to dispatch Mendis out of the mid-wicket boundary only to be cleaned up. Rohit Sharma’s stint lasted eight balls; he was trapped plumb in front by Mendis. India were 98 for five in just the 16th over and it appeared that the rest of the chase was an exercise in futility. The trauma ended in the 40th over. Mendis ended figures of 6 for 13.

Earlier, Sanath Jayasuriya displayed hand-eye coordination of a batsman half his age to take the Indian bowlers to the cleaners. Had it not been for some lucky breaks that the Indian team got at the start of the innings, Jayasuriya’s knock of 125 (off 114 balls) would have taken Sri Lanka to a more daunting total than 273.

Such was the carnage at Jayasuriya’s end that Dilshan’s 56 almost went unnoticed. Later, useful knocks by Chaminda Vaas (19) and Thilana Thushara (29) took Sri Lanka to what was a feel-good total for a final.

Now one can understand why Mendis was given rest in the previous match...may be to shock the Indian batsman who were full of OVERconfidence.Now Murlitharan can retire peacefully, as new star is born.

Match Summary:
Srilanaka: 273/10 in 49.5 overs (Jayasuriya 125, I Sharma 3/52)
India: 173/10 in 39.3 overs (Sehwag 60 , Mendis 6/13)
Srilanka won by 100 runs in the Asia cup Final




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Muralitharan picks the five wicket haul....

Muttiah Muralitharan picked up his first five-wicket haul in four years to lead Sri Lanka into the final of the Asia Cup tournament after a crushing 158-run win over Bangladesh on Monday.Muralitharan's five for 31 came on the heels of centuries from man of the match Sanath Jayasuriya, celebrating his 39th birthday, and Kumar Sangakkara. The Sri Lankan pair put on a record opening partnership of 201.Muralitharan, who last took five wickets in April 2004 against Zimbabwe in Harare, helped dismiss Bangladesh for 174 in 38.3 overs after Sri Lanka had hit 332 for eight in their 50 overs.
Bangladesh were unable to put up a fight after their bowlers were belted by Jayasuriya, who hit a quickfire 130 from 88 balls, and Sangakkara (121), who scored his third century of the tournament.The two left-handers set an Asia Cup record for an opening partnership, their 201 runs bettering the 191 put together by Jayasuriya and Avish Gunawardene against Bangladesh in 2004.It was Sri Lanka's fourth win in the competition and put them in the final against either India or Pakistan.



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'Jay'suriya and Sangkkara leads Sri Lanka to Vi'Jay"

Birthday man Jayasuriya became the second-oldest player to score a hundred in one-day internationals after England's Geoffrey Boycott, who made a century against Australia in Sydney in 1979 at the age of 39 years and 51 days.Jayasuriya struck the 26th century of his career from only 55 balls, with 14 fours and five sixes. He was out in the 28th over, caught at deep extra cover by Tamim Iqbal off leg spinner Alok Kapali.
It was his fourth hundred against Bangladesh."It is absolutely amazing to watch Sanath play, he has shown he still has the hunger for runs," Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jaywardene told Officials.
Sangakkara fell in the 45th over, his 121 compiled from 128 balls with 16 fours and one six. It was the 10th hundred of his career.Bangladesh wilted under the pressure and they had only two partnerships of substance.Opener Nazimuddin made 47 from 59 balls, hitting seven fours and one six, and Raquibul Hasan top scored with 52 from 63 balls.Nazim put on 43 with Mohammad Ashraful (14) and a further 43 for the third wicket with Hasan, who made his fourth 50.Bangladesh lost five wickets for 62 in a middle-order slump and lost their last eight wickets for 78 runs.
Hasan went after making his fourth half-century from 63 balls when he was caught at slip by Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene.



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