Star batsman Sachin Tendulkar hit 203 and debutant Suresh Raina made 120 as India bettered Sri Lanka’s run-spree in the high-scoring second Test on Thursday.

India, kept on the field for the first two days during Sri Lanka’s massive 642/4 declared, responded by piling up 669/9 by stumps on the fourth day at the Sinhalese Sports Club.

With just 13 wickets having fallen on the placid wicket in four days, the batsman-dominated Test is heading for a draw with Sri Lanka enjoying a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Tendulkar and Raina, who came together on the third afternoon with India on 241-4 and struggling to avoid their second successive follow-on, put on 256 runs for the fifth wicket.

Tendulkar compiled his fifth double-century, adding another feather to a glorious 168-Test career marked by more runs (13,742) and hundreds (48) than any other batsman in history.

He is also the leading one-day batsman with 17,598 runs and 46 hundreds, including the only double-century in limited-overs internationals.

The 37-year-old braved the stifling hot and humid weather in the Sri Lankan capital for more than eight hours to play a marathon innings studded with 23 boundaries and a six.

Tendulkar reached the 200-mark, his first in six years, with a flick off Ajantha Mendis for two runs, earning warm applause from team-mates and spectators alike.

Left-hander Raina became the ninth Indian to score a century in his first Test innings, before holing out to short mid-wicket off Mendis shortly after lunch.

Raina, just 23 and already a veteran of 98 one-day internationals, was awarded his Test cap only after Yuvraj Singh reported sick on the opening day of the match.

He hit two sixes and 12 boundaries, reaching his century with a fluent off-drive against seamer Dammika Prasad that raced to the fence.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (76) joined in the run feast after Raina’s departure, adding 95 for the sixth wicket with Tendulkar and 51 for the eighth with Abhimanyu Mithun (41).

It was left to part-time spinner Tillakaratne Dilshan to get rid of Tendulkar soon after tea as wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene held a bat-pad catch moving swiftly to the silly point area.

Dilshan also dismissed Harbhajan Singh in the same over and later took a return catch off Dhoni to finish with three wickets.

Sri Lanka missed the wicket-taking abilities of the retired Muttiah Muralitharan and injured fast bowler Lasith Malinga as the young crop of bowlers failed to contain the Indians.

Mendis finished with 4-157 from his 54 overs, while off-spinner Suraj Randiv failed to add to his two wickets on the third day and returned with 2-212 in 64 overs.

Muralitharan and Malinga had claimed 15 of the 20 Indian wickets in the first Test in Galle last week, which Sri Lanka won by 10 wickets.

Source: Times of India

Sachin Tendulkar led India’s attempt to stay alive in the series on an attritional day at the SSC, battling his way, supported by VVS Laxman and Suresh Raina, to a determined century that took India closer to avoiding the follow-on. This, after Sri Lanka’s spinners brought the Test back to life just when it seemed the bat would dominate for the third successive day.

The conditions on Day 3 were still batsman-friendly but the Sri Lankan bowlers varied their pace and lengths with greater skill than their Indian counterparts to create chances. However, India survived a couple of nervy moments that helped turn the third day, if only slightly, in their favour. When on 29, Tendulkar attempted to upper-cut Dilhara Fernando and was dropped by wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene. And an appeal against Raina was turned down in the final session when he was struck on the pads by a straighter delivery from Tillakaratne Dilshan; replays suggested the ball would have gone on to hit leg.

Charged, yet again, with the responsibility of reviving the Indian innings, Tendulkar batted with assuredness amid the pressure. The spinners didn’t extract much turn though they did generate good bounce, but Tendulkar adapted well, opting to deal with the length deliveries outside off with caution while treating the ones that were pitched short harshly. He struck Suraj Randiv for eight boundaries through the off side – point, cover and past slip – and comfortably picked off deliveries bowled on his pads for a couple more. The one time he did step out to the spinners was when he brought up his half-century, a clean strike over long-on.

Tendulkar played the ball late on a slowish track, and targeted Randiv while approaching his century, reaching the landmark, his 48th in Tests, with a sweep through square leg. He also ensured a steady flow of singles with Raina, whose strokeplay masked the nerves of a batsman making his first Test appearance.

Raina was uncertain early on against the round-the-wicket line bowled by the two spinners, failing to pick a legspinner from Mendis and leaving a straighter one from Randiv. But, unlike Tendulkar, it was against the length deliveries that he was most comfortable. He stepped out to both spinners to drive them through mid-on, and struck Dammika Prasad for consecutive boundaries. He was equally solid in defence, offering the full face, and eased towards his maiden half-century with a couple of delicious cover drives off the spinners.

Tendulkar began India’s recovery after Virender Sehwag’s swipe on 99 triggered a rush of wickets that undermined a strong start. Facing Randiv’s first delivery of the day, Sehwag stepped out and swung hard towards cow corner, missed and was stumped to become the offspinner’s maiden Test victim.

The wickets that followed were a consequence of some crafty bowling from the spinning pair. Mendis snared opener M Vijay with a googly that he failed to pick after erroneously opting to play the length delivery off the back foot. Rahul Dravid was trapped in front with a ball that skidded on before Laxman joined Tendulkar to rebuild the innings.

Laxman was edgy during his stay and was troubled by Randiv as he played inside the line while expecting more turn. He got the leading edge twice and edged one to slip on the bounce. He appeared far more comfortable against Mendis, capitalising with a couple of boundaries when he was generous enough to stray on the pads. But his concentration wavered and he didn’t read Mendis’ wrong ‘un and was struck in front of leg stump. His wicket at the stroke of tea shifted a see-saw day Sri Lanka’s way, but Tendulkar and Raina, with a bit of fortune, put India’s survival plans back on track.

Siddhartha Talya is an editorial assistant at Cricinfo

Captain Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana struck centuries as Sri Lanka laid the foundation for a mammoth first innings total in the first Test against a lacklustre India here on Sunday.

Sangakkara (103) notched up his 22nd century while Paranavitana (110 batting) scored his maiden ton as the hosts exposed India’s toothless bowling attack to pile up a comfortable 256 for two at close on a rain-truncated opening day.

Electing to bat, the Sri Lankan batsmen capitalised on easy batting conditions at the Galle International Stadium to take control of the match which is star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan’s swansong Test.

Paranavitana and Mahela Jayawardene (8) were at the crease when play was called off shortly after the tea break because of rain.

It turned out to be a miserable day for the Indians with a depleted bowling attack struggling to make any impact on the Sri Lankan batsmen who scored at a brisk pace. The hosts could have been in a far more comfortable position had bad light and rain not deprived them off 21 overs during the day.

Sangakkara and Paranavitana captalised on a solid start of 91 for one at lunch and the duo treated the hapless Indian bowling attack with disdain by sharing 181 runs for the second wicket in exactly 51 overs to take the game away from the visitors.

India removed Sangakkara early in the final session, holing out to Sachin Tendulkar off part-timer Virender Sehwag at Sri Lankan score of 236 for two but Jayawardene and Paranavitana ensured that they did not lose any more wickets.

Tillakaratne Dilshan (25) was the only Sri Lankan batsman who fell in the morning session to Abhimanyu Mithun, his first Test scalp.

Sangaakkara’s 103 came from 145 balls with the help of 12 fours and it was his fourth century against India. He also went past West Indian Gordon Gneenidge and Englishman Colin Cowdrey to become the 23rd most prolific batsman.

The Indian attack without strike bowler Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth due to injuries, were at the receiving end of a solid Sri Lankan batting display and went wicketless in the whole of the extended second session. They conceded 137 runs in 38 overs bowled in the session.

To compound the matters for India, their most experienced bowler Harbhajan Singh suffered from after effects of a bout of flu and apparently a hamstring problem. He went off the field mid-way into the post-lunch session but returned after about 20 minutes.

Sangakkara and Paranavitana, who were on 25 and 35 at lunch break, played sensible innings as they mixed caution with aggression to deny any success to the Indians.

Sangakkara, the more aggressive of the two, was in fine touch punishing the Indian bowlers whenever they erred in line and length.

The Sri Lankan captain was dropped when on 65 off part-timer Virender Sehwag, who was introduced midway in the second session, with his counterpart and wicket-keeper Dhoni failing to pouch an edge.

Opener Paranavitana was more circumspect initially waiting for bad balls but he opened up after reaching his fifty, fifth in 11 Tests.

India also missed a half chance to remove Paranavitana when on 51 with a forward diving Yuvraj failing to reach the ball after the Sri Lankan opener cut uppishly a Sehwag delivery.

Those couple of chances were all the Indians had as the bowlers lacked penetration and consistency to trouble the Sri Lankans.

Paranavitana went on to score his best Test score in his 11th match, his earlier best being 73 against Pakistan in Colombo last year.

Harbhajan got the drift and a bit of turn in both the sessions but that was not enough to get any wicket while left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha was also expensive though he extracted some turn.

Pacer Ishant Sharma gave away just two runs in his first two overs of the second session before conceding 19 in his next two and his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni took him off.

Fielding one of the weakest bowling attacks in a long time, luck also did not favour India as Dhoni lost the toss after the start of the match was delayed for 30 minutes due to wet outfield.

With the depleted Indian bowlers failing to take the advantage of the moisture after heavy overnight rains, the Sri Lankan openers Paranavitana and Dilshan were off to a quick start, sharing 55 runs for the first wicket in 11 overs.

The Sri Lankan duo targeted Ishant, who bled 41 runs in his five overs in the morning, as Paranavitana struck him for a four in the first ball of the innings and then repeated it with another boundary in the opening over.

Ishant was again punished for another couple of fours in his second over by Paranavitana. Dilshan also joined the party with five fours off Ishant in two overs.

Mithun made an impressive start in his debut Test conceding 41 runs from his 12 overs and with the wicket of dangerous Dilshan, his maiden Test scalp.

Source: NDTV Cricket

India’s under-fire seam attack came good when it mattered, setting up MS Dhoni’s fourth win in seven tournament finals, a statistic that makes a mockery of India’s abysmal record in finals. The conditions did support them as they were bowling under the lights in Dambulla, but it was a huge improvement from two nights ago: all three of Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra bowled tight lines, all three got movement both ways, extra bounce, and consequently wickets.

Sri Lanka could have restricted India to about 30 fewer than the 268 had they fielded as well as they usually do and had they attacked a bit more. India could have got about 30 more had Dinesh Karthik, the best of the batsmen on the day, and Dhoni not gifted wickets to Thilina Kandamby’s erroneous part-time legbreaks. All that, however, ceased to matter by the time India’s three medium-pacers were done with their first spells, the collated figures of which read 19-2-61-5.

Nehra proved to be the deadliest of three, repeatedly making the ball land on the seam, also regaining his special ability of getting swing with back-of-a-length deliveries. Two of his four wickets were Sri Lanka’s best batsmen, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. The third was one of the smarter ones, Angelo Mathews.

The man who is used to make impact, though, was removed by Praveen in the first over. Tillakaratne Dilshan took one sighter, and went after the next. It was a bouncer wide outside off stump, and the pull went only as far as mid-on. Zaheer and Praveen then worked hard for the next wicket, troubling the two left-hand batsmen, Sangakkara and Upul Tharanga, with consistent movement.

The wicket eventually came through a forgettable choice from Tharanga. Earlier in the same over Zaheer had hit Sangakkara twice in the thigh area with sharp inward movement. Still Tharanga chose to leave one alone without even covering the stumps. The top of off was hit.

Jayawardene and Sangakkara would have been relieved to see Zaheer (5-1-17-1) off, but it was short-lived. With his second ball, Nehra nearly got Jayawardene lbw, the ball swinging in. In his second over, he got extra bounce and away movement, getting that edge. At 49 for 3 in the 14th over, Sri Lanka were under extreme pressure. Which could perhaps explain Mathews’ loose shot two balls later, edging a short and wide delivery.

Nehra’s swing continued and Sangakkara tried to do something with the only delivery that looked too short. It bounced too high and Sangakkara was gone in the 16th over, which made it three wickets for eight runs since Nehra’s introduction. Praveen played his part from the other end, bowling nine overs of steady away swing from left-hand batsmen for 29 runs.

Nehra produced perhaps his best deliveries for Chamara Kapugedera, getting vicious swing from back of a length, hitting him repeatedly in the thigh-rib region. In his fifth over, Nehra provided some respite, giving Kandamby both width and the angle down the leg side.

It was too late and too little for Kandamby, two of whose best innings have come in losing causes from desperate positions against India. That job of raising hope was left to Kapugedera and Nuwan Kulasekara, who added 35 in the batting Powerplay taken in the 36th over. It brought the defeat margin down to two figures, but couldn’t mask the one-sided nature of the contest.

The first half of the match was more even, and it went this way and that. After Gautam Gambhir wasted a decent start and two lives behind the wicket with a lazy run-out, Karthik wrested the initiative through three punched boundaries in the eight over, bowled by Farveez Maharoof.

Maharoof was to endure an ordinary day, being slow in the outfield, dropping a half chance from Karthik, and failing with the bat too. Along with Maharoof, Kandamby’s tardiness in the outfield hurt Sri Lanka bad. His drop of Gambhir may not have hurt them hugely, but his reluctance to dive and slowness in acting did.

Kandamby made up though, with a nice juicy full toss and a long hop wide outside off. The first one somehow seduced Karthik into finding deep square leg’s lap, and the second got Dhoni to hit straight to point. That brought India down to 167 for 4 in the 33rd over, and Sri Lanka were one wicket away from the long Indian tail.

Sangakkara, though, surprisingly chose his lucky part-timers over peppering Suresh Raina and Rohit with bouncers. When Lasith Malinga was eventually brought back in the 39th over, India were nearing 200. In his second over, Malinga showed why he should have been bowling as soon as Raina came out. Five awkwardly played short balls were followed by a deadly yorker that caught him on the crease.

Having seen a lower-order collapse lose them the previous match, India were circumspect, Kulasekara was accurate, and only 55 came in the last 10 overs. In the final equation, though, that didn’t matter.

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo

Skipper Kumar Sangakkara led from the front scoring 73 runs to help Sri Lanka chase down the target of 210 runs in the inconsequential 6th ODI of the Asia Cup in Dambulla.

Sri Lanka’s Farveez Maharoof grabbed 5-42, including a hat-trick, as India were shot out for 209 in the last league match of the Asia Cup on Tuesday.

The right-arm seamer trapped Ravindra Jadeja leg-before, bowled Praveen Kumar and had Zaheer Khan caught behind off successive deliveries in his ninth over at the Rangiri stadium in Dambulla.

The match is a warm-up for Thursday’s final which the two teams will contest after knocking Pakistan and Bangladesh out of the four-nation tournament.

India suffered a major blow when opener Virender Sehwag was ruled out of both matches after sustaining a hamstring injury against Pakistan on Saturday.

Dinesh Karthik, who flew in from Chennai to replace Sehwag, hit 40 off 43 balls after an opening stand of 58 with Gautam Gambhir.

Sri Lanka, who rested three frontline bowlers in Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera and Muttiah Muralitharan, reduced India to 110-4 by the 23rd over.

Rohit Sharma (69) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (41) retrieved the situation by adding 79 for the fifth wicket, before the Indian captain was run out.

Dhoni’s dismissal triggered a collapse as India slipped from 189-4 to 189-8 in the space of four deliveries as Maharoof sliced through the lower order.

India were all out with 7.3 overs still remaining from their allotted 50.

Source: NDTV Cricket

Tillakaratne Dilshan produced a terrific all round show as Sri Lanka crushed Bangladesh by 126 runs to virtually qualify for the final of the Asia Cup cricket tournament here on Friday.

After scoring an intimidating 312 for four, the hosts bowled out Bangladesh for a mere 186 and collected a bonus point to take their points tally to nine from two matches at the Rangiri Dambulla International stadium.

Dilshan first scored a fiery 71 while opening the innings and then capped the successful day with a three-wicket haul.

India, who play Pakistan in a crucial match on Saturday, have five points from their six-wicket win over Bangladesh earlier in the week.

Pakistan, who lost their opener to Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh (two defeats) are yet to open their account.

Bangladesh were hopelessly outclassed in all departments of the game. The bowling was far from international standard, reflecting that the team had not improved much since breaking into the ICC league in 1999.

The batting too lacked depth with batsmen casting away their wickets after getting their eye in.

Tamim Iqbal top scored with 51 (52b, 5×4, 1×6) while Junaid Siddique made a gutsy 35-ball 38 before being superbly caught by a diving Nuwan Kulasekara at square leg off Muthiah Muralitharan (2/38).

The rest of the batsmen lacked the wherewithal to challenge the Lankan dominance.

Earlier, half centuries by Dislhan, Upul Tharanag (54) and Kumar Sangakkara (52) and a brisk 73-run partnership between Angelo Mathews (42 not out) and Chamara Kapugedara (37 not out) for the unbroken fifth wicket put Lanka in total command.

Opting to bat on ‘Victory Day’ in front of a boisterous home crowd, Sri Lanka galloped to 111 for no loss with Dilshan and Tharanga punishing the profligate Bangladesh new-ball attack led by Mashrafe Mortaza.

Mortaza conceded as many as 26 runs in two overs to set the tone for the Lankan rampage.

Bangladesh earned the breakthrough in the 16th over when Dilshan offered a feeble return catch to Shakib Al Hasan, the ball lobbing of the leading edge as he shaped to work the left arm spinner to square.

The flamboyant opener smashed 11 boundaries and a six during his 51-ball tenure at the square.

It was to the visitors’ fortune that Tharanga offered his wicket on a platter to Mahmudullah in the 27th over. Dancing down the wicket to hit the off spinner, Tharanga completely missed the line of the ball to be stranded way down the crease.

Mushfiqur Rahim made no mistake with the offering, whipping off the bails after initially appealing for a down the leg catch behind the wicket.

Thereafter, it was Sri Lanka all the way as Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene picked runs with effortless ease, picking the gaps in the field with precision and converting ones into twos.

The elegant twosome had posted 69 runs for the third wicket in 66 balls when Jayawardene (43), venturing to hit Shafiul Islam through the vacant on-side, holed out to Shakib Al Hasan at covers.

Shafiul Islam, easily Bangladesh’s best bowler of the day, was to account for Sangakkara as well, having the Lankan captain caught at the point by Shakib Al Hasan.

But Angelo Mathews and Chamara Kapugedara ensured that Lanka finished on a high with a breezy partnership which took the wind out of the Bangladesh sail.

Source: NDTV Cricket

Who’d a thunk it? Zimbabwe finished the league stage at the top of the table, winning comprehensively all their 50-over matches, and losing the one that was truncated to 26. Even in the first quarter of the final league match, a dead rubber, Sri Lanka seemed to have run away with the game, having scored 122 for no loss thanks largely to a rollicking start from Tillakaratne Dilshan. Zimbabwe’s army of spinners – accurate, aggressive, aided by good fielding – then came into action, and Sri Lanka managed only 114 in the rest of the piece. The chase hardly ever looked difficult, and once again Brendan Taylor was at the centre of it, scoring only his second ODI hundred and overhauling his personal best.

Zimbabwe refused to experiment and bat first in a tournament where all matches have been won by sides chasing, but they played around with the ball, persisting with the medium-pacers in the earlier stages of the innings. Resting one of their four spinners, they got the seamers to bowl 13 out of the first 15 overs, and Dilshan smacked them around to give Sri Lanka their best start of the tournament. Out of form coming into the tri-series, Dilshan continued his improvement with every innings, and was free-flowing in his 66-ball 78.

With Greg Lamb and Andy Blignaut out with minor niggles, the first 13 overs from the medium-pacers went for 89 runs. Dilshan got 54 of those – eight fours and a six in them. With the introduction of Ray Price in the 12th over came some control, but by that time Upul Tharanga had opened up too, having hit three fours in a Chamu Chibhabha over, the 10th of the innings. Dilshan was not going to settle for a boring middle-over accumulation either: he hit another four and six before falling prey to his own aggression in the 21st over.

Prosper Utseya, who got Dilshan stumped, followed up with Dinesh Chandimal’s wicket in the 25th over, and Zimbabwe had started clawing back. Soon Hamilton Masakadza came to bowl for the first time in the tournament. Soon he was showing off his vest with “just married” written on it, having accepted an easy return catch off his third ball. Three wickets had gone for 33 runs, and Sri Lanka were forced into consolidation, a spell during which Tharanga reached his fifty, but also a spell during which Zimbabwe kept the field up and didn’t allow easy singles.

Tharanga eventually played a shot of frustration, getting too close to a Graeme Cremer delivery and holing out to long-off. Jeevan Mendis looked to innovate, but pulled one to midwicket off Cremer. Thilan Samaraweera ran off a misfield, and Sri Lanka had lost another set of three wickets for 18 runs.

The match was now entering the crucial phase, the batting Powerplay, with Sri Lanka six down for 217 after 44 overs. Thissara Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne, the last recognised pair, had batted themselves in and were looking to undo Zimbabwe’s hard work. In the first over of the Powerplay, though, Mpofu removed them both. Perera missed a straight delivery and Thirimanne chipped to cover-point. More special celebrations came out, the rocking-baby this time, for Tatenda Taibu who recently had a second son.

Masakadza didn’t give his newly wed much more to cheer about. After his first failure in the tournament, though, Taylor got a good helping hand from Chibhabha, who put behind an ordinary show with the ball and a slow, edgy start. With not much swing available, Thilan Thushara and Dilhara Fernando tried to test the openers with short deliveries. It worked to begin with: Masakadza gloved one down the leg side in the fifth over, and Zimbabwe had scored only 16 in the first six. However, chasing a modest total, they could afford to give the bowlers a few overs and wait for the loose deliveries.

Sure enough, the loose deliveries started arriving. Immediately after Chibhabha top-edged Thushara for four in the seventh over, five wides followed. In the next over, Fernando over-pitched, and was off-driven by Taylor. In the ninth over, Thushara over-pitched on the pads, and Chibhabha flicked him over fine leg for six.

With literally risk-free cricket, Zimbabwe had reached 42 in nine overs. With the introduction of Thissara Perera, though, the batsmen started taking calculated risks. His two overs went for five boundaries, four of them in the air, and with 80 runs on the board after 15 overs, Zimbabwe could afford to milk the bowling. The next 17 overs got Zimbabwe just 72 runs, but the period didn’t draw any panic. During the spell both the batsmen reached their fifties, and Chibhabha’s mixed day was sure to give Zimbabwe a selection headache before the final.

Even after Chibhabha’s dismissal, Taylor made sure Zimbabwe stayed ahead of the rate, without taking undue risks. There was the odd late-cut past short third man, there was the odd long hop pulled over midwicket, and lots of ones and twos. Coolly, Taylor and Taibu finished off their first win over Sri Lanka in seven years, with 13 balls to spare.

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo

It’s a script that never seems to go stale. Sri Lanka have yet again disposed India from a multi-nation tournament. They were splendid today; they hustled on the field, the spinners kept hauling them back when India threatened to break free, and Dinesh Chandimal made the chase look ridiculously easy with a charming ton.

Sometimes desperate situations, like the must-win situation for India, force one to make the right decisions. India made two shows of intent: Yusuf Pathan was promoted to No. 4 and the batting Powerplay was taken in the 18th over. Sometimes the best intentions may not be enough.

Sometimes the hunter becomes the hunted: If India were to get the bonus point that would have helped them in the quest to enter the final, they had to restrict Sri Lanka to 214 but for a while it appeared that it was Sri Lanka who were going for the bonus point, with Chandimal going on to become their youngest ODI centurion.

Sometimes an unknown like Chandimal pulls off a blinder of an innings. When Tillakaratne Dilshan fell after a breezy 21, Sri Lanka were at 29 for 1 and you wondered whether they might slow down, if not stutter, but Chandimal unfurled an attractive innings to ensure that the run-rate never dropped. He impressed with his shot selection, his footwork and his aggressive bent of mind: he walked down the track to lift Pankaj Singh over mid-on, welcomed Pragyan Ojha into the attack with a six over long-off and later smashed him over long-on and crashed R Ashwin over long-off and long-on. And all these sashays down the track were made possible because he used the crease well, often dropping well back to create his own length for his cut shots against the spinners. And, so when the spinners tried to correct the length by hurling it fuller, he responded with his more adventurous hits. And he looked pretty secure in defense too. Unlike Upul Tharanga, who often groped outside the line, Chandimal offered the full bat-face in defense. It took a lovely carrom-ball from Ashwin to get him stumped but by then he had put the issue beyond doubt.

Sometimes you should ask for the stars. Suresh Raina had said after losing the toss that he was looking to reach around 270-280 and he got what he wanted but it didn’t prove enough. His team made a steady start, reaching 46 for 2 in 10 overs, and collecting 27 runs in the bowling Powerplay. They shifted the gears gradually and hit 39 runs in the final Powerplay, courtesy some big hits from Yusuf, to reach a healthy position by the half-way mark but Sri Lanka clawed their way back in style.

Sometimes if you remain tenacious enough, you will find a way to break down the spirit of opposition. Two instances stood out for Sri Lanka’s tenacity: Ajantha Mendis bowled two overs that yielded just six runs in the batting Powerplay; and Suraj Randiv removed both Yusuf and Rohit Sharma to pull India back from a comfortable situation. Even the third spinner Jeevan Mendis bowled a tight spell in the middle as India, who were at 125 for 2 in 23.5 overs struggled to 187 for 5 in 37.1 overs. Only 52 runs came in this crucial period of 13 overs and importantly three big wickets of Yusuf, Kohli and Rohit went down.

Sometimes disciplined bowling is enough. It was Randiv who did all the damage, not with anything spectacular but with his steady supply of loopy offbreaks. He beat Yusuf in flight and lured him to hole out to long-on and did Rohit in with a big-spinning off break that breached the defences. In between, Kohli, who had until then crafted a responsible innings, had lifted Thushara straight to long-off. And when Raina fell to a stunning catch – Chamara Kapugedera flung himself to his left at short extra cover- off Dilshan’s bowling, India were wobbling at 204 for 6 but were saved by Ashwin’s cameo.

Sometimes the catalyst comes from the least expected quarter; Ashwin pulled off a gem in the end overs to push India from 204 for 6 in 41.1 overs to a respectable total. Ashwin pinged wide long-on for a six and a four against Mendis in the 47th over and lifted Nuwan Kulasekara for successive fours in the 48th, with a paddle-swept boundary being the highlight. However, Sri Lanka struck in the last couple of overs, via Thilan Thushara, to prevent India from reaching a big score. It was the pattern of the day – India kept threatening to get ahead, and Sri Lanka kept pulling them back till India caved in under the relentless pressure.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo

“Frankly today we were rubbish,” said Zimbabwe’s new coach Alan Butcher. And he was right. It was a one-way street in Bulawayo. Only Hamilton Masakadza turned up for Zimbabwe. Sri Lanka attacked from every corner, with spin and seam, to strangle and harass the hosts who just about managed to get past 100. Only Masakadza managed to successfully combine aggressive intent with the required skill that the rain-reduced 26-over game demanded of the batsmen. It was Sri Lanka, led by Ajantha Mendis, who called all the shots and Tillakaratne Dilshan ensured they earned a bonus point and took the top spot with a breezy knock.

Mendis bamboozled with his mystery against a team he’s had much success with – 18 wickets from six games before this. Suraj Randiv troubled with his accuracy and Jeevan Mendis, the debutant leg-spinning allrounder, picked up a couple of wickets. Not that the seamers didn’t sparkle.

Nuwan Kulasekara turned in an asphyxiating spell with the new ball with figures that read 3-0-7-0 and Dilhara Fernando, as ever, extracted bounce from short of a length to produce an equally tight spell. And it was Fernando who started the demolition job by removing Brendon Taylor.

The nature of Taylor’s dismissal set the tone for Zimbabwe today: He stumbled out to the leg side, almost like a tailender, to a short-of-length delivery and had a lame fatal poke at it. It highlighted the urge to attack that the reduced game demanded of the hosts, but also perfectly caught the confusion in the mind of the way to go about it.

Zimbabwe also faltered in their strategy. Why was Greg Lamb, a batsman with a strike rate of about 41, sent in at No.3 in a 26-over game? The pitch wasn’t so bad that they needed to stitch one end up. Lamb crawled to a 19-ball 10 which was neither here nor there and only piled pressure on Masakadza.

Craig Ervine’s struggles against spin further hurt Zimbabwe. He could only eke out three runs from 18 deliveries of spin from the combination of Ajantha Mendis and Randiv. He couldn’t pick Ajantha Mendis’ variations and couldn’t break free against Randiv’s accuracy. Ajantha Mendis swallowed both Lamb and Ervine and Randiv lured Charles Coventry to hole out to the deep. And more trouble lay around the corner for Zimbabwe as they lost Elton Chigumbura , inside-edging a short delivery from Jeevan Mendis on to his stumps.

Watching all the damage unfold was Masakadza. It was he who hit the first boundary with a disdainful pull in the fourth over against Fernando. It was he who hit the first six in an over where he threatened to turn things around for Zimbabwe. He went after Thissara Perera in the eighth over, thrashing him for a four past mid-off and unfurling an imperiously-pulled six to loot 17 runs. However, he too slowed down after that frenetic over. It took him a further 38 deliveries to hit his next boundary, the self-restraint no doubt caused by the alarming rate at which the wickets fell. In the end, he was the ninth wicket to fall when he top-edged a bouncer from Fernando and Zimbabwe soon crashed out for 118.

Zimbabwe needed a great start if they were to pull off an unlikely heist. However, Chris Mpofu went for 14 runs in the third over as Upul Tharanga pinged the point boundary for three fours and Sri Lanka seized all momentum. Though Tharanga was run out later, Tillakaratne Dilshan, who had played a watchful, but a good knock against India in the previous game, hastened the end with an aggressive innings. He lofted Prosper Utseya for a six and a four, slog-swept Lamb to the ropes and cut Chigumbura for more boundaries. The chase was over in a blink.

Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo