India v Sri Lanka at Colombo (RPS), 29 Sep 2002 CricInfo Live Report

India v Sri Lanka at Colombo (RPS), 29 Sep 2002
Anand Vasu

Sri Lanka innings: 25 overs, End of innings,
Pre-game: Toss & Teams,

INDIA RESTRICT SRI LANKA TO 244/5
From a position where they threatened to reach the 300-run mark the Sri Lankans were restricted to 244/5 by some disciplined bowling from India's stable of slow bowlers. As has been the case all tournament, batsmen coming to the wicket could not score at a fast clip from the word go, and those that tried perished in the process. India will be very happy with the way they pulled things back and their much vaunted batting line-up will feel that the ICC Champions Trophy can be theirs in a few hours.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was the man who did the job for India, scalping three crucial wickets. He was well supported by Virender Sehwag who managed to quickly get through his 10 overs of flat off-spin for just 32 runs.

Sanath Jayasuriya, continuing in his rich vein of form made 74 (126 minutes, 89 balls, 7 fours) and ended up top scoring for the hosts. Working the ball through the on side off his hips and toes, Jayasuriya was able to find the gaps almost every time the bowlers erred in line. It took a good catch to stop the Sri Lankan captain, Harbhajan Singh was the man for India as Jayasuriya tried to loft Agarkar straight back over his head. By this stage the Lankans had 155 on the board for the loss of just two wickets.

Aravinda de Silva, coming to the wicket confidently, had more than one chance when he hit the ball in the air on the leg side, only to be dropped by the Indian fielders. The maestro could not quite put an innings together on the day and tried to cut a fizzy offspinner from Harbhajan Singh, only managing a tickle to the keeper.

Sangakkara, attractive at the wicket to start off later struggled to hit the boundaries, ending up with just two early flashes in his 54. Harbhajan Singh had his third wicket when Sangakkara popped a catch to Sehwag in the 45th over.

Sachin Tendulkar, who was among the fielders who grassed chances managed to compensate by taking a stunning return catch. Mahela Jayawardene, who looked distinctly uncomfortable at the wicket, scratched around for 13 before belting a ball back at Tendulkar. Diving to his left Tendulkar held on to a tough catch.

Russel Arnold, had his first bit of batting of the tournament helping himself to 18. Chaminda Vaas contributed 11 not out and Sri Lanka posted a respectable yet modest 244/5 in 50 overs.

That the flashy Lankan batsmen went 104 balls between the 31st and 49th overs without scoring a single boundary was proof of the manner in which the Indian bowlers tied them down.

SRI LANKAN BATSMEN COAST ALONG
The changes India made to their bowling department did not have the dramatic impact Sourav Ganguly would have hoped for. Javagal Srinath, perhaps tired and jet-lagged sent down an initial spell of 5-0-36-0 while Ajit Agarkar's first spell of four overs cost him 22 runs. Sri Lanka, bolstered by some typically polished batting from Marvan Atapattu and energetic strokeplay from Jayasuriya, reached 124/1 at the halfway mark.

The start of the innings was a departure from the standard for the Lankans. In sparkling form, Atapattu took on the role of run getter while Jayauriya was content playing second fiddle. Forcing the ball through the gaps in the offside with a dead straight bat, Atapattu frustrated the Indians. Seemingly without breaking into a sweat, Atapattu drove faultlessly in the arc from point to covers.

Against the grain of play, India got their first breakthrough in the 13th over. Harbhajan Singh, brought in early to change the pace had Atapattu pulling hard towards short midwicket. Agarkar, fielding in the position palmed the ball up with quick reflexes and latched on to the catch on the second attempt. Atapattu (34, 46 balls, 5 fours) certainly looked good for plenty more when he departed.

The arrival of Kumar Sangakkara did nothing to slow things down for the home side. The wicketkeeper batsman got things going with consecutive boundaries off Agarkar, first pulling then driving one through covers with grace and timing.

Jayasuriya took on the role of senior partner at the fall of Atapattu's wicket and this was trouble for the Indians. While not going after the bowling in the manner that he is so famous for, Jayasuriya kept the scoreboard ticking over at a good pace, bringing up his half-century in 68 balls including four boundaries.

At the 25-over mark Sangakkara had reached 23 while Jayasuriya was going great guns on 59.

SRI LANKA BAT FIRST IN BIG FINAL
When Sanath Jayasuriya won the toss there was little surprise in the fact that he elected to bat in the final of the Champions Trophy at the R Premadasa stadium.

Javagal Srinath, who eventually arrived in Colombo in the early hours of the morning has been drafted straight into the Indian side for the final of the Champions Trophy 2002.

On a sunny, hot day in Colombo the fans packed the R Premadasa Stadium quite early in the piece. Massive queues outside the ground meant that many more had to be turned away, either with counterfeit tickets or without tickets at all.

These fans might have been surprised at not seeing the name of Anil Kumble in the Indian team list. The veteran Karnataka leggie has had a rough tournament, unable to add to his tally of 298 one-day wickets.

In Kumble's place comes Mumbai all-rounder Ajit Agarkar. Dinesh Mongia also gets a chance to prove his mettle as he replaces VVS Laxman.

Sri Lanka made just one change, a predictable one at that, bringing in fast bowler Dilhara Fernando in place of Upul Chandana.

Sri Lanka team: *ST Jayasuriya, MS Atapattu, +KC Sangakkara, PA de Silva, DPMD Jayawardene, RP Arnold, WPUJC Vaas, M Muralitharan, HDPK Dharmasena, CRD Fernando, PW Gunaratne.

India team: V Sehwag, *SC Ganguly, D Mongia, SR Tendulkar, +R Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, M Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, AB Agarkar, J Srinath.