Though Rahul Dravid's mature innings saw India through in the end, the victory was set up by the bowlers. Ashish Nehra, in particular, was outstanding with the new ball, returning first-spell figures of 7-2-11-1. The pitch, admittedly, provided him plenty of assistance, but Nehra was good enough to exploit it. Of the 42 balls he bowled in his first spell, 41 were on good length or marginally short – there were no easy half-volleys for the batsmen to put away. Especially impressive was the way he bowled to Sanath Jayasuriya. Against England at Headingley, Jayasuriya had been severe on anything pitched up to the bat. Here, all 17 deliveries Nehra bowled to him were on good length or slightly short. Jayasuriya managed to score just seven runs off him. Not only was Nehra economical, he beat the bat with monotonous regularity – a whopping 43% of the deliveries he bowled elicited strokes which the batsmen were not in control of.

When India batted, Chaminda Vaas gave an exhibition which was almost as good, taking two wickets and conceding just 19 runs from eight overs in his first spell. Again, the key was his length – out of 48 balls, 47 were on a good length or fractionally short. Vaas wasn't quite as menacing as Nehra though, notching up a not-in-control percentage of 28, but his lion-hearted performance kept Sri Lanka in the hunt almost throughout the match.

S Rajesh is sub editor if Wisden.com in India.

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