PUSHED into a corner, the Indians, committed and aggressive, fought their way back to overcome Sri Lanka for the second successive time. The side, that made a disastrous start, being reduced to 38 for four, staged a marvellous recovery getting to 227 and when the Lankans batted, struck early and maintained the pressure all along to triumph by 46 runs, the home side making only 181.
The hero of the Indian victory was a man who has gone through a whole gamut of emotions in the last 12 months. Yuveraj Singh chose the best moment really to blossom again for the country.
The southpaw made 98 strokeful runs under immense pressure and, in the company of first Rahul Dravid and then Reetinder Singh Sodhi, took the game from the Lankans.
When the home team batted, the Indian new-ball attack of left-armers Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra harried the Lankans with their pace and bounce, and the host wilted under pressure once the run-rate climbed.
In the middle overs, Sourav Ganguly (his outburst after dismissing Arnold was uncalled for though) sent down a teasing spell of mediumpace bowling and at the other end Harbhajan Singh, operating to a nice off-stump line, gave little away. The Indians were cock-a-hoop in the end.
When the match got underway under a cloud cover, the Lankan pace attack of Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando made life difficult for the Indians on the Sinhalese Sports Club wicket which assisted seam movement.
Vaas trapped Virender Sehwag leg before with the first ball of the match and soon Ganguly was gone too, cutting the left-arm paceman into the hands of Kumara Sangakkara at point.
Laxman, after essaying a couple of pleasing strokes, drove a slower delivery from Fernando to Jayasuriya at mid-off, and Hemang Badani chased a widish delivery from the same bowler.
When Yuveraj walked in to join a fighting Rahul Dravid, he had a lot of things to prove to himself and the world. Despite his unquestioned talent, he had underachieved with the bat, and there was a feeling in some sections that the youngster was being given more than his fair share of chances.
He proceeded to conjure a dazzling innings, after surviving a rather shaky start when he was not quite getting his body balance right when leaning into his drives.
At the other end, Dravid, a shrewd customer, wasted little time in talking to the youngster, and there was a change in the script. After the early lull, the runs were coming more freely now.
Yuveraj and Dravid raised 102 runs in 132 balls for the fifth wicket before the Indian vice-captain was done in by a sharp 'away spinning' delivery from Sanath Jayasuriya, 'keeper Romesh Kaluwitharana pulling off the stumping.
The Punjab pair of Yuveraj and Sodhi enabled India to recover further, putting on 57 for the sixth wicket in 62 balls, with some bright strokeplay, seldom missing out on an opportunity to score.
It was the genius of Muttiah Muralitharan that was principally responsible for Lanka checking India's run-rate towards the end overs. The off-spinner got the ball to spin either way, never allowing the batsmen to take liberties.
Sodhi, who made a fighting 30, was castled by a sharp off-break from Muralitharan and India did lose quick wickets towards the end in a bid to score quickly. Yuveraj, who suffered a bout of cramps during the later stages, required four runs for a century off the final ball, however, he could manage just two to remain unbeaten on 98. But then, the left-hander had done his job on a day when he displayed some character.
The Lankans required a good start, but the opposite happened, with Romesh Kaluwitharana perishing to a run out after Harbhajan Singh hit the stumps from square-leg.
Pacemen Zaheer and Nehra were charged up for the occasion. Zaheer won a close caught behind verdict against Marvan Atapattu, and soon Nehra picked up the prized scalp of Jayasuriya, Rahul Dravid taking a fine catch diving to his right at short mid-wicket even as the Lankan captain miscued a flick. The dangerous southpaw made just 10 and it was the turning point of the contest.
Mahela Jayawardene scored 34, he was reprieved when on eight by Laxman at first slip off Nehra, Arnold contributed 22 and Suresh Perera made a strokeful 30 towards the end. But the Indian bowlers, offie Harbhajan included, bowled a nice line, built up the pressure, did not allow partnerships to build and the Lankans were always up against it. The Lankan challenge was over with 25 balls to spare when Vaas' desperate hit off Nehra was pouched by Harbhajan in the deep.
The next day Ganguly was docked 75 per cent of his match fee and severely reprimanded by match referee Cammie Smith for 'bringing the game into disrepute.' The Indian captain gave vent to his feelings after trapping Russel Arnold leg-before. His appeal for caught behind off the earlier delivery against the same batsman had been negated.
The scores:India: V. Sehwag lbw b Vaas 0; S. Ganguly c Sangakkara b Vaas 0; V.V.S. Laxman c Jayasuriya b Fernando 10; R. Dravid st. Kaluwitharana b Jayasuriya 47; H. Badani c Jayawardene b Fernando 2; Y. Singh (not out) 98; R. S. Sodhi b Muralitharan 30; S. Dighe c Kaluwitharana b Fernando 3; H. Singh b Muralitharan 4; Z. Khan (not out) 3. Extras (b-2, lb-7, nb-6, w-15) 30. Total (for eight wkts. in 50 overs) 227.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-7, 3-31, 4-38, 5-140, 6-197, 7-200, 8-213.
Sri Lanka bowling: Vaas 9-1-35-2; Fernando 9-1-47-3; Perera 3-1-20-0; Muralitharan 10-0-29-2; Dharmasena 8-0-39-0; Jayasuriya 7-0-28-1; Arnold 4-0-20-0.
Sri Lanka: S. Jayasuriya c Dravid b Nehra 10; R. Kaluwitharana (run out) 0; M. Atapattu c Dighe b Zaheer 1; M. Jayawardene b Ganguly 34; R. Arnold lbw b Ganguly 21; K. Sangakkara b Nehra 18; S. Perera c Zaheer b Harbhajan 30; K. Dharmasena (run out) 22; C. Vaas c Harbhajan b Nehra 13; M. Muralitharan c (sub) Agarkar b Zaheer 11; D. Fernando (not out) 2. Extras (lb-8, w-3, nb-8) 19. Total (in 45.5 overs) 181.
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-7, 3-24, 4-67, 5-93, 6-109, 7-151, 8-157, 9-178.
India bowling: Zaheer 8-1-24-2; Nehra 8.5-0-35-3; Harbhajan 10-0-31-1; Ganguly 10-1-31-2; Sehwag 3-0-19-0; Sodhi 6-0-33-0.
EVEN as one watched Yuveraj Singh taking the game away from Lanka, dismissing the bowling ruthlessly, the words of Vasu Paranjpe, Yuveraj's coach during the youngster's stint at the National Cricket Academy, came to mind.
"He is a match-winner, it is worth picking him in the side because he can turn the game around. There will be days when he will fail, but he will also win games. India has been looking for a hard-hitting batsman like him in the middle-order for quite some time now," Paranjpe said.
Well, a lot has happened in Yuveraj's career since Paranjpe spoke about the youngster. He got picked for India, produced a dazzling innings in his first game, against the mighty Australians in the ICC Knock-out tournament, subsequently lost his way, his attitude came under scrutiny, and then was dropped from the side.
At the Sinhalese Sports Club ground on August 1, Yuveraj began a new phase in his career with a fine knock in adversity. Apart from delivering the big blows, he also showed a sense of maturity during the innings, something not always evident during his career until now.
Walking in at 38 for four, Yuveraj, guided through a choppy initial stage by Dravid, grew in confidence as the innings progressed and went on to play some lovely strokes, driving Suresh Perera through the covers, rocking back and punching Kumara Dharmasena to the fence, and lofting Arnold over the mid-wicket fence.
The shot that brought to the fore the power and arrogance of Yuveraj's strokeplay was when he effortlessly clipped Chaminda Vaas over mid-wicket for a six. A stunner.
The youngster, afflicted with cramps, was in severe pain in the climactic stages, but carried on manfully, unleashing some dazzling shots too, slamming the pacy Fernando past mid-on, and pulling the same bowler past the ropes in the last over. He ended up just two runs short of a magnificent century, but it did not really matter. India had got off the jail and Yuveraj (98 not out, 110b, 6x4, 1x6) had played a major part in it.
"I am happy to have proved a lot of people wrong," Man of the Match Yuveraj said after the conclusion of an emotionally draining contest. He had come under increasing fire from the media in recent times.
He also thanked skipper Ganguly for supporting him during difficult times, and added he would like to be more consistent.
In other words, he would avoid the kind of barren streak after Nairobi that put a question mark over his career. It is up to Yuveraj now to put his words into deeds.
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