India scrape through to final

A dramatic victory allowed India to scrape through to meet Sri Lanka again in the final of the Asia Cup. Virender Sehwag starred, scoring 81 and taking three wickets, as India resisted a strong challenge from Sanath Jayasuriya to win by four runs.

In what amounted to a must-win game for India, captain Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat first on a typically placid Premadasa pitch. Sri Lanka - already assured of a spot in the final - opted to rest key bowlers Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas, with young pace bowlers Farveez Maharoof and Lasith Malinga playing in their place. Sachin Tendulkar started India's innings with a bang, clattering Sri Lanka's form bowler Nuwan Zoysa for consecutive fours, taking 11 off the first over. Zoysa exacted his revenge soon after, however, trapping Tendulkar (18) in front with an inswinger.

Sourav Ganguly began circumspectly, taking 14 balls to get off the mark, before hitting Malinga for three fours in an over. For the most part, however, Sehwag was the main aggressor, hitting six fours and two huge sixes. Ganguly provided steady support as the pair added more than a hundred to lay a formidable foundation to the innings. Just as the pair began to lift the run-rate in excess of five runs per over, however, Sehwag fell to Jayasuriya, courtesy of a sharp take by Sangakkara off a bottom-edged sweep. Sehwag's typically aggressive 81 off 92 ended with the score at 168-2.

Rahul Dravid made his second low-score in a row after a run of good form, edging a drive off Maharoof having made just one run. Yuvraj joined his captain, and both immediately set about restoring India's position to facilitate a late assault. Yuvraj exhibited some of the best strokeplay of the innings, taking effectively to the spinners to lift India's total late in the piece. Ganguly fell eventually to Malinga, holing out to long on after a crucial anchor-innings of 79.

Kaif didn't last long, runout for 1, but Yuvraj reached his fifty off 45 deliveries before becoming Malinga's second victim. Some late scampering from Patel and Pathan lifted India to an eventual total of 271-6.

Sri Lanka began with their heretofore successful opening pair of Jayasuriya and Gunawardene, but the latter fell early to Zaheer Khan for seven, six of those runs coming from one shot off the same bowler. The rest of the top-order offered little resistance as the Indian bowlers bowled probingly early on: Jayantha managed five and Atapattu eight; Pathan and Harbhajan striking early.

Jayasuriya batted in a manner suggesting obliviousness to the chaos at the other end, creaming Khan for five fours in six balls, the boundary-hitting sequence interrupted only by a wide. In supreme form after hitting an unbeaten century against Bangladesh, Jayasuriya treated the bowlers with disdain, despite the struggles of his teammates.


India's failed five-bowler plan against Pakistan was ditched in favour of using Sehwag and Tendulkar to make up ten overs, and the plan worked remarkably well, as they snared the crucial wickets of Sangakkara (15) and Jayawardene (20) respectively. Jayasuriya nonetheless managed to keep the target within reach, and found handy support in Tillakaratne Dilshan. The pair took 21 off two overs from Kumble and Tendulkar to bring Sri Lanka to within 100 of the target.

A quick single to the offside brought up Jayasuriya's 18th ODI century from just 95 balls, and if he were able to score just a few more runs it may well have been remembered as one of his best. The hosts looked certain favourites when Sehwag came on to bowl the 44th over, Sri Lanka needing 37 from seven overs, five wickets in hand. Sehwag changed all that, first by beating Dilshan with turn to bowl him for a useful 39. The greater blow came four overs later: Sehwag inducing a top edge from Jayasuriya to remove the danger-man for an outstanding 130 from just 132 deliveries.

Sri Lanka still rated a chance, needing 18 off 17 balls, but their inexperienced tail crumbled under the pressure. Pathan and Khan returned, the latter holding his nerve in a tense final over, snaring Maharoof and preventing Zoysa from hitting the required six off the last ball to give India a win by four runs.

The win confirmed India's place in the Asia Cup final, regardless of the outcome of the Pakistan v. Bangladesh match. Sri Lanka, also assured a place in the final, will likely remain slight favourites with the return of Muralitharan and Vaas, but India will no doubt take heart from this fine performance under pressure.

Score Summary:

India 271/6 (50)
Sehwag 81 (92), Ganguly 79 (120), Yuvraj 50 (46); Malinga 56/2 (10).
Sri Lanka 267/9 (50)
Jayasuriya 130 (132); Sehwag 37/3 (9), Pathan 34/2 (9)

Result: India win by 4 runs and qualify to play Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final.

Man of the Match: Virender Sehwag (81 and 37/3).

Posted by Adam