India confronts Sri Lanka for the third time in the ongoing five-match one day series at the R.Premadasa stadium, Colombo, home for the remaining three matches. With an unconvincing victory in its previous match, India hopes for a better performance and to go for a 2-1 lead in the series.
India made a change with Gautam Gambhir, who had missed the second match because of a stiff neck, finding a place in the squad. Irfan Pathan who had not been in good nick with the ball in his first two matches makes way for the specialist batsmen. The change could be vital for the team as the ground built on a swamp, favors the batsmen more in most parts off the day, before switching sides to slow ball bowlers under lights.Sri Lanka brings in the experienced Chaminda Vaas in place of Dilhara Fernando, who is in verge of picking his 400th ODI wicket.
India won the toss and Dhoni without any hesitance decided to bat first. Gambhir and Virat Kohli opened the innings for the second time together (Irfan opening the innings in the second match), started briskly, with Kohli racing to 25 in no time, before he was run out going for a quick single, by a pick-and-throw act by Chamara Silva. It was a bad start and the team never recuperated and by the end of the 13th over India had lost two more wickets. Subramaniam Badrinath who handled Ajantha Mendis and Muthaiah Muralitharan in the previous match was promoted up the order. He seemed to be playing cautiously, but, became Mendis’s first victim going for a slog. In the meantime, Vaas finished his spell off ten overs without a break and without a wicket, although bowling tidily. The new ball bowler will now have to wait until tuesday for his 400th scalp.
Skipper Dhoni walked in facing a familiar situation of his side. He and Suresh Raina, played more cautiously than ever to built a partenership. This they managed to do with Raina bringing a hard worked half century before he too being run out, the second in the Indian innings so far.
Rohit Sharma, not a hit with the bat in the first two matches, came to support his skipper who was batting brilliantly on the other end. Perhaps his captains’ presence helped him and Sharma soon began to show his class. He looked too good for his 32, before he got out. The tail did not wag much as expected and the Indian innings closed at 237 runs for 9 wickets, with Dhoni playing a skipper’s knock of 76.
For a change it looked as if Team India might have figured out to play Mendis and the bowler was in his unusual form for nine overs, but in the end he came back to take two wickets of Harbhajan Singh and Dhoni, ending his spell at 3 for 56.
For Sri Lanka, Nuwan Kulashekara took two wickets and Thilan Thushara scalped two. It is to be seen how the Lankans will do the run chase. Although, the target does not look too big, but, the fact that the pitch will come good for slow ball bowlers might give India an upper hand. Already, Mendis’s last over had given us a glimpse and it is left to be seen if that was the sheer class of the dynamic spinner or the pitch that was trying to help the slow bowlers.
