Lankan Lions tame Indian Cats
The crucial match between India and Sri Lanka saw Lanka cruising into the ICC Cricket World Cup Super Eights after they won the match by 69 runs. India stands virtually out of the prestigious tournament after losing the all important match.
After winning the toss Dravid elected to field first and his bowlers did not let him down. Initially the Lankan team faced early hiccups as Indian bowlers Zaheer and Agarkar exploited the conditions which saw ace batsmen returning to pavilion. Sanath Jayasuriya , Jayawardene and Sangakkara all fell for just six , seven and 15 runs respectively. But just as it seemed that match was going in the favor of Indians Silva and Dilshan neutralized India's advantage with their sensible and patiently played crucial knocks.
Solid half-centuries by Upul Tharanga, who scored 64, and Chamara Silva, who hit 59, his third successive half century, ensured that Lankan’s put a competitive score of 255 on the board.
In this must-win game India's batting crumbled at just 185 runs as veteran bowlers Chaminda Vaas and man of the match Muttiah Muralitharan managed to tighten the screws. Good and tight bowling line created a pressure on the Indian batting line up which resulted in early fall of wickets.
India batting line up saw the worst possible start as Robin Utthappa was caught and bowled by Vass for just 18 runs. Later Veteran Sourav Ganguly was out after he scored seven runs. The 54-run fourth wicket partnership between Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid just delayed the inevitable.
Batting star’s Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Dhoni also failed to make a mark as the batsmen returned to the pavilion without opening their accounts. The curtains on India’s win finally dropped when Yuvraj Singh was run out after scoring only six runs.
Skipper Rahul Dravid’s, 60 and Virendra Sehwag 46 runs of 48 balls was the only consolation for the dejected Indian team. After the 69 run loss the India face the risk of being out of the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Brief Score: Sri Lanka 254-6(Tharanga 64, Chamara Silva 59) vs India 185(Sehwag 46, Dravid 60)
Result: Sri Lanka won the match by 69 runs
Man of the Match: Muttiah Muralitharan
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