It was a do or die match for India who needed to win in order to qualify for the Super Eights. They had earlier lost to a spirited Bangladesh but thrashed Bermuda in the next match in a record win. Sri Lanka on the other hand had won both their matches convincingly. Assured of a birth in the next round, Sri Lankans did not let their momentum break by beating India and dashing hopes of a billion in the process.
Rahul Dravid beat Mahela Jayawerdene on the coin and opted to field first. Zaheer Khan started spraying the ball around, feeling the pressure of the match, as he did in the 2003 WC final. Ten runs came in his first over but then came back strongly and removed the dangerous Jayasuriya who flashed straight to third man. Upul Tharanga was playing elegantly but Jayawerdene fell at the score of 53 when Dhoni took a blinder off Agarkar. After the fall of skipper, Sangakkara started slowly and along with Tharanga took the score to 92 in the 24th over. He fell trying to break free against Ganguly but the real damage was done by Tendulkar who removed well-set Tharanga by bowling seam up and trapping him LBW for 64 (90 balls, 6 fours). In-form Chamara Silva (59 off 68 balls, 5 fours) and Dilshan put on vital 83 runs in just over 13 overs to propel Sri Lankan score rapidly. In the end, Russel Arnold and Chaminda Vaas contributed with little cameos to post imposing 254 for 6 on a sporting wicket. The score was, cleverly, built around singles and doubles rather than boundaries and sixes. For India Zaheer took 2 for 49.
Vaas removed both Indian openers, Uthappa and Ganguly, cheaply but it was Dilhara Fernando who broke the back of Indian run-chase when he bowled Sachin Tendulkar for a duck at the score of 43. Onus was on the captain, Dravid, to hold the innings together as Sehwag was playing freely at the other end. They took the score to 98 and just when it seemed India were back in the match, they suffered another body-blow. Muralitharan got Sehwag for 48 (46 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) to jolt India once again. The scoreboard read 98/4. It was the same score, 98 ( but with the loss of 2 wickets), in the infamous 1996 semi-final, when dramatic Indian collapse was triggered by Sri Lankan spinners. Here again they suffered the same fate. Yuvraj was run out when he tried to steal a non-existent run. Murali then baffled Dhoni to trap him dead LBW for a duck resulting in joyful celebrations from the Sri Lankan fielders as well as millions of Bangladeshis glued to their TV sets back home. Bangladesh fans were anxiously hoping for a Sri Lankan win which would have helped Tigers to advance to the next round.
Dravid, who in fear of being left stranded as wickets tumbled around him, opened up and thrashed Malinga for four fours in one over. But he too fell to Jayasuriya in the next over after making 60 off 82 balls with 6 fours. Sri Lanka then completed the formality by dismissing India for 185 in the 44th over. Muralitharan was named man of the match for his decisive spell of 3 for 41 while Vaas chipped in with 2 wickets for 39.
With this win Sri Lanka and Bangladesh advanced to the Super Eights from group B, while one of the pre-tournament favorites, India, packed their bags for home to face angry fans and media.
Published in SportPulse.net
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