Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Cricket



India clinches series with a thumping win

Colombo: The two brush-stroked the canvas — which in this instance was the arena — with bold and bright colours on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. The varying hues celebrated the free-spirited batsmanship of Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh.Stroke-filled hundreds from the two inventive batsmen and probing left-arm spin from Pragyan Ojha powered India to a 147-run win over Sri Lanka at the Premadasa Stadium.
India has clinched the five-match Wealthsurance series 3-0 with two matches remaining. The side has also equalled the Indian record of most successive wins — eight — in ODIs.Earlier in the day, Muttiah Muralitharan equalled Wasim Akram’s mark of 502 scalps for most wickets in ODIs.The side was always up against it once India raced to an imposing 363 for five — the highest score at the Premadasa Stadium — after winning the toss.The Indians once against struck with the new ball. Sri Lanka desperately needed Sanath Jayasuriya to fire but Praveen Kumar consumed the batsman by denying him room for his favourite cut shot.Only the technically pleasing Kumar Sangakkara (83, 82b, 9x4) offered prolonged resistance. He scored as much with his footwork as his sense of placement and timing. The impeccable cover-drive off Zaheer Khan sparkled under the lights for its sheer quality.There were cameos from Tillekeratne Dilshan and skipper Mahela Jayawardene — he went past the 8000-run mark in ODIs — however both fell to high risk strokes.Praveen achieved two-way movement with his pronounced wrist action; the evening dew assisted him.
SCOREBOARD

India: V. Sehwag (run out) 116, S. Tendulkar lbw b Fernando 7, G. Gambhir (run out) 10, Yuvraj Singh c Kapugedera b Muralitharan 117, M. Dhoni (not out) 35, S. Raina st. Sangakkara b Mendis 9, Yusuf Pathan (not out) 59; Extras: (nb-3, w-7) 10; Total: (for five wkts. in 50 overs) 363.
Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Tendulkar), 2-24 (Gambhir), 3-245 (Yuvraj), 4-265 (Sehwag), 5-278 (Raina).
Sri Lanka bowling: Kulasekara 10-0-68-0, Fernando 8-0-63-1, Maharoof 7-0-68-0, Mendis 9-0-64-1, Muralitharan 10-0-60-1, Jayasuriya 6-1-40-0.
Sri Lanka: T. Dilshan b Zaheer 31, S. Jayasuriya b Praveen Kumar 0, K. Sangakkara c Yuvraj b Ojha 83, M. Jayawardene c Sehwag b Praveen 30, S. Kandamby c Yuvraj b Sehwag 10, C. Kapugedara b Ojha 2, F. Maharoof c Gambhir b Ojha 22, N. Kulasekara c Tendulkar b Yuvraj 3, M. Muralitharan c Dhoni b Ojha 0, A. Mendis (not out) 8, D. Fernando (run out) 19; Extras: (lb-3, w-5) 8; Total: (in 41.4 overs) 216.
Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Jayasuriya), 2-51 (Dilshan), 3-118 (Jayawardene),4-132 (Kandamby), 5-139 (Kapugedera), 6-184 (Maharoof), 7-189(Sangakkara), 8-189 (Muralitharan), 9-189 (Kulasekara).
India bowling: Zaheer 8-1-44-1, Praveen 7-0-41-2, Ishant 5-0-35-0, Ojha 10-0-38-4, Sehwag 7-0-30-1, Yuvraj 3.4-0-14-1, Tendulkar1-0-11-0.
source:ww.thehindu.com

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