India vs Sri Lanka Ahmedabad, Nov 6, 2005

Enterprising batting by Tilekeratne Dilshan and calm accumulation by Russell Arnold under the lights guided Sri Lanka to their first win in the 7 match series. The chase under lights became easier as the evening dew made the ball slippery and negated all deviation of the pitch making it near perfect batting conditions. But, the Indians had only themselves to blame as an inexperienced middle order crumbled from 197-3 to 230-7 in about 7 overs. Farveez Maharoof, brought on as a SuperSub for the injured Nuwan Zoysa, picked up 4 wickets in 4 overs to redeem himself in an otherwise bleak series with the ball.

India rested Sachin Tendulkar, Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh for the match and replacing them were Gautam Gambhir, RP Singh and Murali Kartik. Marvan Atapattu won the toss and inserted India into bat, and Gambhir grabbed his opportunity with an aggressive innings. He is an extremely busy player even in Test matches and seemed like a perfect fit in ODI’s. He easily outscored Sehwag, with square drives, cover drives, pulls and even charging down the wicket to pick up Zoysa off his legs for a six over square leg. India got off to another blazing start, before Sehwag threw it away again by chopping Zoysa onto his stumps. Mahendra Singh Dhoni departed off the very next ball as Zoysa pitched one on leg stump and straightened it onto Dhoni’s pad. Yuvraj Singh came in next and pottered around for 20 balls for three runs before finally dragging a slower ball from Vaas to mid wicket. India were in trouble at 69-3.

Rahul Dravid came in to essay another rescue operation and he did so with aplomb. Dravid has been in great touch throughout the series, adding invaluable solidity to the Indian middle order and he started off with a picture perfect on drive of Vaas. Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, Zoysa had injured himself and couldn’t bowl any more, Farveez Maharoof was the Super Sub, mainly for his batting but he had to be brought in earlier than expected. Atapattu delayed using him and he attacked with Muralitharan. Dravid played Muralitharan cautiously while Gambhir continued to gallop along at more than a run a ball. Gambhir was particularly severe on the short pitched stuff from Fernando with his short armed pull shots. He also tucked into the offerings from Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya, stepping down the track to them and sweeping them fine. The pair put together a century stand and also played out 7 overs of Muralitharan without taking any risks. Gambhir reached a wonderful hundred and was looking to accelerate when he pulled Maharoof only to see Atapptau at midwicket take fine one handed catch lunging to his left. Maharoof then removed Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina and Ajit Agarkar in successive overs. The slog overs were becoming a disaster for India before Dravid willed his mind and cramping body into another astonishing performance and he himself scored 31 in the last five overs building useful partnerships with Murali Karthik and the spirited RP Singh. Dravid even stepped out to loft Murali for a six over long on. He reached his century with a four of the penultimate ball and raised his hands in triumph. 285-8 was a score that had seemed beyond India’s grasp, but it certainly was 15-20 runs short, because of Maharoof incisive 4 wicket spell.

Sri Lanka's chase didn’t get off to a great start with Ajit Agarkar and RP Singh starting off right on target. RP Singh swung the ball away from the left handers at a sharp pace around the 140kph mark, and was unlucky to see Gambhir dropping Sangakkara at first slip. Agarkar claimed Jayasuriya once more with a ball pushed across the left hander and the new slip fielder, Venugopal Rao, made no mistake. Upul Tharanga again got off to a start before heaving wildly to pop a catch to long off for Agarkar’s second wicket. Shree Santh bowled with fire and pace and was unlucky not to pick up any wickets. RP Singh came back in his second spell to claim Sangakarra after a well made 39, this time Rao at slip holding onto the catch after about 6 attempts. Atapattu and Jayawardene put together a vital partnership as the pitch eased up and the ball became slippery. They were guiding Sri Lanka to an easy victory but the young Indians led by Sehwag, in the absence of the cramping Dravid, never gave up. When Murali Karthik foxed Atapattu into a leading edge trying to turn the ball against the spin, the Indians sensed an opportunity. JP Yadav’s alacrity at point resulted in a direct hit and a run out of Jayawardene. Half the Lankan side were gone and they still needed 136 more. India were on top now, but Dilshan took it away from them with an innings of courage with brave shots over the infield. Arnold lent into some powerful sweeps and the target was whittled away easily. In the end Dilshan finished it off with a flurry of big hits to remain unbeaten on 81 in double quick time.

India’s backup men showed grit and determination, but they were defeated as much by their own inexperience in the slog overs as a courageous partnership from Dilshan and Arnold.