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Chidanand Rajghatta
TAUNTON, MAY 26: India passed the test of nerve, self-esteem, and temperament by unleashing a batting inferno of such fiery proportions that several World Cup records, not to speak of Sri Lanka, were consumed in a conflagration the rest of cricketing world could bask in.
The two vital points they secured with a magnificent win brings India back into contention for a spot in the Super Six while putting defending champions Sri Lanka almost out of the tournament. India can make absolutely certain of progress by beating England at Edgbaston on Saturday and finishing second in the group, leaving nothing to permutations and combination.
To describe Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid as arsonists who made a bonfire of the Sri Lankan attack and brought a warm glow to the Indian dressing room would be undermining their effort. Their batsmanship was nuclear in its intensity and the fusion of skill and appetite brought heat and light that hasn't been seen in this World Cup so far.
The duo added 318 for the second wicket, after Sadagopan Ramesh had perished in the first over, erasing a spate of world records, including the partnership for any wicket.
If Ganguly (183) fell a blow or two short of the highest individual score in the World Cup (Gary Kirsten, 188) or any One-Day International (Saeed Anwar 194), it was more a tribute to selfless batsmanship than any lack of trying.
Rahul Dravid's poise and panache in making his highest One-Day score of 145, his fifth One Day hundred, elevated him levels of batsmanship he had not scaled before. He is India's Vengsarkar to Sachin's Gavaskar although you can be sure that they will erase every batting record of India's top dogs. He is now in such prime form this year and in this World Cup that he could make tons with a table leg.
Such was their dominance that in the rarest of rare instance, the rest of India's batting line up was rendered rather superfluous. Never before would Tendulkar and Azharuddin be happier to bat so late so little, although the great man put his fingerprint on the win with a direct hit that secured one of the two Sri Lankan run outs. The other was effected with another direct hit in the very first over by Srinath, proving the point that when you are winning, everything goes your way.
In truth, India created this victory with their explosive batting which set Sri Lanka a target of 374 in 50 overs at a fervid 7.48 runs an over. They were helped by bowling of such sloth and waywardness that it straightaway undermined Ranatunga's decision to put India in after winning the toss.
The Lankans did not have a chance unless India sleepwalked the rest of the game, which they did not. They bowled tidily but fielded sloppily and eased up only occasionally as the light went out on the Lankans.
Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga flickered briefly but the task was too much as they were felled by four leg before verdicts early in the innings. It was Robin Singh who came up with a rich haul of five wickets for 32 as the Lankans struggled to 216, but the match was won and lost almost as soon as India finished batting.
The Lankans play a game against Kenya next, while India face another test of temperament against England in Edgbaston, Birmingham, on Saturday.
SCOREBOARD
INDIA
Sadagoppan Ramesh b Vaas 5 (4 balls, 1x4 0x6)
Saurav Ganguly c (sub) b Wickramasinghe 183 (158 balls, 17x4 7x6)
Rahul Dravid run out 145 (129 balls, 17x4 1x6)
Sachin Tendulkar b Jayasuriya 2 (3 balls, 0x4 0x6)
Ajay Jadeja c & b Wickramasinghe 5 (4 balls, 0x4 0x6)
Robin Singh c de Silva b Wickramasinghe 0 (1 ball, 0x4 0x6)
Mohammad Azharuddin not out 12 (7 balls, 0x4 1x6)
Javagal Srinath not out 0 (0 balls, 0x4 0x6)
Did not bat: Anil Kumble, Venkatesh Prasad, Debasis Mohanty
Extras (lb 3, w 12, nb 6) 21
Total (6 wickets, 50 overs): 373
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Ramesh, 0.5 overs), 2-324 (Dravid, 45.4), 3-344 (Tendulkar, 46.5), 4-349 (Jadeja, 47.3), 5-349 (Robin, 47.4), 6-372 (Ganguly, 49.5)
Bowling: Vaas 10-0-84-1 (3nb, 1w); Upashantha 10-0- 80-0 (3nb, 3w); Wickramasinghe 10-0-65-3 (1w); Muralitharan 10-0-60- 0 (2w); Jayawardena 3-0-21-0; Jayasuriya 3-0-37-1 (2w); de Silva 4-0-23-0 (1w)
SRI LANKA
Sanath Jayasuriya run out Srinath 3 (7 balls, 0x4 0x6)
Romesh Kaluwitharana lbw b Srinath 7 (15 balls, 1x4 0x6)
Maravan Atapattu lbw b Mohanty 29 (29 balls, 5x4, 0x6)
Aravinda de Silva lbw b Robin 56 (74 balls, 7x4 0x6)
Mahela Jayawardena lbw b Kumble 4 (5 balls, 1x4 0x6)
Arjuna Ranatunga b Robin 42 (57 balls, 7x4 0x6)
Roshan Mahanama run out Tendulkar 32 (45 balls, 3x4 0x6)
Chaminda Vaas c Ramesh b Robin 1 (4 balls, 0x4 0x6)
Eric Upashantha c Azharuddin b Robin 5 (17 balls, 0x4 0x6)
Pramodaya Wickramasinghe not out 2 (6 balls, 0x4 0x6)
Muttiah Muralitharan c Tendulkar b Robin 4 (3 balls, 1x4 0x6)
Extras (b4, lb12, w8, nb7) 31
Total (all out in 42.3 overs): 216
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Jayasuriya, 2.1); 2-23 (Kaluwitharana, 4.3); 3-74 (Atapattu, 14.2); 4-79 (Jayawardena, 15.3); 5-147 (de Silva, 28.1); 6-181 (Ranatunga, 34.3); 7-187 (Vaas, 36.4); 8-203 (Upashantha, 40.6); 9-204 (Mahanama, 41.3)
Bowling: Srinath 7-0-33-1; Prasad 8-0-41-0; Mohanty 5-0-31-1; Kumble 8-0-27-1; Ganguly 5-0-37-0; Robin 9.3-0-31-5.
Result: India won by 157 runs
Man of the match: Saurav Ganguly
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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