Sachin steers India home

India canter to easy victory after Sangakkara & Co throw away fiery start in Cuttack

Having watched the Sri Lankans go through the grind of two tight chases,Indias batsmen must have sensed at the break the need to finish things off with plenty to spare. The fact that they had only 240 to get helped,as did the fact that Sachin Tendulkar seemed determined not to give up his wicket at the Barabati Stadium on Monday. And though he missed a century,finishing on an unbeaten 96,he never looked like missing out on seeing India through to a comfortable victory,which they did with plenty left in the tank.

India won by seven wickets,completing the chase in 42.4 overs,and now lead the five-match series 2-1 going into the Kolkata game. But while Tendulkars innings was what sealed it in the end,the groundwork was done much earlier in the day by the Indian bowlers,led by Ravindra Jadeja.

Overdrive

Sri Lanka got the perfect start to the day,with Kumar Sangakkara winning the toss and deciding to bat first.

On a wicket that offered some turn but still had plenty of runs in it,the Lankan batsmen went on overdrive,choosing not to slow down even when wickets started falling,and paid a heavy price for their audacious shot selection.

Tillakaratne Dilshan (41 off 18 balls,with 10 boundaries) had given the vistors another explosive start before falling to an aimless pull against Ashish Nehra. However,his opening partner Upul Tharanga struck a pacy 73 and with Sangakkara too at his punishing best,they looked set for a big one. They had reached 165 for one in 22.3 overs and Sehwag admitted later that thoughts of a 400-plus total crossed his mind.

From there on though,the visitors lost their way rather spectacularly,with nine wickets falling for just 74 runs. Sangakkara was stumped while giving the charge to Sehwag,and the Indian slow bowlers first clawed their way back,and then broke the back of the Lankan batting,with Jadeja making the most of their cavalier approach.

While the trio of Jadeja,Harbhajan Singh and Sehwag got the ball to turn,it was the least experienced of the three who walked away with the honours,finishing with four wickets for 32 from his 10 overs.

Simple chase

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The chase,though tricky,was never going to trouble India too much as long as they kept their wits about them. Stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag did what he does best smashing a blistering 44 off 28 balls to deny the Lankan bowlers early inroads. That innings set it up for Tendulkar,who batted for 185 minutes and faced 104 deliveries,and the rest of the batting line-up. Gautam Gambhir (32),Yuvraj Singh (23) and Dinesh Karthik (36 not out) forged unspectacular but effective partnerships with Tendulkar as India won in a canter.

Jadeja won the Man of the Match award,but the Moment of the Match was surely a cheeky uppercut by Tendulkar off Nuwan Kulasekara that flew over Sangakkaras head for four. That shot summed up the game pretty well: Tendulkar using his head after the Lankans had lost theirs.