2nd ODI: India v Sri Lanka at Chandigarh, 28 Oct 2005

SUMMARY:
Sri Lanka in India, 2005-06, 2nd One-Day International
India v Sri Lanka
Punjab C.A. Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh (day/night)
28 October 2005 (50-over match)

Result: India won by 8 wickets
Series: India leads the 7-ODI series 2-0

Toss: India
Umpires: BF Bowden (NZ) and AV Jayaprakash
TV Umpire: I Shivram
Match Referee: AG Hurst (Aus)
Man of the Match: IK Pathan

FULL STORY:
Mohali, Oct. 28: If Nagpur was slaughter by brutal force, then Mohali was a clinical execution. Ruthless is the only way to describe the manner in which India ensured a two-nil lead in the seven-game Videocon series against Sri Lanka at the PCA Stadium here on Friday, cruising to an eight-wicket victory in just 20.1 overs in chase of a target of 123 with Sachin Tendulkar (70 not out) and man of the match Irfan Pathan (4/37) playing stellar roles.

The Sri Lankans had vowed to make comeback here after the battering at Nagpur, but their plans were torpedoed by some fine swing bowling by Pathan and Ajit Agarkar in the afternoon before Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag took a heavy hammer to their attack.

The visitors never really got going first up as a tight bowling performance restricted them to a trifling 122 with 15 overs and a ball remaining.

It was the ideal riposte to Dravid’s decision to field first and was followed up with the massacre spearheaded by Tendulkar’s unbeaten 70 as India reached their target in the 21st over. Keeping him company was a composed Dravid after India lost Sehwag (38, 29 balls, 5 fours, 1 six) and Jai Prakash Yadav (9) in the course of a hectic chase.

Tendulkar once again reminded the Lankans, from the experienced Chaminda Vaas to the wily Muttiah Muralitharan, what makes his genius and what a difference his presence in the side makes. Between him and Dravid — the mentor and the new leader — a rejuvenated Team India have not only arrested their slump but have jumped straight into top gear. With victory all but assured as the chase began, Tendulkar not only directed the Indian effort but also showcased his new-found confidence in his repaired elbow by toying with their very best bowlers.

It was vintage Sachin all the way as he hit shots all around the wicket, including a leg side deflection finely placed not once but twice off left arm bowler Chaminda Vaas that really underscored his re-discovered confidence.

While Tendulkar played around with Vaas in the initial overs, Sehwag did his bit by tearing apart comeback man Nuwan Zoysa. Sehwag’s torment of Zoysa included five boundaries and a six before he fell tamely to second change bowler Farveez Maharoof caught and bowled.

In a vain hope of stemming the headlong Indian charge, Atapattu had introduced Muralitharan in the seventh over itself but the little master was in a mood to play games. Sadly for him, Muralitharan was the dish of choice and he was greeted with a lofted on-drive and a scorching cover drive off successive balls. Ten runs went in the over, and Atapattu’s last throw of the dice had failed. From then on, it was a matter of time.

Earlier, the Indian bowlers picked up wickets at regular intervals, just what their captain would have wanted. While credit should go to them for bowling good lines and not allowing the Lankan batsmen to settle, the Lankans too were to blame as none of them barring opener Kumar Sangakarra (27) and super sub Upul Chandana (19) made the effort to spend time at the wicket.

Such was the speed at which Lankan wickets fell that Dravid opted to use both his power play options on the trot. Pathan took all his four wickets in his eight over spell giving away 37 runs while Agarkar remained economical at the other end giving away 27 runs in his seven-over spell for one wicket.

The remaining batsmen were then taken care of by Yadav and Harbhajan Singh who took two wickets apiece.

India thus go into the third game at Jaipur in three days time with the momentum nicely behind them, and Sri Lanka needing to do all the hard work to come back into this series. One more slip-up like the ones here and at Nagpur and a seven-zero scoreline will become extremely likely.