BIG PICTURE OF MATCH:India's bowlers and Virender Sehwag led India's recovery from a dispiriting defeat against New Zealand in the tournament opener, helping their team overpower Sri Lanka and secure a bonus point to leave each of the three sides with a win at the end of the first round of matches. MS Dhoni's luckless run with the toss continued, but Kumar Sangakkara's decision to bat gave India first use of favourable conditions on a breezy, overcast Dambulla day that their bowlers cashed in on. Sehwag then followed up with a steady innings that erased the pressure created by early wickets and steered India to what was, in the end, a comfortable win.
Sri Lanka's seamers set up a fascinating low-scoring contest, livening up India's chase of 171 with four wickets halfway through the innings. The bowlers derived significant movement off the deck, rarely doled out any freebies and dried up the runs against a line-up with a penchant for finding boundaries. Already smarting from a humiliating capitulation against New Zealand, India's batting line-up looked to Virender Sehwag, who fought hard amid the pressure to restore his team's hopes.
The Indian openers opted for a cautious approach to the chase, aiming to negotiate the swing and movement their own seamers had troubled the hosts with. But the going was difficult, particularly for Dinesh Karthik, whose
edginess at the crease gradually developed into visible frustration. He had a couple of close shaves against Kulasekara's deliveries that cut back in and was ruffled by a few short ones from Lasith Malinga. The incisive bowling also kept Karthik confined to one end and the one delivery, off Angelo Mathews, he could have comfortably dispatched was slashed straight to third man to end a struggling innings.India's two competitors for a middle-order slot, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, followed in successive overs. Kohli was sucked into a drive by Dilhara Fernando, and the edge was caught acrobatically by Kumar Sangakkara, who dived full length to his right. Rohit walked across to an incoming Mathews delivery to be given out lbw, a decision the batsman was visibly unhappy with.
The struggles at the other end prompted Sehwag to restrain himself and discard any temptation of extravagance, except off a couple of free-hits. He reserved punishment for those deliveries that were over pitched or wide enough. Those were a rarity, though, and it was not until the sixth over that he cracked Kulasekara for his first boundary. There was a greater reliance on timing and using the pace of the seamers than raw power: Sehwag's boundaries down the ground were firm pushes than flowing drives, and the areas through point and midwicket were pierced with consistency by his favoured cuts and stylish whips.
Raina, playing his 100th ODI, had settled in, nudging the ball around to give the more fluent Sehwag a fair share of the strike. But their 59-run association ended when Raina pulled Fernando straight to deep square leg, reviving Sri Lankan hopes.
India's bowlers cashed in on a breezy, overcast Dambulla day to lead the team towards recovery from a dispiriting defeat by New Zealand in their opening game. MS Dhoni's luckless run with the toss continued but Kumar Sangakkara's decision to bat gave India first use of conditions aiding swing and movement, and the hosts found the going tough before their tail steered them towards some respectability.
The challenge was thrown at Sri Lanka in the first ball of the match when Praveen Kumar stunned Upul Tharanga, the hosts' star from their opening game, with an outswinger. Praveen got the ball to swing towards middle and off and deviate further off the pitch to beat Tharanga's lunge and nip out off stump. India attacked with three slips and the one batsman who appeared to stave off the threat with adjustments to his own approach was Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Dilshan was far from comfortable at the crease, however, struggling to pierce the packed off-side field and mistiming several of his expansive shots through that region. But he countered the swing better than the rest, whipping Praveen's inswingers through square leg and then latching on anything short, scoring three boundaries off the pull. The shot of the day was a delicious drive on the up past extra cover.
Things were edgy at the other end with the weather holding firm and Praveen continuing to compensate for his lack of pace with troubling movement. Mahela Jayawardene showed glimpses of his solidity during his brief stay but was done in by a Praveen delivery that moved back in late to be trapped in front. On the other hand, extra pace accounted for Sangakkara, who top-edged a pull to be caught in the deep. The assurance that featured prominently in his knocks during the Test series was conspicuous by its absence during Samaraweera's stay; the seamers had him hopping around until he almost contrived to spoon a back-of-a-length delivery to short midwicket.
Dilshan appeared to look settled in his patient progress and was at greater ease once the left-arm spin of Ojha was introduced, making room to cut him off the stumps and maintain a steady flow of runs with Angelo Mathews. But he succumbed to temptation when the ball was tossed up, and top-edged a slog-sweep to scupper a recovery he had initiated
There was a brief interruption due to rain but it did nothing to unsettle India's momentum, and the spinners chipped away amid a run-drought brought about by the persistent strikes. Ravindra Jadeja mixed his deliveries well, varied his pace from round the wicket and snared Angelo Mathews with a straighter one when the batsman played for turn. Chamara Kapugedera followed soon after but the tail stepped up
The stranglehold India's bowlers had managed to keep Sri Lanka in was eased by the seamers with some wayward bowling upon their return. Nuwan Kulasekara capitalised on width to slash a couple of boundaries through point, while Randiv nudged, swept and improvised against the spinners to add some valuable runs. Jadeja and Ojha packed their off-side fields but Randiv still managed to find a way through between mid-off and extra cover for fours. India didn't help their cause by missing a couple of run-outs, committing misfields and conceding overthrows but Ishant, guilty of doling out some freebies himself, came back to have Kulasekara caught-behind and limit the frustration.
A listless batting performance had been the talking point of India's defeat against New Zealand, but their bowlers have left them with a far easier task with an added incentive of securing a bonus point.
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