Just when the wheels appeared to be falling off this Indian tour, theyresponded in style, brushing aside a severe injury crisis and the controversialsuspension of their captain, to register an emphatic seven-wicket victoryagainst top of the table Sri Lanka at the Premadasa International Stadium inColombo on Saturday.
Yesterday's news that Vangipurappu Laxman (knee), Zaheer Khan (shin), andAshish Nehra (groin) had joined Sachin Tendulkar on the injured list and wouldbe returning to India shortly had looked to have condemned India to an earlyexit in this Coca-Cola Cup.
Cammie Smith's shock decision to hand out a one-match suspension to SouravGanguly for "showing dissent" made their predicament even worse, butit did at least force Laxman to play in this game. He made up for his previousdisappointments in Sri Lanka with an unbeaten 87 from 127 balls that guidedIndia to the 184 target set by Sri Lanka earlier in the day. He was wellsupported by acting captain Rahul Dravid, who scored a calm 43, and VirenderShewag, who chipped in with a compact 27 as opener.
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The win keeps India's hopes of qualifying for the final alive, but they stillface a difficult task. They must win their remaining two games and have to hopethat Sri Lanka defeat New Zealand at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Tuesday.
India's victory may have been comprehensive - they won with 26 balls to spare- but they had started poorly in the morning after Sanath Jayasuriya had won thetoss and elected to bat first on a virgin pitch.
Jayasuriya was joined by his erstwhile partner Romesh Kaluwithrana, afterAvishka Gunawardene made way for Kumar Sangakkara, and the pair put on 103 forthe first wicket. They were trotting along at four runs per over and withwickets in the bank, they looked likely to post an imposing score.
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It wasn't to be, however, as the Indian spinners - led by Harbhajan Singh whowas well supported by Shewag, Yuvraj Singh, and Hemang Badani - chipped theirway though the middle order, as Sri Lanka attempted to increase the tempo in thelatter overs.
Jayasuriya (57) was the first to go as he swept Harbhajan Singh straight intothe hands of Amay Khurasia on the square leg boundary. Marvan Atapattu (34) andKaluwitharana (46) added a further 25 runs before the innings started to freefall.
From the relative comfort of 128 for one, they lost nine wickets for 55 runsto finish with just 183, which was never likely to be enough, even on pitchesthat had inhibited strokeplay thus far, and against India, who had alreadyscored less than 150 on two previous occasions in this tournament.
However, Chaminda Vaas ripped through the porous defense of Amay Khurasiyawith his second delivery to breathe some life into the vocal local supporters.Laxman responded in style. Batting with classical upright elegance and greattiming, he forced Sri Lanka on to the back foot.
Suresh Perera was whipped out of the attack after just two overs andJayasuriya settled for a defensive field, even when Muttiah Muralitharan - SriLanka's only realistic chance of victory - had to be introduced within the first15 overs.
By the time Shewag drove Kumar Dharmasena straight to Kumar Sangakkara at midon, India were firmly in control. Dravid joined Laxman and the senior pairbatted with the responsibility demanded by the absence of both Ganguly andTendulkar. They added 81 before Dravid nicked a catch behind to give Vaas his200th wicket in One-Day Internationals.
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Badani did not waste the opportunity for middle practice and accompaniedLaxman to the end.
India will play their next game against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
Ganguly will return to the side, but Zaheer Khan will not - he willdefinitely return to India tomorrow. Laxman is also likely to return home, butafter his match winning performance today, the management have indicated thatthey will make a final decision tomorrow.
