India hammer final nail

Seldom in international cricket has Sachin Tendulkar batted in front of so sparse an audience...

Seldom in international cricket has Sachin Tendulkar batted in front of so sparse an audience, one that reacted with feeble claps when he went past a fifty. But he was still happy enough to point his bat in acknowledgment at the 100-odd voices at the scenic Bellerive Oval ground.

Tendulkar8217;s knock of 63 from 54 balls showed that his experience still demanded a place in this young, exhuberant dressing room 8212; and hastened the inevitable Sri Lankan defeat. The process was set in motion by Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma.

It8217;s a pity, though, that what was expected to be a cracker of a match ended in such a whimper 8212; India hunting down the required 180 in 32.2 overs, snapping up a comprehensive seven-wicket victory with 106 balls still left to be bowled.

From the nasty T20 defeat in Melbourne to this win, it8217;s been a long journey. At different times, the bowling has been superb, the middle-order has blossomed, and now, even Tendulkar has fired at the top. All things considered, it does look like India are peaking at the right moment.

Perfect start

Mahendra Singh Dhoni finally called correctly. And the team that came into this match badly needing the four points, walked off with a bonus point as well. It was a complete team effort, but Tendulkar8217;s return to form outshone a maiden Man of the Match effort from rookie Praveen Kumar and Gautam Gambhir8217;s never-ending run of form.

In a predominantly off-side display, Tendulkar charmed with his precision to create gaps in a packed 6-3 field. He reserved all the brutality and power for the horizontal blade shots through point. He hit half of his ten boundaries in that region, two flicked off his toes behind square-leg and one each towards third-man, cover and fine-leg 8212; the last one a paddle shot that brought up his 88th half century from 44 balls.

At the other end, Gambhir overcame a couple of streaky outside edges and resisted the temptation to go after the bowling.

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Instead, he anchored the innings with an unbeaten 63 to follow up on his century in the last match.

The left-handers8217; presence calmed ruffling feathers after Robin Uthappa8217;s return to the top of the order didn8217;t go quite as planned. Gambhir and Tendulkar put on 102 runs for the second wicket before Tendulkar fell trying an ambitious shot.

Gambhir reached his half-century with four boundaries off 72 balls, and new man Yuvraj Singh took the cue and followed his partner to unleash some breath-taking shots in his knock of 35.

Yuvraj fell towards the end, but Gambhir saw it through.

Pace and movement

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Earlier, some injudicious shot selection from Sri Lanka saw them crumble to a low score after a brisk start on a flat wicket.

Ishant got the ball to straighten a bit to clean-up Dilruwan Perera, but one-drop Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya scored at over five-an-over in a partnership of 57.

Praveen was introduced in the 13th over. Where the others looked baffled with their inability to move the ball despite overcast conditions, the big-swinging ability of the gangling Meerut seamer extracted just a hint of movement.

His first success came in his second over, when Sangakkara nicked one. He then got Mahela Jayawardene and Chamara Silva in his next two overs as Lanka dipped from 72/2 to 81/4.

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It was five down when Jayasuriya got a hook shot horribly wrong. From the other end, Ishant8217;s second spell dispatched Dilshan and Vaas in quick time. Had it not been for a resolute 57 from Chamara Kapugedera and a missed chance off Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka would have been in complete tatters.

Scoreboard India vs Sri Lanka Bellerive Oval Feb 26

Sri Lanka

D Perera b Sharma 8

S Jayasuriya c Dhoni b Pathan 34

K Sangakkara c Dhoni b Kumar 33

M Jayawardene c Rohit b Kumar 3

C Silva c Dhoni b Kumar 0

T Dilshan lbw b Sharma 8

C Kapugedera c038;b Harbhajan 57

C Vaas c Gambhir b Sharma 0

L Malinga c Uthappa b Sharma 12

M Muralitharan b Kumar 13