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Journalism of Courage
The elation in the end was evident. As Mahela Jayawardene cut Sreesanth over the covers,the Sri Lankan team ran on to the ground as one,putting on a show of unbridled joy. It has been a difficult few months for Kumar Sangakkara and his boys,with victories sparse and few moments to cherish against the Indians. They lost two Tests,three one-dayers and a Twenty20 match in India and while Wednesdays victory wasnt as emphatic as it shouldve been,the Lankans had at least ensured that they had the final laugh.
Chasing 245 should have been easy enough on a ground where no team has won defending in this tri-series,and looked like theyd finish the job in a canter when Tillakaratane Dilshan and Sangakkara were involved in their belligerent 93-run stand. Sangakkara raced to his 55th ODI fifty with eight cracking boundaries,but Dilshan fell for 49 to the innocuous left-arm spin of Yuvraj Singh. India were right back in the game when Harbhajan Singh,bowling his best spell in one-dayers in a while,got rid of Sangakkara with a vicious off-break.
Jaywardene and Thilan Samarweera weathered the Harbhajan storm and took control of the chase again with a steady 48-run partnership,before they decided to give India a sniff again. Samaraweera attempted a late cut off Ravindra Jadeja and was bowled before Thilana Kandamby fell to Harbhajan after an awkward innings. Jaywardene,without ever looking in command,kept the Lankans in front.
And after Suraj Randiv was unnecessarily run-out and Thissara Perera kept swinging wildly at Zaheer Khan when less than a run-a-ball was required,the former Sri Lankan captain kept his nerve through the nervous moments to steer his team home with an unbeaten 71 off 81 balls. This was the sixth time out of eight that Sri Lanka had won a multi-nation,day-night final against India.
Early blows
The real damage though had occurred much earlier in the day. The Sri Lankan opening bowlers didnt produce anything quite as extraordinary with the new ball as the scorecard might suggest,but what little assistance Chanaka Welegedara and Nuwan Kulasekara received from the fresh wicket proved enough for the Indian top-order,spoilt on featherbeds over the last few months.
When Kulasekara and Welegedara had reduced India to 60 for five within 11 overs,it looked like the ill-fated dew,which has turned into an urban legend here over the last couple of weeks,may not even come into play on Wednesday. It was only thanks to a gritty,defiant century from Suresh Raina that India even managed to cross the 200-run mark and left the Lankans with a potentially tricky chase in the tri-series final.
The batting collapse was set into motion in the very first over by Kulasekara,as his delivery ricocheted off Gautam Gambhirs thigh pad and crashed into the stumps. Welegedara struck Kohli on the pads with his first delivery from around the wicket,and then had him edge the next ball with a nervous prod outside off,making it 4/2,before Yuvraj Singh fell to a Welegedara delivery that bounced and moved away slightly.
Through all this,Sehwag played his own game at the other end,almost oblivious to what was happening around him. He smashed Kulasekara for three boundaries in an over before taking on Welegedara,who responded with a sharp flurry of words. MS Dhoni,after surviving a leg-cutter and awkwardly fending off a bouncer,edged Kulasekara to Sangakkara for 14 and Sri Lanka got their big breakthrough soon after as Sehwag glided a slow bouncer into a delighted Lankan skippers gloves.
India came close to losing their sixth wicket as an uppish drive from Raina just missed Dilshan at mid-on,but the Lankans,who had their hands right around on the Indian throats until that point,inexplicably started loosening their grip as Sangakkara gave his opening bowlers a break and spread the field.
Raina and Jadeja made the most of the oppositions chivalry,forging a crucial 106-run partnership. Jadeja scored a patient 64-ball 38 before being adjudged lbw off Randiv,and his dismissal proved to be the cue for Raina to open up,scoring 35 of the 47 runs that he added with Harbhajan for the seventh wicket.
Raina flicked Perera to bring up his third ODI hundred the first against a highly ranked team before being bowled by Welegedara for 106 off 115 balls. He had taken India to a respectable total,but it proved to be too little on the night.
