Robin, Sachin script resounding victory

The icing on the cake was Tendulkar8217;s almost run-a-ball 82 and his unbroken partnership with Mohammed Azharuddin 28 for the fourth wicket, which saw the home team reaching the target of 173 with ridiculous ease.

At the beginning though, the Indians looked to be in trouble with both Saurav Ganguly and Ajay Jadeja back in the pavilion with just 27 on the board. Ganguly needlessly ran Jadeja out and then played inside a Chaminda Vaas in-swinger.

But Tendulkar and Navjot Sidhu, who came in at No 3, steadied the innings with a mature 68-run association for the third wicket. Initially, both concentrated on picking up singles until Muttiah Muralitharan was introduced into the attack in the 14th over. Sachin greeted him with a lofted boundary to the mid-wicket fence. That set the tone for the rest of the innings.

The 15th, 16th and 17th overs produced 26 runs. Once the shackles were broken, there was no looking back. The 50 of the innings came in 85 deliveries. Sidhu and his captain ran the singles vigorously, while finding the occasional boundary. And, unusually for the Lankans, their fielding wilted under pressure.

Muralitharan, in many ways Ranatunga8217;s trump card, was clouted for 33 runs off his first six overs. The 50 of the partnership was posted in 55 balls before Sidhu perished, attempting to sweep Muralitharan, only to spoon a catch to Atapattu at short fineleg.

As Azharuddin strode to the crease, there was a sense of anticipation as the former skipper has been under tremendous pressure to deliver. He responded admirably, rotating the strike as only he can, to give Tendulkar the chance to get into his stride.

By now the pitch had eased out considerably and the little skipper responded with a flurry of strokes. Sachin hit Muralitharan in the spinner8217;s seventh over for four boundaries, three of them consecutively. In the process, he got his 36th half century, in 171 ODIs, off 65 deliveries. He soon changed gears, scoring his next 32 runs off only 21 balls. As India touched down safely in the 38th over, the jam-packed Nehru Stadium exploded in joy.

The Guwahati victory was India8217;s first over the islanders in nearly 20 months, and after eight consecutive losses. But the win would not have been made possible without the excellent job done by the Indian bowlers, particularly medium-pacers Debashish Mohanty and Robin Singh.

After heavy fog and dew delayed the start by 45 minutes, the match was curtailed to 45-overs a side. Given the overcast conditions, the toss assumed vital importance. Sachin called correctly and had no hesitation in putting Sri Lanka in.

India8217;s strike force of Srinath and Mohanty responded in great fashion. The senior of the two bowlers sent down a hostile spell, beating the openers, inducing edges, and yet failing to make a breakthrough. The wickets were instead picked up by Mohanty, who first induced Jayasuriya to edge an attempted square cut at point. That was five for one in the second over of the innings. Six overs later, Marvan Atapattu gave a simple catch to wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia.

But the biggest blow was to come in the 12th over, when Aravinda de Silva, who looked out of touch, flicked uppishly to Rajesh Chauhan at short mid-wicket. Sri Lanka were 30 for three at this stage and they never recovered from the early setbacks, although Roshan Mahanama and skipper Arjuna Ranatunga stitched together a 62-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Saurav Ganguly, the man with the golden arm, broke the partnership 8212; as the portly Lankan skipper cut straight into the hands of Robin Singh at short point. From then on, it was a steady procession to the pavilion.

Then, Robin Singh, with his gentle medium-pacers, wiped out the Lankan tail. He returned figures of 5-0-22-5, the best by an Indian bowler against Sri Lanka. The first five-wicket haul of this bits and pieces8217; player was enough to get him the man of the match award.

SCOREBOARD

Sri Lanka: S Jayasuria c Jadeja b Mohanty 1, M Attapattu c Mongia b Mohanty 8, R Mahanama c Jadeja b R Singh 68, A De Silva c Chauhan b Mohanty 4, A Ranatunga c R Singh b S Ganguly 27, R Kaluwitharana c Bahutale b R Singh 23, K Dharmasena c Bahutale b R Singh 9, Upal Chandana lbw R Singh 4, Chaminda Vaas not out 7, M Muralitharan b R Singh 1, S De Silva not out 3, Extras: nb 2, w 5, lb 9: 17. TOTAL for 9 wkts in 45 overs: 172. Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-22, 3-30, 4-92, 5-133, 6-152, 7-156, 8-161, 9-167. Bowling: J Srinath 9-4-16-0, D Mohanty 9-1-31-3, R Chauhan 7-0-30-0, S Bahutale 9-0-33-0, S Ganguly 6-0-31-1, R Singh 5-0-22-5.

India: S Ganguly b Vaas 12, A Jadeja run out 7, N Sidhu c Attapattu B Muralitharan 36, S Tendulkar not out 82, M Azharuddin not out 28. Extras: lb 1, w 6, nb 1: 8. TOTAL for 3 wkts in 37.5 overs: 173.

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-26, 3-94.

Bowling: Vaas 7-1-19-1, S de Silva 7.5-0-31-0, Muralitharan 7-0-49-1, Dharmasena 5-0-24-0, Jayasuriya 8-0-29-0, Chandana 3-0-20-0.

Man-of-the-match: Robin Singh