Sri Lanka outplay India

India's performance in the final of the Coca-Cola Trophy is a catalogue on achieving success in a limited-overs game. It records everything that a team ought to avoid to win a title match.

After eight defeats in the final of a limited-overs tournament, five of them in succession, the Indian cat is running out of its proverbial nine lives.

By losing the final of the triseries to Sri Lanka by 121 runs, on Sunday, India emerged the bridesmaid yet again.

Needing to synchronize their purple patches to pull off a final win, India started on the wrong foot, with the Lankan opening batsmen bludgeoning the 'injured' bowling attack of Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra.

On a wicket that seemed to assist the spinners, India probably made a tactical blunder by not picking left-arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi in the final eleven. The reliance on part-timers Virendra Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh proved to be a touch expensive, to put it mildly, for the Indians.

The business strip at the R.Premadasa stadium was new and being used for the first time in the tournament. It was complimented by a quick outfield, which meant that the one who called the coin right would make first use of the wicket. As the predictable script followed, Jayasuriya won the toss and elected to bat. A philosophical Ganguly joked that he never wins tosses so that's never part of the game plan.

India retained the same side that walloped the Kiwis while the hosts swapped dashing opener Gunawardena for the young Sangakarra.

The opening bowling pair of Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra showed signs of being over-worked in the past two months. Hittable volleys and short-pitch fare helped the Lankan openers to get away to a flying start. Southpaw Gunawardene was unforgiving to any lose delivery and seemed to have understood his part well in the script written by the Lankan think-tank. Gunawardene was fortunate to enjoy a life when he edged one from Zaheer Khan past Laxman standing too wide at first slip in the fifth over of the innings. At 65/0 after ten overs, Lanka looked set for a mammoth total on a true wicket.

Failing to besiege the batsmen, the bowlers gave the sanctuary to the Lankan openers to free their arms and find the fence with alarming ease. Anything wide of the business area sat up to be punished by the batters.

Sanity returned to the proceedings with the introduction of Harbhajan Singh. Bowling to a field with no cushion for him on the offside, the wily offie kept attacking Gunawardene on the leg stump initially and then followed it up with a faster one through the air on off, trapping him plumb in front. The decision was so obvious that even the batsman was on his way even before the 'dreaded' finger could go up.

Skipper Jayasuriya realising the price on his wicket continued playing his strokes and in the process reached his 45th half-century in ODIs off a mere 47 balls, laced with nine boundaries.

After an expensive first over, Sehwag tossed one up giving it a fair amount of air for Atapattu, driving inside out, to offer Ganguly the simplest of catches at short cover.

At 135/2, Jayasuriya bit the bait and lofted Yuvraj to long off only to find Zaheer Khan overrunning the ball and missing a simple skier. India held its destiny in its own hands and dropped it.

A chalk-and-cheese stand of 104 runs between the conformist Mahela Jayawardena and the swanky Jayasuriya paved the way for a huge total for India to chase.

Cramped and dehydrated, Jayasuriya kept the Lankans in fifth gear with runs pouring in at ease despite the fact that when Jayawardene was on strike things seemed to be a tad drab. Jayawardene had 36 singles in his half-century of 67 deliveries and found the fence only twice.

Jayasuriya was one short of his 12th ton in ODIs and his fifth against India, when he chipped Sehwag while playing a nothing shot for Ganguly to take another dolly at mid-wicket. Sri Lanka at 203/3 seemed to be losing its way when Mahela Jayawardene tried to reverse sweep Harbhajan and was trapped plumb in front for 57 in 80 balls.

At 218/4, in the 40th over, the Indian bowlers seemed to have stalled the Lankan onslaught. But just when the fireworks seemed to have subsided the Lankans blitzed again. Russell Arnold and Kaluwitharana flayed the ball all around the park and brought up a 50-run partnership in no time.

There was a time when Arnold was uncertain. He still remains in doubt, wondering whether he has to shine with the ball or the bat. With his 12th fifty in ODIs, off 42 balls, he sparkled with screaming strokes through the gaps.

The Lankan innings finally ended with Russell holing out to Ganguly off Zaheer off the last ball of the innings, to leave a daunting target of 296 to get for India, at an asking rate of 5.92 run per over.

Harbhajan Singh was the lone Indian bowler to walk off the ground with his head held high, giving away just 29 runs in his ten overs, with none of the batsmen finding any clue about his tweakers. Jayasuriya managed to steal just 10 of the 15 deliveries he faced and Arnold managed just three runs off the seven he faced.

Have a look at the rate with which the Lankans progressed.

5 overs - 31/0 - 6.20
10 - 65/0 - 6.50
15 - 99/1 - 6.60
20 - 121/2 - 6.05
25 - 149/2 - 5.96
30 - 175/2 - 5.83
35 - 204/3 - 5.82
40 - 219/4 - 5.47
45 - 247/4 - 5.48
50 - 296/5 - 5.92

India started their chase with a cracking drive, which bisected the cover fielders with the precision of a caliper, by hero of the last game against the Kiwis Virendra Sehwag, who looked like whetting his appetite for another good innings.

With Sehwag swathed in confidence and skipper Ganguly desperate for a one-day title under his belt, the stage seemed set for a special performance.

But a direct throw from Russell Arnold at the non-striker's end had Sehwag's bat frozen on the line to be shown the door.

Skipper Ganguly cut the very next delivery from Fernando to point for Russell Arnold to take an easy catch. The skipper's walk back to the pavilion was a telling statement, with his eyes glued heavenwards looking for that elusive final win.

India, at 5/2, were looking down the barrel. The script had gone all wrong; the potential on paper of this Indian side stayed right there.

Injured Laxman decided to go on the offensive and along with Dravid seemed to rebuild the innings. The pair had done it at Calcutta against the mighty Aussies and an encore would have been a godsend. When Vaas dropped Laxman at mid-off it seemed like Laxman would play another cameo on his last innings of the tour. But it wasn't to be.

Rahul Dravid, however, wasn't so lucky and when he dragged one from Dilhara Fernando onto the stumps all seemed over for India at 61/3 in the 14th over.

Laxman and Yuvraj Singh left in quick succession and India, at 100/5, were facing yet another humiliating defeat. Wickets fell in quick succession despite there being no ghosts in the wicket. In sum, Team India didn't have a single hero today.

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