India finally pull one back

During the recent triseries in Zimbabwe, India got off the blocks with a flourish and looked unstoppable right through the league phase -- only to stumble in the finals to a team they had beaten handily, twice, in the league.

Barely a month later, in Sri Lanka, it's the other way around -- the side turned in some of the most shambolic performances in recent memory to all but put themselves out of contention for a finals berth and then, shrugging off the added handicap of skipper Saurav Ganguly being docked a game for dissent (more on that later), pulled it back with a fluent win over the hosts.

This, in passing, is India's first ODI win over Lanka in their last six meetings -- and it came without either Tendulkar or Ganguly and, what's more, with both seam bowlers Ashish Nehra and Zahir Khan, as also number three bat VVS Laxman, carrying injuries.

For now, we're talking flash in the pan. India will need to win three more -- two in the league, plus the final -- to put its earlier idiosyncracies behind them.

Sri Lanka made a change in its line up, replacing the off-colour Avishka Gunawardene with Kumar Sangakarra, and pushing Romesh Kaluwitharana back into the opener's slot. And Sanath Jayasuriya took an early trick when he won the toss and took first strike.

Strike, in fact, was the operative word on a new pitch which rolled out truer and harder than what we've seen till date in this tournament. As early as the 4th over, the Lankan skipper was flicking Ashish Nehra over square leg for one of his trademark sixes and despite good bowling by Zahir and Nehra and Kaluwitharana being a bit below his normal fluent self, Jayasuriya ensured that Lanka was crusing at 51/0 in the first ten overs.

It needs mentioning, though, that both batsmen were very, very lucky to survive that long. In the 5th over, Zahir Khan swung one back in the air, straightened it on line of off and middle and found Kaluwitharana's pad. The umpire thought there was some doubt to give the batsman the benefit of.

That was off the last ball of the over. The first ball of the 6th, from Ashish Nehra, saw a quicker one, on line of off and middle, beat Jayasuriya's attempt to play to leg and take the pad, again plumb in line. Again, the appeal was turned down.

Rahul Dravid led India in the absence of Saurav Ganguly, but the basic gameplan remained unchanged. Harbhajan Singh and Retinder Sodhi came on after 10 overs, and the scoring rate immediately fell from 5 per over in the first ten, to 3 an over in the next ten -- 65/0 in 15, 80/0 in 20.

When a team that gets off the blocks in a hurry gets checked to that extent, something has to give -- and in this case, the something was Jayasuriya's patience. The Lankan skipper, soon after completing yet another ODI fifty, tried to break Harbhajan's grip, hitting against the turn at an off-spinner landing on middle stump. The extra bounce the offie generates off the deck did Jayasuriya in and Khurasiya, at deep midwicket, didn't have to move an inch to take the mistimed hit.

The trend seen thus far in the tournament continued, with the run rate slipping in the middle overs. A major reason for this has been the fact that the ball doesn't quite come on to the bat, forcing the batsmen to wait for their shots and guide, rather than hit, the ball. Here again, with India's support spinners operating, the Lankan batsmen found it almost impossible to get off the square.

Overs 21-30 produced 46 runs (126/1 in 30) -- which, given that part-timers were operating, meant that Lanka was still struggling -- and India was doing very well to keep the pressure up.

Yuvraj Singh, who in this tournament has been doing more with the ball than with the bat, put his hand up again in his spell here. In the 31st over, he tossed one up at Kaluwitharana, inviting the increasingly impatient opener to have a go. Kalu did, but without really getting to the pitch of the ball on an attempt to clear the infield, and managed to flat bat it straight at Sodhi at mid off.

Mahela Jayawardene hasn't had the best of tournaments so far, and this outing was no exception. Hemang Badani came round the wicket to float one up around the batsman's off stump, Jayawardene charged down the track swinging, the ball turned away and Dighe held the faint outer edge. Jayawardene, in fact, would have been stumped if he had not beenn caught behind, and Lanka were 143/3 in 35.2 overs.

From then on, it all went downhill for the hosts in a manner reminiscent of India's collapse in the previous game. Marvan Atapattu, who in that brilliant chase against New Zealand earlier in the tournament had played the crucial anchoring role, attempted to do something about the run rate. The batsman who is used to playing straight in the V aimed an uncharacteristic heave, aiming to hit Shewag from off to leg, failed to get any kind of elevation on the shot, and hit it straight to Sodhi at midwicket to have Lanka, at the end of 40 overs, on 165/4. At that point, thirty overs after the first ten had produced just 115 runs.

Chaminda Vaas had been sent in at the fall of the third wicket to try and do something about the run rate. Throughout this series, the pinch hitting option has proved a failure -- the conditions prevailing being more suited to playing straight than to slogging. Vaas here was the latest pinch-hitter to prove the point, attempting a huge hoik against Harbhajan's turn and, like his captain earlier, mishitting this time to backward square leg (166/5).

Suresh Perera, a dangerous lower order player, for once failed to get going, this time thanks to some fine swing and seam bowling. Zahir Khan and Ashish Nehra, brought back by Dravid for the slog overs, provided a tight line and length and the former took Perera out with some intelligent bowling. Seeing Perera showing signs of getting on the front foot, Zahir slammed one in short -- and off the very next ball, produced a late swinging yorker that surprised the batsman and crashed into middle stump (177/6).

In the very next over, Perera's partner in that spectacular chase against New Zealand became the next casualty. Russel Arnold aimed to cut a slanting Nehra delivery, failed to control it thanks to bounce and lateral movement off the seam, and picked out Yuvraj at point to reduce Lanka to 177/7 (178/7 in 45 overs).

From there on it was almost mathematical -- in the 46th over, Zahir got one to kick and seam away from Dharmasena, finding the edge en route to the keeper. An over later, Nehra pitched one on leg and straightened it, Muthaiah Muralitharan opted for a slog sweep and played all over the line, for the ball to take out leg stump (181/9). And two runs later, a needless run out ended the Lankan innings on 183, with over three overs of the allotted 50 to go.

From 102/0, Lanka had lost 10 wickets for 81 runs -- a testimony to some controlled cricket by the Indians, both with the ball and in the field.

In passing, you wonder if the character of the Lankan game is changing, or whether what we've seen in this tournament is a one-off. Earlier, Lanka's forte used to be its power-packed batting -- no matter how many runs the bowlers conceeded, a strong batting lineup would back itself to go one better. Increasingly, it is the batting that is failing, and the bowlers who are pulling it back for the 1996 World Champions.

Off the second ball of the Indian reply, Amay Khurasiya made a meal of yet another opportunity. The Chaminda Vaas delivery was very full on off seaming just fractionally inwards. Khurasiya aimed an on drive, bat and pads well apart, and got an edge through the gate onto the stumps.

India could have been in greater trouble when, in the 6th over, the impressive Dilhara Fernando, easily the fastest in the Lankan lineup, replaced Suresh Perera and made one kick alarmingly off a length to find the shoulder of Shewag's bat. Jayawardene carried his poor batting form onto the field as well, to put down the sitter at slip with India on 25/1 at that point.

With VVS Laxman stroking at close to his best against seam, India got into cruise mode after that alarm. Shewag seemed content to play the anchoring role, but then fell into a well-set trap against Dharmasena. Jayasuriya brought his mid on and mid off in, inviting the batsman to try and go over the top. Shewag accepted, came down the track and aimed a slogging on drive against a ball pushed through quicker and turning in a bit to cramp the shot. Shewag found Sangakarra at mid on, and India in the 14th over were 67/2 (66 off 81 for the second wicket).

Muralitharan (4-2-6-0 in his first spell) and his supporting spinners did to India what Harbhajan and company had done to Lanka earlier in the day, putting the brakes on the run rate. At 69/2 in 15, 81/2 in 20 and 105/2 in 25, India were going on par with Lanka (65/0 in 15, 80/0 in 20, 103/1 in 25). The chasing side had lost an extra wicket at the halfway stage of the innings, but that factor was offset by the Lankan collapse in the second half of the first innings.

Laxman had some early problems against Muralitharan, but once he got a feel for the amount of turn and drift, he settled down into steady, controlled strokeplay, eschewing the away-from-the-body shots he had been perishing to earlier in this tournament. At the other end, Dravid was content to button his end down.

Both batsmen seemed to have take note of coach John Wright's recent statement that India was losing because it was making elementary mistakes -- "not preserving wickets, bad running, not making an effort to get at least four runs every over". Thus, they built a steady partnership, the calling and running was spot on, and the run rate stayed at a steady 4 rpo. This last was crucial -- in earlier games, despite chasing low totals, India had created pressure for itself by allowing the asking rate to climb.

Laxman got to a fluent 50 (79 balls) after a surprisingly prolonged dry spell. India progressed from 122/2 in 30 (Lanka 128/1 in 30) to 147/2 in 35 ( Lanka 141/2). Equally significantly, the runs came at a steady pace -- the first 50 came off 67 balls, the second off 77, the third off 66.

In the 38th over, Chaminda Vaas picked up his 200th ODI wicket in his 163rd match, when he induced Dravid (43) to push at a ball leaving him off the seam, to get the edge through to the keeper, ending a solid 84-run third wicket partnership (151/3) that took the game away from Lanka.

India sealed the 7 wicket win in the 46th over, with Laxman masterminding the effort with an unbeaten 87.

And India finally put points on the board -- ahead of back to back games, next week, against New Zealand and Lanka.

The Ganguly suspension: At this point in time, it is doubtful if Cammie Smith has as many friends in India as he has fingers on his right hand.

The former West Indian Test star turned ICC match referee had blotted his copybook earlier this year when, in India's home series against Australia, he waffled in the face of a prolonged display of dissent by Michael Slater and then, after the Aussie added gratuitous insult to injury by justifying his theatrics in a media interview, handed out a suspended sentence. Smith was similarly blind to a display of dissent, in course of the subsequent one dayers, by skipper Steve Waugh.

In India's previous game in the ongoing tournament, Ganguly on being given out LBW momentarily held out his bat (no, he did not say anything, nor did he pause at the wicket) as though indicating he had got a touch, and walked off. Within hours, the Indian captain had been given an immediate suspension for the next match.

In defence of Smith's hair-trigger action, it is being pointed out that following a directive by ICC chairman Malcolm Speed, match referees have been told to get harsh with dissent and other misconduct on the field. They have, further, been told that the sort of suspended sentence that was handed out to Ridley Jacobs last month is not acceptable, and that sentencing should be immediate, and immediately implemented.

If that is the reason Smith came down heavily on Ganguly, there really is no scope for quarrel. It could be pointed out that Sanath Jayasuriya had, just days before, shown similar signs of dissent when given out LBW against New Zealand, and that Smith certainly did not get his 'get harsh' orders after that game.

But for now, you'd need to give the match referee benefit of the doubt, however small. What will be interesting, though, is to monitor his, and other match referees', performance in the coming weeks and months.

Will they, without exception, enforce the rule that any expression of dissent be greeted with immediate punitive action? Will 'dissent' be uniformly interpreted? Will the law be uniformly applied to all players, from all countries?

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