da luck： Sri Lanka were switched on, positive, and played withunrelenting intensity. But, yet again, they were outplayed by adetermined Indian side
da fazobetai： The Bulletin by Amit Varma20-Dec-2005
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Yuvraj Singh played like a man transformed © AFP
You cannot accuse Sri Lanka of letting things drift in this game: forall three days so far, they were switched on, positive, and played withunrelenting intensity. But, yet again, they were outplayed by adetermined Indian side. First, Tillakaratne Dilshan, with an assured65, helped them to 206, thus saving the follow-on. Then they tookregular wickets to restrict India to 100 for 5. But Yuvraj Singh, witha commanding 75 off 83 balls, and Ajit Agarkar, with 48 off 43,attacked them out of the game. India finished the day on 287 for 9,479 ahead.The most exhilarating passage of play came when Yuvraj was at thecrease. He has always been suspected of weakness against spin, but theway he batted today, you’d have suspected him of a weakness the thing. Whether rocking back to cut or pull or stepping out to thepitch of the ball, he was completely in control. He drove and pulledwell, but his sweep was his most memorable shot today, powerful anddevoid of risk. Time and again he went down on his knees as if topropose, but proceeded to dispose.After he was out, chasing a wide ball from Malinga Bandara and edgingit to the keeper, Agarkar took over. He batted with controlledaggression, and his intent was evident in the way he looked at thebowler while in his stance: jaws taut, eyes wide open and focussed,head unmoving, balanced. With full backlift and followthrough, he keptthe bowlers worried and the fielders exercised, hitting six fours anda six in his innings.He was out with the score on 247, when Bandara cunningly held one backand Agarkar’s drive ended up in a tame return catch. Anil Kumble andHarbhajan Singh then continued playing positively, hitting a six each,as India’s lead climbed well past 450.While the day ended in flamboyance, it had begun with attrition. SriLanka had battled hard to avoid the follow-on, and despite Dilshan’seffort, Sri Lanka’s lower order were never likely to resist the Indianbowlers, who thrive in such conditions, for long. Harbhajan Singh wasparticularly destructive, finishing up with 7 for 62.Jehan Mubarak was the first to go in the morning, bowled through thegate by a ball from Kumble that turned into him (144 for 6). Shortlyafterwards, Harbhajan picked up his fifth wicket of the innings,taking a one-handed return catch to his right after Farveez Maharoof,intending to drive, merely pushed the ball up towards mid-on (155 for7).Dilshan and Bandara then added 43, removing worries of having tofollow on. Dilshan batted with composure and control, and his footworkand shot selection were immaculate. Bandara, meanwhile, was not averseto giving the ball a thump, slog-sweeping Harbhajan for six, and thenstepping out and tonking another six over long-on.But it was a false dawn. Dilshan was out with the score on 198, beatenby Harbhajan’s turn and bounce, caught by a diving Mohammad Kaif atshort leg. It was similar to how Lasith Malinga was out later, fendingthe ball off for a diving leg slip to catch it. In between, MuttiahMuralitharan was stumped off Kumble, after Kumble saw him charge downthe track and pitched it short.Sri Lanka struck off the first ball they bowled, which hardly deserveda wicket. Malinga’s ball was very wide and very short, and VirenderSehwag lunged out to tip it up towards third man, where Maharoof tookan easy catch. But Maharoof doesn’t just catch: he took the nextwicket, bowling a beautiful good-length ball to VVS Laxman that seamedaway, and took an edge on the way (5 for 2). Wickets feel regularlythereafter – Sachin Tendulkar was a trifle unclucky to be adjudged lbwoff a ball that hit him high on his leg – but the tempo of run-scoringstayed high. A certain player who is reputed not to like spin wasresponsible for that. So much for reputations.How they were outSri LankaJehan Mubarak b Kumble 13 (144 for 6)
Farveez Maharoof c and b Harbhajan 4 (155 for 7)
TM Dilshan c Kaif b Harbhajan 65 (198 for 8)
Muttiah Muralitharan st Dhoni b Kumble 3 (201 for 9)
Lasith Malinga c Sehwag b Harbhajan 0 (206)
IndiaVirender Sehwag c Maharoof b Malinga 0 (0 for 1)
VVS Laxman c Sangakkara b Maharoof 5 (9 for 2)
Sachin Tendulkar lbw Dilshan 19 (34 for 3)
Gautam Gambhir c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 30 (81 for 4)
Mohammad Kaif lbw Bandara 9 (100 for 5)
MS Dhoni lbw Muralitharan 14 (134 for 6)
Yuvraj Singh c Sangakkara b Bandara 75 (174-7)
Irfan Pathan b Muralitharan 27 (198 for 8)
Ajit Agarkar c & b Bandara 48 (247 for 9)
