Feb 06 2009
I will be happy if we can add one more victory: Dhoni
Dhoni is supposed to be very happy with his team’s winning streath as on thursday he conquered the record of ninth consecuitive victory. But it seems that it has not ended his winning spirit as he is waiting for fifth and last match of the ongoing series.
India’s one step ahead of becoming the no. 1 team : It smashed down Sril Lankans
THE FEW thousand in the stands was perhaps the lowest turnout Sri Lanka has seen since the teams World Cup triumph. The two most obvious reasons were that the match was inconsequential and fans were tired of seeing their team getting drubbed. They were again on Thursday but what the crowds missed, however, was Muttiah Muralitharan becoming the highest wicket-taker in ODIs and a brilliant 150 by Gautam Gambhir.
Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan began the 333-run chase with flamboyance. But losing wickets regularly ensured the asking rate kept getting beyond the hosts. The 21-minute stoppage when Mahendra Singh Dhoni led the team out following another stone-throwing incident at Pragyan Ojha was enough to mess up the batsmen’s concentration and with Kumar Sangakkara caught at long-off Sri Lanka’s receding hopes faded into a record-breaking ninth consecutive win for India.
Dhoni kept calling light at the toss and India utilised the conditions at the Premadasa to the hilt. Ruthless hitting by Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag had set up the series win on Tuesday. On Thursday, it was the turn of Gambhir and Dhoni, albeit in con-trasting styles. Superb running between the wickets was the hallmark of their 188-run stand. Sri Lanka’s patchy fielding oitf y iivflat-ed the partnership.
Things had started creeping out of Mahela Jayawardene’s hands as both punished every loose ball. Getting to 50 with a six over long-on and reaching three figures with a lofted shot to the extra-cover fence, Gambhir showcased his full assortment of shots. He did slow down approaching his century but after crossing it dissected the field in all possible angles to get to a career-best 150 off 147 balls. Fittingly, his wicket was the record-breaking one by Muralitharan in his final over. A forgettable series for the Sri Lankan made memorable.
The India skipper’s walking in at No 3 did come as a surprise, but the blistering 183 at Jaipur against the same opponents four years back connected immediately. Sri Lanka’s decision to ‘rest’ Ajantha Mendis and play allrounder Angelo Mathews, who bowls medium-pace, was justified by the extra bounce and movement the new ball offered on this strip.
India rested Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan and brought in Rohit Sharma and Irfan Pathan. So once Sehwag was dismissed in the third over, Dhoni must have promoted himself to keep the left and right hand combination going.
Gambhir took the initiative initially but once the ball stopped moving around, the skipper took charge. Dhoni brought up his SO with a six straight back over Muralitharan’s head. Dhoni was dismissed more out of fatigue than the quality of the delivery which he top edged for a clumsy looking one-handed catch at short third-man.
