Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Experienced Yuvraj,Doni helps India win in Adelaide

Team India win in Adelaide against Sri Lanka have taken their points tally to 12 from six matches assume the second spot. Australia on top of the table with 17 from five matches has made his place in final but Sri Lanka have six from five games need to win against Australia on Friday to stay afloat in CB series.India needs another win to remain number two slot.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and elected to bat Sangakkara steadied the innings after Sri Lanka lost openers Sanath Jayasuriya (0) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (4) on the bowling of Munaf Patel who gave India sound start picking up Dilshan in the first over and then got a run out in the third over to get rid of aggressive Jayasuriya.
Sangakkara 128 runs in 241 balls ,Jayawardene 71 runs in 171 balls held the fort with a valuable 153-run third-wicket partnership to sail their team out of the stormy situation and put on board 159/3 in 37.4 runs and Sangkara was out 48.6 over 234/5.
the islanders posted a competitive 238 for six largely built around Kumar Sangakkara's 128, the Indian batsmen overcame some anxious moments before overhauling the target with just five balls to spare in a keenly-contested floodlit encounter at the Adelaide Oval.

The Indians owed their win to Yuvraj who turned around his disastrous tour with a sumptuous 76 off 70 balls with 10 fours and a six which pulled the team out of a messy start.

No less remarkable was the sixth wicket pair of Dhoni and Pathan who shared a 58-run stand and brought Indians closer to victory.

The Indians still found themselves slipping into a quagmire when it lost three wickets and suddenly Sri Lanka were back in the match.

Pathan attempted a wild slog off Amarasinghe to leave India 216 for 6 in the 46th over and then young Praveen Kumar (6) and Harbhajan Singh (3) left with India still three runs short in the 49th over.

Ishant Sharma blocked the last two deliveries to deny Lasith Malinga any further success.
The first ball of the final over was a wide and then Dhoni steered one towards point boundary to scamper home for the required two runs.

It also completed Dhonis half century, a remarkable effort as the courageous youngster faced 68 balls without hitting a single four.

Chasing 239 to win under lights, India were staring at defeat at 35 for 3 before Yuvraj turned things around with an almost sublime innings.

The beleaguered Yuvraj Singh marked his return to form with a 70-ball 76 while captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (50 not out), Irfan Pathan (31) and Rohit Sharma (24) were the other notable performers.

The victory has consolidated India's position for a place in the best-of-three finals and they need to win at least one of their remaining two matches to qualify for the summit showdown.

Australia were at the top of the points table with 17 points from five matches followed by India who have 12 points from as many matches.

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