Sri Lanka has an easy outing

By Our Special Correspondent

SHARJAH, OCT. 21. India's first brush with the Sri Lankans on Friday turned out to be a nightmare as Russel Arnold's stand with Kumara Sangakkara authored a positive script for his side.

For a team which had dished out exhilarating stuff in the African continent in the fortnight before coming here it ought to be an eminently forgettable event on the first day of the Coca-Cola Trophy series. Its show in the second session ran parallel with the first in which the combined effort of the eleven batsman was anything but formidable to pose any serious questions to the Sri Lankans.

The only shining star of the day for the Indians was Sachin Tendulkar (man of the match), who gave the packed stands some memorable moments to cherish.

This was the first match of the tournament, and a sustained show from the Indians was missing. They managed to keep the contest alive up to a point when Venkatesh Prasad picked up two wickets in his opening spell.

Left-handed bludgeoner, Avishka Gunwardene and Marvan Atapattu were dismissed in similar fashion, their nicks going to the wicketkeeper Vijay Dahiya. But there was the other side to the opening spell of Prasad in which he was hit for seven runs an over.

It did not require superior craftsmanship from the Sri Lankan batsmen to push for a win and make a confident start.

In spite of seeing his two partners go without making an impact, Jayasuriya gave a thrust that saw him strike seven boundaries.

Smart batsman

Jayasuriya is a smart batsman. He may not have been anywhere close to the pinnacle of batting form he was a couple of years ago. But the experience he brings into match-play in any given situation is a fact that cannot be disregarded. He promptly dispatched anything that was in his range and the great improviser he is, also fetched him a few boundaries on the on- side. The target of 225 was always imagined to be reached by the Sri Lankans in the number of overs the Indians took. But Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardane maintained a tempo that put them slightly ahead of the Indians. With the captain in the middle Jayawardane gave himself the role of being an ideal foil. The result was a 73-run stand for the third wicket and for a team in chase of a target under five an over this was good going.

The Sri Lankans began to get a stranglehold in the first spells of Ajit Agarkar and Anil Kumble. The pitch had not improved in the batsman's favour, it was just that both were bowling on both sides of the wicket for Jayasuriya. The Indians' ploy to trap Jayawardane on the hook did not really work. It was when everything was going right for the Sri Lankans that Yuveraj Singh held a catch at point inside the arc that saw Jayasuriya's innings coming to an end two runs short of his half century. A little later Kumble, who apparently had problems gripping the ball, bowled Jayawardane, the batsman beaten off the pitch. The ball went straight through to hit the stumps.

It was immediately after the fall of Jayawardane that Vijay Dahiya fumbled with a catch that came off the face of the bat of Arnold. It was the first ball faced by the left-hander and the Sri Lankan score was 113 for four.

The Sri Lankans saw a few more strokes of luck coming their way; Vinod Kambli and Yuveraj Singh - who gave another superb account of himself at square positions - spilling catches, that were not by any yardstick easy.

But on a day when the Indian bowling was short on many counts, the fielders cannot be held responsible. Except for Zaheer Khan, who bowled a good first spell of six overs the rest were pathetic.

Even Tendulkar's assorted spin did not work. Arnold and Kumara Sangakkara put on the biggest partnership of the match and won it for Sri Lanka by five wickets and with 37 balls remaining.

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