India humble Sri Lanka: Gautam & Virat centuries seal India win

India humbled Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata today. Gambhir was declared “Man of the Match”.

In another high-scoring game, Gambhir made a career-best unbeaten 150, his seventh one-day century, and Kohli scored 107 for his first one-day ton.

Sri Lanka opener Upul Tharanga’s 118 had led his side to an imposing 315-6.

But India recovered from 23-2 as Gambhir and Kohli’s third-wicket stand of 224 turned the match their way.

The two came together after Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar were dismissed cheaply and rebuilt their side’s innings as they achieved the highest successful run chase in a one-day international at Eden Gardens.

Kohli, replacing the injured Yuvraj Singh, was finally out going for his second six with their partnership only 13 runs short of a record third-wicket total.

India needed another 69 from more than 10 overs but Dinesh Karthik helped Gambhir take them home and put them 3-1 up in the series.

After the match Gambhir was chosen as man of the match but gave his award to Kohli.

“When you have someone at the other end who can attack the bowling, especially when you lose early wickets, it takes the pressure off you,” said Gambhir.

“With Kohli attacking I was able to take my time to settle down.”

Kohli said: “As a kid I dreamed of getting a hundred for India in a one-day game and I have been able to achieve that – it is a great feeling.”

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara blamed his bowlers for the defeat, saying: “Once you get 315 on the board you expect your bowlers to really do the job for you.

“But with our bowling we were either too short or too full on either side of the wicket.

The final match in the five-game series takes place in Delhi on Sunday.

My career prospered under Tendulkar captaincy: Ganguly

Sachin Tendulkar may not have been a huge success as Indian cricket captain, but many a young career bloomed under his leadership, said former India skipper Sourav Ganguly.

“When I was trying to find my feet in international cricket, it was a huge learning experience to play under Tendulkar. He had given a lot of support as a player and as a captain and my career blossomed under him,” Ganguly said on the sidelines of a Tendulkar felicitation on Tuesday.

“It’s not only me, I am sure the likes of (Rahul) Dravid, (VVS) Laxman and (Anil) Kumble would be thinking the same about Tendulkar,” Ganguly said at the ceremony organised by the Aryan Club that celebrated its 125th anniversary.

Sachin turned out for the Aryans in the early 90s in the P Sen Trophy.

Recalling his association with Tendulkar, Ganguly said, “I know him since my under-13 days when we met at a national camp. It has been a long journey together. We had a very good time together at the top, opening the batting in ODIs.

“He has charmed the crowd not only with his bat but with his amazing behaviour. It’s very difficult to emulate him what Sachin has achieved as a cricketer and the talent he possesses. But it will be really nice if we could emulate him the way he carries himself,” Ganguly said.

Ganguly wished Tendulkar remained fit to achieve 100 international centuries and do well in the 2011 World Cup.

“World Cup is coming and he is also close to 100 centuries. I wish he remains fit and bats the way he is doing. It’s an example for the youngsters to follow,” Ganguly said.

He also congratulated Sachin for his bit to make India the number one Test side.

“I remember when we used to tour overseas, were being levelled as very soft, not because of his batting but soft for our team’s performance. I congratulate him on achieving the No 1 status and he is the biggest contributor to that,” Ganguly said.

Yuvraj ruled out of Sri Lanka ODI series, doubtful for BD tour

Cuttack (Orissa): Indian middle order batsman Yuvraj Singh was on Tuesday ruled out of the ongoing one-day international (ODI) series against Sri Lanka after failing to recover from a finger injury.

“Due to the finger injury sustained earlier, Yuvraj Singh has been advised rest and therefore he will not play in the fourth and fifth ODI matches against Sri Lanka,” BCCI Secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement.

The left-hand batsman had injured his finger during the second Twenty20 International against Sri Lanka in Mohali, which forced him out of the first two ODIs of the series at Rajkot and second Nagpur respectively.

He did take part in the third ODI at Cuttack on Monday.

Both teams will play the fourth ODI in Kolkata on December 24, and the fifth game in Delhi on December 27.

The injury is also likely to force Yuvraj out of the forthcoming tour of Bangladesh, where Team India will play a tri-series against the hosts and Sri Lanka, and a three-Test series.

India currently leads the five match series 2-1.

India demolish Sri Lanka, reaches the pinnacle of Tests

Sri Lanka suffered yet another innings defeat as Zaheer struck with lightning making India reach pinnacle of Test cricket. They are now number 1 Test team for the first time.

It was a historic moment on Sunday for Indian cricket at the Bradbourne Stadium in Mumbai. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men had moved to the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings by defeating the Lankans.

The 2-0 series triumph after India won the final Test by an innings and 24 runs on Sunday, took the side beyond South Africa as the top-ranked team.

A goodly crowd roared in appreciation and the Sri Lankans, in a gesture that was sporting, walked up to congratulate the Indian team.

Since the Test championship was introduced in 2001, India is only the third country, Australia and South Africa being the others, to reach the acme.

India’s rise in Tests is a reward for consistent and often winning cricket, both home and away.

A strong top-seven in batting and the emergence of an incisive pace attack to complement the spinners has made India a worthy side outside the sub-continent. Team India, a fine blend of experience and youth, has fired collectively.

Starting the series in third place with 119 points, India now has 124. South Africa, remaining on 122, has dropped to the second spot. Sri Lanka, which began the series as No. 2, has slumped to the fourth position with 115 points.

Player of the Series

Aggressive opener Virender Sehwag was adjudged Man of the Match and Player of the Series. He whipped up 491 runs in three Tests at a whopping 122.75. Spearheaded by crafty left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan, India needed only 7.4 overs on Sunday to claim the last four wickets.

Sri Lanka was bowled out for 309 in its second innings.

Operating with exemplary control, Zaheer finished with five for 72; this was the paceman’s eighth five-wicket haul in Tests.

Crucially, he dismissed Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara (137) in the day’s first over with a mean delivery that pitched on off-stump and left the southpaw late.

Zaheer’s ability to deviate the ball away from the left-hander from over-the-wicket is high on skill.
Smart catch

Soon, Rangana Herath found the ball climbing on to him quicker than expected as he attempted a pull off Zaheer and Ojha, diving forward, held a smart catch at mid-wicket.

Zaheer then switched to round-the-wicket and hustled Nuwan Kulasekara with a short-pitched ball around his off-stump; the Sri Lankan was snaffled up in the cordon.

And when Muttiah Muralitharan nicked off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to Dhoni, the Indians celebrated.

Muralitharan batted despite injuring two ligaments of his bowling fingers and is a doubtful starter for the two-match Twenty20 series.

Little went right for Sri Lanka after it had the better of the exchanges in the first Test.

This said, the islanders were at the receiving end of at least four faulty umpiring decisions in the final Test.

Sangakkara has renewed calls for the Umpire Decision Review System to be implemented in all Test series.

However, India’s two successive innings victories strongly indicate it was the superior side in the series. The top seven Indian batsmen averaged 50 plus. And when M. Vijay replaced in-form opener Gautam Gambhir in the last Test, he came up with a polished innings of 87.
Lankan batsmen fail

The Sri Lankan frontline batsmen could not make an impact at crucial moments. Mahela Jayawardene notched up 373 runs at 74.60, but 275 of those runs were from a single innings in the drawn Ahmedabad Test.

Sangakkara scored 241 runs at 48.20 but failed to make an impression until his valiant 137 in the second innings here but by this point the series had been decided.

Thilan Samaraweera had an ordinary series with 151 runs at 37.75. The intrepid Tillakaratne Dilshan — 248 runs at 49.60 — blitzed hundreds in the first and the third Tests but was desperately unlucky with umpiring decisions in both the innings here.

And the Sri Lankan spinners struggled against fleet-footed Indian batsmen. Muralitharan ended up with nine wickets at 65.66 and Ajantha Mendis’ two strikes at Kanpur — his lone Test of the series — came at 81.00.

Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath bowled well in phases for his 11 wickets at 48.81 but struck chiefly in the latter stages of the innings.

Comeback paceman S. Sreesanth’s five for 75 in the Sri Lankan first innings at Kanpur opened up the Test series for India. Then Zaheer impressed in Mumbai as the Indian pace attack made a difference.

At the end of it all, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman rejoiced with the younger bunch. It was a compelling sight.

Tendulkar invited the support staff to the arena; he was acknowledging their contribution.

SCOREBOARD

Sri Lanka – 1st innings: 393.

India – 1st innings: 726 for nine decl.

Sri Lanka – 2nd innings: N. Paranavitana lbw b Sreesanth 54 (144b, 8×4), T. Dilshan lbw b Harbhajan 16 (27b, 2×4), K. Sangakkara c Dhoni b Zaheer 137 (261b, 20×4, 1×6), M. Jayawardene c Dhoni b Zaheer 12 (24b, 1×4), T. Samaraweera c Laxman b Zaheer 0 (13b), A. Mathews c Dhoni b Ojha 5 (8b, 1×4), P. Jayawardene lbw b Ojha 32 (42b, 3×4, 1×6), N. Kulasekara c Laxman b Zaheer 19 (68b, 4×4), R. Herath c Ojha b Zaheer 3 (10b), M. Muralitharan c Dhoni b Harbhajan 14 (9b, 3×4), C. Welegedara (not out) 0 (1b); Extras (b-12, lb-1, w-1, nb-3): 17; Total (in 100.4 overs): 309.

Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Dilshan), 2- 119 (Paranavitana), 3-135 (M. Jayawardene), 4-137 (Samaraweera), 5- 144 (Mathews), 6-208 (P. Jayawardene), 7-278 (Sangakkara), 8-282 (Herath), 9-307 (Kulasekara).

India bowling: Harbhajan 34.4-5- 80-2, Ojha 23-4-84-2, Zaheer 21-5- 72-5, Sreesanth 13-4-36-1, Sehwag 9-2-24-0.

Zaheer, Sreesanth recalled for Lanka Test series

Mumbai: The 15-man Indian squad for the three-Test series against Sri Lanka starting November 16 was announced in Mumbai on Tuesday.

The selection panel, headed by K Srikkanth recalled fast bowlers Zaheer Khan and S. Sreesanth to share the bowling responsibilities, while Ashish Nehra has again sidelined despite his consistent performance in the ongoing seven game ODI series against Australia.

Khan, who played his last Test match against New Zealand in Wellington in April, has recovered from his shoulder injury and proved his match fitness in a Ranji Trophy match last week.

Meanwhile, the batting order has been retained with Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni.

The selectors have also recalled Tamil Nadu batsmen M Vijay and S Badrinath, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and leg spinner Amit Mishra.

The first Test will be played at Ahmedabad from November 16-20, the second at Kanpur from November 24-28 and the third at Mumbai from December 2-6.

Team:

MS Dhoni (Captain/wicket keeper), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M Vijay, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra. (ANI)