Ind vs SL:2nd ODI- Dilshan replies with a century, Sri Lanka win by 3 wickets..

In reply to India’s 301…Sri Lankan openers give a flying start with Taranga and Dilshan going on a rampage punishing the Indian bowlers.In the 3rd over Taranga punished Praveen kumar hitting 3 consecutive fours…and Dilshan punished Zaheer in the 6th over where he grabbed 3 boundaries if not back to back. Intentions of the chase was clear and the action was…lightening. It was Nehra’s turn next…Taranga hit 2 continuous fours off him in the 7th over that took Sri Lanka to 54 for no loss with a run rate of 8.43. Dilshan celebrated it with another 4. It looked that India were another 100 runs shorter at this point. Harbhajan was introduced arly in the 8th over itself. The question was…will the spinners do it for India?????

Adding insult to injury…Dilshan hit Harbhajan for a six and a four in the 10th over. Lanka reached 81 at the end of 10th over at 8.1 runs per over…with all the wickets intact. It looked that these two would leave a small home work for the others to come if Indian bowlers did not strike early. A boundary off Praveen fetches a terrific 50 for Dilshan in the 11th over…his 17th. In the 1st ball of the 14th over bowled by Harbhajan Dilshan takes a single taking the score to 100. Sri Lanka have travelled 1/3rd of their way effortlessly. Great going guys………..!!!!

In the last ball of the 14th over Harbhajan gets the 1st break through for India that was most needed. He got Taranga out being caught by Sehwag for a well made 42 ball 37 in a century partnership with Dilshan. Lanka were 102 for 1.Sangakkara who joined Dilshan was looking good but was brilliantly run out by Raina for run a ball 21 in the 22nd over. The score was then 147. Jayawardena joined Dilshan…and Dilshan was striking the ball well at the other end…mercilessly as well. Dilshan quickly reached his century in the 30th over itself. He celebrated his 100 with 2 consecutive fours in the last 2 balls of that over itself bowled by Harbhajan. There onwards things went on slowly for the Lankans…run rate decreased…pressure mounting on the batsmen. But it was not sure whether the pitch started slowing down or the Indians were bowling good or whether it was a game plan of Lankans to ensure they had plenty of wickets so that they can attask in the slog.

Nehra clean bowled Dilshan in the penultimate ball of the 36th over and revived hopes for India. India could have taken this opportunity and could have bounced back…but the fate of the day had some other plans. With 12 fours and 2 mighty sixes Dilshan had scored 123 runs off just 113 balls…his 2nd century of the series…back to back. This century drafted a Lankan win.Kandamby joined Jayawardena in the rivival act. In the first ball of the 40th over…Zaheer strikes back and had Jayawardena caught behind for a well made 39 in pressure situation. Mathews joins Kandamby and they handle the situation carefully further. Match becomes as it fluctuates on either side every now and then. Runs come with difficulty and the match comes to a condition where Lankans have to score run a ball. In the mid way of the 45th over…Kohli catches a blinder off Zaheer to dismiss Kandamby…who made 27 runs. Kapugedera walks in and walks out as quickly…in the same over of Zaheer..being clean bowled. Zaheer strikes twice in the same over….and gets hopes for India. Sri Lanka were 6 down for 267…requiring 35 more runs in the remaining 30 deliveries. India had to take 4 wickets.

From here onwards it was a miserable tale of Indian bad bowling complimented by pathetic fielding which aided a limping Mathews to take Lanka to a famous win…in spite of being injured and running with a helper. Mathews…showed character when wickets fell all around. He held the nerve and saw Lanka crossing the Indian total with 5 balls remaining. Mathews took chances whenever they were there and also a few when they werent. He hit a few boundaries in the slog which could have been controlled by a disciplined bowling and an alert field. But it did not happen..and looked like Indians were waiting for the match to finish. Sri Lanka had lost the previous one day but won this one in style by 3 wickets. Zaheer claimed 3 wickets for India…but in vain. The experience was only in the name of the bowlers but not in deeds…and no bowler could have done much on a flat track like that. But not beating round the bush we would say…Well Done Lanka…Well tried India!!!

The news is that Sri Lanka have levelled the series at 1-1 and the next encounter will be interesting one. Will that too go all the way to the wire….is what we have to wait and see…………

Dilshan with a brilliant match winning century…won the credit of Man of the Match….rightly as he deserved it….But not to forget the unsung hero…..Mathews…………