Ind vs SL:3rd ODI- Jadeja and Sachin guide India to a Win

21st december 2009-Cuttak-3rd ODI between India and Sri Lanka…a day and night encounter was expected to be a thriller…the two teams having come into the match with 1-1 level…each wanting and waiting to take an advantage. Sri Lankans won the toss and elected to do what they can do the best…bat first.

The toss proved to be a good one as the openers gave a rocking start to the innings…Dilshan proving his form again firing all guns against the Indian seam attack…well supported by Tharanga at the other end. Before Dilshan got out when the score was 65 in the form of 1st wicket…he made sure he made the bulk of scoring in quick time…creating havoc in the Indian camp. He made a breezy 41 in just 18 balls…in a way only he could do…which consisted of 10 hits to the fence. Sangakkara joined Taranga and they continued the same pace and quickly put on a 100 run stand for the 2nd wicket. Sri Lanka was comfortably placed at 165 for 1 in the 23rd over. Suddenly things changed in the 23rd over when Sangakkara who was looking in a punishing mood with a 41 ball 46 was stumped by keeper Karthik off the acting captain Sehwag’s bowling. Sehwag was the incharge captain in the match since Dhoni was under penalty for this and the next match. Ravindra Jadeja proved to be the surprise package of the day. He claimed 4 Lankan wickets in his 10 overs and bowled tidely as well. His 4 for 32 earned the man of the match for him in the later part of the day. His first victim was Taranga whom he bowled in the 25th over for a well made masterly 73 runs(81 balls). Later he picked up the wickets of Kapugedera, Kulasekara and Mendis…all were dismissed cheaply. None of the Lankan batsmen could face the Indian bowlers later. Wickets went in quick successions and Lanka not making use of the good start they got…lost their last 9 wickets for just 74 runs…with 5.4 overs remaining. Harbhajan frustrated the batsmen and contained the run flow in the middle providing an ideal support to Jadeja. He ended with figures of 1 for 29 in 9 overs. The fast bowlers had bad figures at the end since they were all punished by the Lankan openers. Nehra got 2 for 32 in 6.2 overs and bowled tidy. Ishant got hammering and later picked 2 wickets in 2 balls turning the match in Indian favour. Zaheer was costly and went wicket less. Sri Lanka were all out for 239.

Indian chase had no hiccups. It looked like a planned strategy. Sehwag gave a blazing start to the momentum as expected. His 44 runs made in 28 balls with 9 boundaries helped India to reach 50 in less than 7 overs. Sachin was a silent spectator at the other end. When the score was 55 Sehwag was out in the 7th over. Gambhir joined Sachin and they put on 72 runs in a quick time maintaining the run rate..for the 2nd wicket. Gambhir made 32 and departed in the 22nd over being caught by Randiv off his own bowling. The score then was 127 for 2. Sachin was looking in terrific touch and carrying on at the other end with grit and determination…experience of handling the situations like that was never new to the master. Yuvraj joined Sachin and made an useful 23 in 40 balls. He was dismissed in the 33rd over when the score was 169. Later Dinesh Karthik and Sachin made sure that they scored quickly and see India through. Sachin missed out his 46th century by 4 runs…but a win mattered much for the master. Karthik looked in good touch and punished every bad ball without risking his wicket. He remained unbeaten on 36(32 balls, 5 fours and a six) while Sachin remained unbeaten on 96(104 balls, 13 fours)………another classic display of batting by the little master.India won the match by 7 wickets with 7.2 overs remaining…leading the series 2-1.

But the hero of the match was Ravindra Jadeja………the man who did it for India with the ball…………

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