Story India Embarks On an International Season- so does the whole world

[sachinisgod]

Kumble got the sole wicket of Vaas in the second last over before lunch and Bhajji cleaned up Fernando in the last over before lunch.


The Sri Lankan scorecard looked a pityful sight and only one man played well in the whole lot of 11.

The Sri Lankan batting stats were too dismal. The strike rate of Jayasuriya being the only bright spot in it.



The Indian bowling card proved skipper Ganguly right with 9 wickets shared by his 3 spinners and the tenth being taken by himself. It was an audacious gamble and it came off.


But what needs to be seen now is whether Sri Lanka have it in them to come back after following on so badly. They were 410 runs behind when they resumed and have scored 1 run in the single over they faced before lunch. Its going to be a tough third day and all the pagodas in Colombo will be full of people praying for rain like never before.

 

[sachinisgod]

Day 3 Tea, Sri Lanka - 81/2(2nd Innings)

Sunny: Sri Lanka chose to play quite sensibly against the spin trio in their second innings. Though Jayasuriya was again the top scorer in the session with 38 runs but even he was restrained.

Shastri: I think Indians bowled a good line though perhaps out of fear, Pathan bowled a bit negative.

Sunny: That can be understood looking at his first innings figures. This time he has returned with better ones. Over all it can be said that the session was well balanced with Lanka scoring 80 runs and India picking up two wickets.

Shastri: Yes but in the match, India have a stranglehold over Sri Lanka. I don't see how Sri Lanka can save this match.

Match clippings:
Attapattu was the first one to go. There wasn't a third run in the shot but he tried to create it. The throw from long on was directly over the stumps and Kumble did the formalities.

Then when it looked that Sangakara was defending solidly and was going to settle into a good rhythm, Bhajji produced a sharp turning and rising delivery and Sangakara was caught at silly point by Laxman.

 

[sachinisgod]

The Sri Lankan Scorecard at Tea, Day 3(click)


Their Batting Stats(Click)


The Bowling Stats of Indians(Click)

 

[Will p]

man some great screen there!!! dravid catch and bhalji six , great screens, also great tour,, very detailed and lots of pics!!!

 

[sachinisgod]

Stumps Day 3, SL - 150/4

Harsha: So Wilko, how did you find the session?

Wilkins: Well I have just woken up. It was a very sleepy one. Extra-defensive tactics from Sri Lanka, and a not so imaginative Saurav Ganguly.

Harsha: You cannot blame either. Sri Lanka know they have to try and play out as many sessions as possible and pray that it rains for the remaining ones. Ganguly tried every field in the book and every bowler he had but couldn't do anything but get those two wickets.

Wilkins: Though nothing is lost for the Indians, as Jayasuriya is gone and none of the present batsmen look like getting those runs and then putting on a sufficient lead and there are 180 overs to go.

Harsha: Yes, India's definitely going to win this one. Only rain can stop them. I fervently wish it doesn't.

Wilkins: Patriotism coming to fore! But again a fabulous display of batting from Jayasuriya. Reached his second half century in the match.

Harsha: Good batting but dangerous too. Should have opted to play as he was instead of going for the big shots. I think Jayawardane is playing a good knock too. But let's see how long does he last.

Wilkins: Nothing extra special about the bowling or fielding though. Kumble bowled tight overs but wasn't very ominous looking. Bhajji looked bland and Kartik did the trick again by luring Sanath into that lofted shot.

Harsha: yes let's hope the viewers, esp. Indians get something better to watch tomorrow.

Session snippets:
Jayasuriya reached his fifty soon, thanks to wayward quick bowling and fielding.

Though he failed to build on it and get a big one. Again it was Murali Kartik who challenged him to go over the top and he accepted it but sent it down Laxman's throat at long-on...(click on all)

 

[sachinisgod]

Tilakratne couldn't even last as much as the first innings and after padding a few and defending the others he went in a fashion that has become quite familiar in this match. Caught at silly-point.(click)


The catch

It was the last of anything important that happened in the session in which just 70 odd runs were scored. The session closed at 150/4...(click)

 

[sachinisgod]

The spider of Jayasuriya was the only batting stat worth looking at.(click)


The scorecard(click)


The battingcard(click)


The bowling stats(click)

 

[sachinisgod]

Match End - SL 315 all out. India win by Innings and 95 runs

Sunny: So India have finally won. Sri Lanka have gone down but they fought back valiantly. Just after they followed on with that huge margin it was always going to be out of their reach.

Shastri: Yes. They didn't have the technique to take on the Indian spinners on this track. It was bouncing and turning quite sharply.

Sunny: But the highlight of the inning for me was Jayasuriya and then Jayawardane's batting. Vaas too pitched in with a nice little cameo. But all put togather they were comprehensively outplayed by the Indians.

Shastri: Yes, I was very impressed by Harbhajan's performance. A century and 7 wickets in a test match. Thats something I would be proud of on any given day.

Sunny: The way he bowled those long spells bears testimony to his ability and stamina. Also he batted wonderfully in the 1st Innings.

Shastri: Now let's take a look at how the proceedings went before Sri Lanka folded up.

Jayawardane came to the crease with an idea of enjoying himself today. He smashed every bowler to every corner of the ground and brought up his half-century in a jiffy.

On the other end, Samarweera was trying to play as if he was trying to treat the crowd of insomnia. His batting was really sleep-inducing. Ganguly relieved the crowd by getting him with a delivery that should have risen but kept low.(click)


Chandana came and went back in a fashion similar to the first innings. Caught by bat-pad.(click)


Then it was the turn of the big wicket to fall. Jayawardane was trying to play defensively as he was nearing his century but unfortunately the ball didn't swing as he had expected and didn't bounce too. He was caught plumb in front.

 

[sachinisgod]

It was a great innings by Jayawardane and the crowd loved it.(click)



Dharmasena didn't last long and defended along the wrong line against Bhajji.(click)


At lunch, Sri Lanka were looking straight down the barrel.(click)


Vaas was in no mood to give in easily and fought very hard and belligerently for his 31. But at last Kumble got the better of him.

 

[sachinisgod]

Dilhara Fernando's wicket was the last formality but it took some time to come. Meanwhile Indians became complacent and allowed many bat-pad catches to go down. In the end he was run out.(click)


The Sri Lankan Scorecard presented a better sight than in their first innings. But it still wasn't enough.(click)


The Batting Stats had three names which shone through. Rest were less than mediocre.(click)


The Indian bowling looked less effective than in Sri Lanka's first innings but that was because of fielding lapses more than the bowlers' mistakes.(click)


The only thing that went wrong with India was that their star opener Veeru got injured while fielding and will have to sit out for a week. It must have been a rude shock and bad news because India are scheduled to meet South Africa in Kolkata in 5 days' time.(click)

 

[sachinisgod]

The three division 2 matches which followed ended in a draw. All of them highscoring with at least one team achieving more than 700 runs.

Here's Kenya V Bangladesh at Dhaka

Then came Namibia V India A at Centurion. Same result.

And the third one was between Pakistan A and Netherlands in Lahore. Again a draw.

But when it came back to Division 1, it was going to be stiff competition and hence it produced a result between England and NZ at Lord's. The Kiwis jolted the English team and supporters by defeating them...

 

[sachinisgod]

Tests Standings After the first round of matches

As almost all the teams have played once, its time for the world to see who leads the way

That's division 1 and here's division 2

India's next match: Vs South Africa at Kolkata(No I have not fixed it coincide!) Stay Tuned!

Jackman: Welcome viewers! This is the second match for both the teams and what a great venue for two giants to clash.

Sanjay: Its a mouth watering prospect. Let us see what are the lineups that are in store for the game.

The home team first:

And the visitors next:

Jackman: India have won the toss and elected to bat on a track that really looks great for batting.With that batting lineup fireworks are on the cards.

Sanjay: Yeah. Looking at the match conditions:

it seems it going to be a thrilling test match.

 

[sachinisgod]

Day 1, Lunch, India 224/2

Slater: Well well! It looks as if its going to be a high scoring test match.

Hayesman: Well If batsmen like Dravid, Yuvraj and Laxman choose to be positive and aggressive, this is the kind of runrate they can achieve.

Slater: You were surprised by Rahul Dravid opening?

Hayesman: I think India made a sensible decision in absence of Sehwag and I think it has paid well enough to ensure that if they bat well then they can make sure that they won't have to bat again.

Slater: Too early to say that, but yes India are in a great position. Thanks to century from Yuvraj and a great second wicket partnership between him and Laxman who was the second batsman to get out and that too on the last ball before lunch.

Hayesman: Very unfortunate for him. But the aggro at that stage was uncalled for. He could have played it out and then attacked in the next session. He paid the price for his indiscretion.

Slater: Coming back to Yuvraj - not too many people score a century in the first session with just 25 odd overs being bowled in it. I think it was a brilliant knock.

Hayesman: Yes, and those booming sixes against pacemen were far too good. Let us see how the session progressed.

Oops! Sorry I think imageshack server is down. You'll have to wait for the screenshots. Stay Tuned.

 

[sachinisgod]

Yuvi Reaches his first fifty of the season:

Dravid's dejected on missing out

The catch that got Dravid

Laxman to reaches a steady half century

 

[sachinisgod]

Yuvi Scores a century

What a shot to bring it up!

Grave indiscretion by Laxman to fall on the last ball before lunch: (btw he was caught at point. in the real test too he was caught at point )

The springboks applaude a brilliant batting performance while going in for lunch: