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India v Sri Lanka ODI:

December 15, 2009 – The stage was set for a high scoring thriller at Madhavrao Scindia cricket ground at Rajkot. This was the first ODI of the bilateral series between India and Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elect to bowl on this flat deck.

Team India was led by MS Dhoni . A total of 825 runs were scored in this match in 100 overs – with the help of 80 Fours & 24 Sixes

Indian innings powered by Virender Sehwag

Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag opened the innings for India. It was a slow and steady start for Team India seeing away the new ball. At 5 overs mark India were 19 for no loss. The 6th over bowled by Welegedara witnessed the initiation of Sehwag’s onslaught as he hit 12 runs of it with the help of 3 boundaries. Soon the openers gathered momentum and put on a 153 run partnership for the first wicket in 117 balls. Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed for 69 in 63 balls.

With the Indian innings kicking off real good, captain MS Dhoni promoted himself to bat at No.3. It was a rampage. India reached the 300 mark in 34.1 overs as Sehwag scored his century in 66 balls.156 run partnership in 105 balls between Sehwag and Dhoni powered India to 309/2 in just 35.3 overs. The Indian opener scored 146 runs in just 102 balls at a strike rate of 143.14. Dhoni soon perished 3 balls later scoring 72 in 53 balls.

At 40 overs mark India was already at 325-4 with Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh who was promoted above the likes of Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, were at the crease. India kept losing wickets at regular intervals but it was Virat Kohli’s 27 in 19 balls and Ravindra Jadeja’s 30* in 17 balls that pushed India over the 400 mark – ending the innings at 414/7 in 50 overs.

Sri Lankan counter attack

Facing a huge target of 415 runs to win – most Indian fans believed it was going to be a cake walk, but the Sri Lankan top order had other plans. TM Dilshan and Upul Tharanga opened the innings for Sri Lanka and started blasting the Indian bowlers from the 6th over mark. Virat Kohli dropped a sitter when Upul Tharanga was on 10. This meant the openers didn’t look back as they smashed 188 runs in 24 overs before the fall of Tharanga (67 in 60 balls) as captain Dhoni decided to introduce Suresh Raina with the ball. TM Dilshan ramped up his century in 73 balls.

Captain Kumar Sangakkara walked in for Sri Lanka with the team needing 227 runs in 26 overs to win. The captain along with Dilshan annihilated the Indian bowling attack to all parts of the ground with a stunning 128 run partnership in 12.4 overs. Sangakkara smacked an uncharacteristic knock of 90 runs in just 40 balls powering Sri Lanka to 316/2 in 36.3 overs at his demise.

With Sri Lanka needing 85 runs in 72 balls with 8 wickets in hand – it looked like a Sri Lankan win on cards but for the two quick strikes by Harbhajan Singh that removed Sanath Jayasuriya (5 runs in 7 balls) & TM Dilshan (160 runs in 124 balls). Sri Lanka pressed the panic button when Mahela Jayawardene was also run out the next over.

With half the team gone, Sri Lanka still needed 60 runs in 48 balls to win. Thilina Kandamby and Angelo Mathews steadied the ship with a controlled slog reducing the equation to 15 runs to win in 12 balls 5 wickets in hand. Captain Dhoni decided to finish the innings with his 2 main pacers Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra whose bowling figures read as 9-0-84-0 and 9-074-0 respectively.

Zaheer brought in his experience to bowl the penultimate over the innings bowling a few yorkers that troubled and panicked the Lankan batsmen forcing in 2 run outs conceding just 4 runs of the crucial over. This meant Sri Lanka needed 11 runs in the final over with 3 wickets in hand. This time it was Ashish Nehra’s turn to bring in his experience to the front. Angelo Mathews who was still in the middle negotiated the yorkers and gathered two 2 runs of the 2nd and 3rd balls of the over – reducing the equation to 6 runs to win in 3 balls. Nehra delivered a low full toss the next ball but to every one’s gasp Mathews couldn’t get enough elevation and Sachin Tendulkar grabbed on to a very crucial catch at mid wicket.

New batsman Welegedara took a single of the next ball to give the strike to Nuwan Kulasekara. 5 runs to win in 1 ball. 4 runs for a tie – 6 runs for the win. Nehra delivered a full toss outside off with the mid off fielder inside the circle. Kulasekara couldn’t clear the mid off as the ball travelled straight to the fielder – just a run – India clinch the thriller by 3 runs.

Match:

India v Sri Lanka, 1st ODI – December 15, 2000

Venue:

Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, Rajkot.

Toss:

Sri Lanka won the toss and put India to bat

Player of the Match:

Virender Sehwag

Result:

India won by 3 runs