Tendulkar inspires India to emphatic win

NAGPUR—Sachin Tendulkar returned to the international cricket with a superb 93 and steered India to a comfortable 152-run win over Sri Lanka in the first One-Day International against Sri Lanka here Tuesday.
Captain Rahul Dravid (86 not out) and Irfan Pathan (83), proved able allies to Tendulkar, who batted in his old charismatic style, as India put up a gigantic 350 for six in 50 overs.
When Sri Lanka batted, Harbhajan Singh (three wickets), Murali Kartik (three wickets) and debutant pacer Sreesanth (two wickets) bowled tidily to bowl them out for 198 to ensure the massive win with 14.2 overs to spare.
The next match will be played at Mohali Friday.
For Dravid, this victory would be special as it was his first match after being appointed captain for the seven-match series against Sri Lanka and the five one-dayers against South Africa to be played after this series.
It was also his first match for India after becoming the father of a son, born a few kilometres away from the match venue, the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground.
And the Man of the Match award came as the perfect icing on Dravid’s cake.
On a sunny day, everything went right for India, right from the toss that Dravid won and the decision to bat first
Tendulkar, laid low for six months by an elbow injury and the subsequent surgery, returned to the international cricket a transformed batsman.
Many experts had commented that the 32-year-old was batting cautiously lately and had cut out risky strokes. But Tuesday he looked a completely different batsman from the one who last played an international game April 17, against Pakistan.
Tendulkar batted like he used to in the late 1990s, stepping out of the crease and lofting the ball over long on and long off. It was a pleasant treat for the packed stadium and for the millions of his fans who watched the live telecast around the world.
The Mumbai maestro, batting with zest and surety, reached his illustrious career’s 70th half-century off as many balls with six boundaries and one six.
It was a day when his opening partner Virender Sehwag (20) was put in shade, though the duo gave India a brisk start of 41.
After Chaminda Vaas had Sehwag caught by wicketkeeper Kumara Sangakkara, the promotion of Irfan Pathan to No. 3 must have caught Sri Lanka unawares.
But left-handed Pathan not just lived up to the promise, he also exceeded the expectations as his blitzkrieg confounded the Sri Lanka bowlers.
He played strokes on both sides of the wickets and also danced down the pitch to hit over the top. As a result, he and Tendulkar raised 50 off just 52 balls.
India reached 100 off 16.1 overs, in which Tendulkar’s contribution was 55 and Pathan’s 17. The two batsmen put up 100 on their own off 91 balls.
Pathan reached his half-century quicker than Tendulkar as he scored his career’s third 50-plus score off 41 balls (six boundaries and two sixes).
He was eventually out for his highest career score when he T.M. Dilshan had him well caught by Mahela Jaywardene.
Pathan and Tendulkar added 164 for the second wicket.
Two runs later Tendulkar also departed after he pushed a full-length delivery from Farveez Maharoof and Sangakkara took a tumbling catch.
This brought Yuvraj Singh (14) and Dravid together and they raised 40 for the fourth wicket.
Dravid looked a polished one-day batsman as he went after the bowling in an aggressive manner, executing strokes on either side of the wicket.
Later the hard-hitting Mahendra Singh Dhoni also played cameo of 38 (28 balls, 3x4s, 2x6s) before he miscued a shot and lofted a catch.
No Sri Lankan bowler was spared by an Indian batting line-up that clicked wonderfully.
When Sri Lanka returned to the field, Pathan gave India a rousing start as he bowled captain Marvan Atapattu for a solitary run. Total: 10 for one.
Though Sanath Jayasuriya (27) and Sangakkara (43) stayed put while scoring 64 runs together, the middle order, barring Vaas (37), failed to emulate Sangakkara and gave in without a fight.
The only consolation for the visitors was the 63-run ninth-wicket partnership between Vaas and pacer Dilhara Fernando.—Agencies

We did well in all departments: Dravid

NAGPUR—Good performances by the Indian cricket team in batting, bowling and fielding led to their emphatic win over Sri Lanka, said Indian skipper Rahul Dravid after the first one day international (ODI) here Tuesday.
Talking to the media after a convincing 152 run-victory over the Sri Lankans, Dravid said it was a good day for the team when everyone contributed towards the win.
‘Not often do we get to win with such a margin against a team like Sri Lanka. We did well in all departments,’ he told reporters.
‘It’s a great thing to start the series on such a positive note’.
However, Dravid added that it was too early to be complacent as there was a long way to go before any team could assume supremacy.
‘This is just the first match where everything went well for us. I am not even suggesting that the team could become complacent. We all know what a good team Sri Lanka is,’ Dravid cautioned.
India put on board 350 runs for the loss of six wickets in the mandatory 50 overs with memorable performances, including 93 by batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, a surprise 83 by one-down batsmen Irfan Pathan, captain Rahul Dravid’s 85 and wicket keeper M.S. Dhoni’s 38.
This was complemented by some disciplined bowling, especially by spinners Harbhajan Singh and Murali Karthik who took three wickets each, conceding 35 and 48 runs respectively.
They were supported by some excellent fielding by Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh as well as debutant S. Sreeshanth, who took two wickets in his second spell after wilting under pressure in the first.—Agencies