India takes Revenge

ASIA CUP 2012 – MATCH (2)

INDIA VS SRILANKA

INDIA 304/3 IN (50 Overs)

SRILANKA 254 ALLOUT IN(45.1 OVERS)

Date: 13/03/2012

India takes Revenge

After a huge disaster in CB Series against Srilanka, India bounced back on the Lankans with a 50 run margin by defeating Sri Lankans. Great start this for India. Although it is very early in the tournament, India find themselves at the top of the table.

Virat (MoM): I am very happy with this performance. Considering that we came from different conditions in Australia it is very satisfying. I was just trying to hit the ball well and I am happy that it was happening. Me and Gautam have got big partnerships between us and we understand how we play. We run well between the wickets and we don't really need to tell each other what to do. It is very satisfying when the wicket is slow and you have to adjust and control the rush of blood and not hit that boundary but it is nice when it results in your favour. The vice captaincy is a great honour for me, especially at the age of 23 I didn't really expect it but I will try and make the most of it.

Dhoni: It was difficult when Mahela was batting. The wicket changed a bit and the ball was coming on to the bat. The batsmen were scoring well, not to forget Praveen had an off day and they went after Jadeja. It was difficult to manage and that's why I had to get on my part time bowlers. I think Irfan supported the attack well and Praveen came back well. I think Gautam and Virat batted very sensibly and they ran well between the wickets. There weren't too many boundaries and it was a difficult one but they batted well and gave us a good start. When you lose a toss here and have to defend it becomes difficult because the ball comes onto the bat better later in the day. Maybe when the tournament progresses it might become slower and it might not be so easy to bat. Sri Lanka didn't have a few of their key players but still I am happy with our effort.

Mahela: I think when you are chasing something like that, the guys who make starts have to carry on. I think I played a bad shot to get out. We needed to keep our heads together and chase the score down but we couldn't really do that. I think India set up their innings nicely with Virat and Gambhir at the top. It is tough to bowl to people like Dhoni and Suresh since they are big hitters. We made a lot of mistakes today, with the bat, in the field and with the ball. We can still take a lot of positives from this games. I think the new guys bowled really well. But we can't keep making mistakes like this because we might go out of the tournament then. I enjoy batting at the top of the order because I can play my shots, it is easy to bat with Dilshan and Kumar. But then again I think I played a bad shot to get out.

Irfan Pathan was India's best bet with the ball as far as figures are concerned. He took four wickets and went for just 32 runs in his eight overs. India ended up bowling far better after the batting powerplay and it was that phase that really earned them the victory. Mahela and Sangakkara will be gutted though that they couldn't see their side across the finish line despite getting a very good start.

The Asia Cup is turning out to be a tournament filled with lots of twists. Sri Lanka looked to be cruising at the beginning courtesy a blistering knock by Mahela. Sangakkara joined in after Dilshan's early departure and the duo really got after the Indian bowlers and steadied the ship.

For most parts of the game Sri Lanka looked like they were on course to clinching the victory but it was the batting powerplay that turned this game around. Sri Lanka tried to be a little too aggressive during the batting powerplay. Ashwin bowled a decisive over, in fact the first one in the powerplay and he did extremely well to pick up two quick wickets including that of Sangakkara. From there on Sri Lanka began their slide and India clawed their way back into the match.