Seamers Propel India to Commanding Victory in Asia Cup Final 2010
India’s much-criticized seam attack rose to the occasion, securing a triumphant win for MS Dhoni’s team in their fourth victory out of seven Asia Cup finals.
India’s struggling seam attack performed admirably when it mattered, helping MS Dhoni’s team win their fourth tournament final in seven years—a figure that belies the country’s appalling finals record. They were bowling in Dambulla under the lights, so the conditions did help them, but there was a major improvement over the previous two nights: Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, and Praveen Kumar all bowled tight lines, got movement in both directions, and extra bounce, which resulted to wickets.
If Sri Lanka had fielded as brilliantly as they normally do and attacked a little harder, they could have limited India to approximately 30 fewer than the 268. If Dinesh Karthik, the day’s finest batsman, and Dhoni hadn’t given wickets to Thilina Kandamby’s incorrect half-time legbreaks, India might have scored roughly thirty more runs. All that didn’t matter, though, when India’s three medium-pacers finished their opening periods, with combined scores of 19-2-61-5.
Out of the three, Nehra turned out to be the most lethal, consistently getting the ball to drop on the seam and recovering his unique ability to get swing with deliveries at the back of the length. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, two of Sri Lanka’s top batsmen, took two of his four wickets. The third was Angelo Mathews, one of the more intelligent ones.
However, Praveen removed the player who usually makes an impact in the first over. After capturing one sighting, Tillakaratne Dilshan pursued the next. The bouncer was positioned well outside the stump, and the draw was only extended to mid-on. After that, Zaheer and Praveen put in a lot of effort to get the next wicket, consistently moving to trouble Left-hand batsman Sangakkara and Upul Tharanga.
In the end, Tharanga made a forgettable decision that led to the wicket. Zaheer had struck Sangakkara twice in the thigh region with a forceful inward movement earlier in the same over. Even yet, Tharanga made the decision to leave one unattended, not even covering the stumps. It hit the top of off.
Although it wasn’t long-lasting, Jayawardene and Sangakkara would have been relieved to see Zaheer (5-1-17-1) go. Nehra almost had Jayawardene leg before wicket with his second delivery, which swung in. He gained that edge in his second over with more bounce and away movement. By the 14th over, with Sri Lanka at 49 for 3, they were under tremendous strain. Which would account for Mathews’ mishandled shot two balls later when he eked out a delivery that was both short and wide.
Sangakkara attempted to do something with the single delivery that appeared to be too brief as Nehra’s swing persisted. Sangakkara was out in the 16th over after it bounced too high, making it three wickets for eight runs since Nehra’s arrival. Praveen contributed from the other end as well, bowling nine overs of consistent away swing for 29 runs against left-hand hitters.
Nehra gave Chamara Kapugedera one of his best deliveries ever, hitting him repeatedly in the thigh-rib area with a devastating swing from the back of the length. Nehra gave Kandamby some respite in his fifth over, providing him both width and the angle down the leg side.
For Kandamby, who has played two of his best innings in losing causes from difficult positions against India, it was too little, too late. Kapugedera and Nuwan Kulasekara, who combined 35 in the batting Powerplay taken in the 36th over, were left to do the work of inspiring hope. Even if it reduced the losing margin to two, the contest’s unfairness remained visible.
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The match was more evenly matched and moved in many directions in the first half. Karthik regained the upper hand with three punched boundaries in the eighth over, which was bowled by Farveez Maharoof, after Gautam Gambhir threw away a respectable start and two life behind the wicket with a careless run-out.
Maharoof was going to have a typical day; he would be sluggish in the outfield, give up a half-chance to Karthik, and struggle at the bat as well. Kandamby’s tardiness in the outfield affected Sri Lanka just as much as Maharoof’s. Although his decision to drop Gambhir may not have had a significant impact, his hesitation to act and slowness of movement did. However, Kandamby made up for it with a long hop wide off and a good meaty full toss.Â
Karthik was lured into finding the deep square leg’s lap by the first one, and Dhoni hit the straight ball with the second. India was reduced to 167 for 4 in the 33rd over as a result, and Sri Lanka was just one wicket ahead of the lengthy Indian tail.
Surprisingly, however, Sangakkara decided to stick with his lucky part-timers rather than sending bouncers after Rohit and Suresh Raina. India was getting close to 200 when Lasith Malinga was eventually summoned back in the 39th over. Malinga demonstrated in his second over why he ought to have taken a wicket as soon as Raina was out. After five clumsily played short balls, he was trapped on the crease by a nasty yorker.
After losing the last match due to a collapse in lower order, India remained cautious, Kulasekara was accurate, and only 55 came in the final 10 overs. That was irrelevant, though, in the final calculation.
