London, June 30:
India pulled themselves out of a self-created problem and
coasted to a comfortable four-wicket victory against Sri Lanka
to record their second successive win in the triangular one-day
series at The Oval on Sunday.
Sri Lanka scored a
modest 202 for eight in their alotted 50 overs after electing to
bat but what ought to have been a fairly simple run-chase was
made to look difficult as only Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh
Mongia made substantial contributions among the top five
batsmen.
When Tendulkar was out
one run short of his half-century, the top-score of the innings,
India looked in slight trouble at 135 for five with all the
experienced batsmen back in pavilion.
But a run-a-ball sixth
wicket stand of 60 between Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif guided
India out of another pressure situation and brought the team
within sniffing distance of victory.
Yuvraj Singh, man of
the match in India's six wicket win against England at Lord's
yesterday, came up with another sensible batting performance
before being out for 31 with India eight runs short of victory.
Kaif, who did not get a
chance to bat yesterday, remained unbeaten on 38 and Ajit
Agarkar made seven not out as India reached 203 for six in the
46th over.
Agarkar, lated declared
man of the match, had earlier been instrumental in restricting
Sri Lanka to a modest total. Agarkar and Zaheer Khan claimed
three wickets each as Sri Lanka wasted a flying start by Sanath
Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana.
Agarkar struck with his
first ball of the innings, having Kaluwitharana caught behind by
Rahul Dravid, and the slide started for Sri Lanka who kept
losing wickets at regular intervals.
Only Mahela
Jayawardene, who made a gutsy 62, offered some resistance to the
Indian bowlers but found little support from the other end.
The target appeared
easy for the Indians considering they had successfully chased
272 runs yesterday. But they faltered at the very start, losing
both openers with only 26 runs on board.
Skipper Sourav Ganguly
was trapped leg before wicket by Chaminda Vaas for seven and
Virender Sehwag, who had scored a fine 71 yesterday, gifted his
wicket to the Sri Lankans when he went for an unnecessary big
shot in the fourth over of Vaas only to give a simple catch to
Jayasuriya at mid-off.
Tendulkar and Mongia
put on 71 for the third wicket to rebuild the innings but two
quick wickets again forced the Indians on the backfoot. Mongia's
top edge off an attempted hook shot against Dilhara Fernando was
caught by Vaas at third man fence while Dravid, who had produced
a match-winning unbeaten 73 yesterday, played on to his stumps a
Upul Chandana delivery after making just eight runs.
Tendulkar, whose
70-ball knock contained three fours and a six, carried on for
some more time before egding a Nuwan Zoysa delivery to
wicketkeeper Kaluwitharana.
Sri Lanka stepped up
pressure, realising one more wicket would expose the tailenders,
but Yuvraj Singh and Kaif showed fine cricketing acumen and
never succumbed to the pressure tactics.
With the asking rate
still in the region of only four runs an over, both the batsmen
avoided any risks and scored through singles and twos, running
swiftly between the wickets.
With the victory
remaining only a formality, Yuvraj Singh got out to a simple
catch to substitute Chamara Silva at long off. Kaif and Agarkar
then completed the formality without any further problems.
