International Cricket - Jayasuriya Scores a Ton But India Still Wins

One team wanted to reestablished its supremacy over their opponents, the other vowed not to allow that citory to happen and instead, vowed for revenge. In the end, the Indian cricket team stamped its supremacy over Sri Lanka to win their first ODI of the five match cricket series. The Indians had a run total of 247-4 (48.1 overs) to Sri Lanka's 246-7 (50 overs) and beat them by six wickets.

The Indian cricket team were outstanding with the bat  as Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni gave India the necessary firepower in a match played in Dambulla. Gambhir, India's opening batsman scored a 62 and Raina had a 54 and posted 113 runs for the second wicket as India had lost Sachin Tandulkar (5) to a doubtful leg-before decision as they chased the score of 247 to secure a victory.

Dhoni then stepped up to the plate as he continued the scoring his teammates showed as he hit  a 61 (not out) posting 44 runs for the fourth wicket with Yuvraj Singh who scored 23 and an added 66 runs in tandem with Rohit Sharma who had a 25 (not out). India reached their target with 11 balls left.

For the home team,  Sanath Jayasuriya had a score of 107 as he notched his 28th ODI century. He also became the second man to play cricket to pass 13,000 runs in one day internationals during his innings. He also became the oldest player to score a century in one day Supporting Jayasuriya was Kumar Sangakkara who had 44.

India actually won the toss but opted to field, putting the Sri Lankans under enormous pressure to produce early. Tillakaratne Dilshan was run out for a duck during the first over. Sangakkara and Jayasuriya then posted for 118 for the second wicket. But Sangakkara failed to reach a half century and Jayasuriya had his shot catched by Munaf Patel at mid-off.

Sri Lanka Captain Mahela Jayawardene fell for 11 and Farveez Maharoof added 35. However, Ishant Sharma captured three wickets to set Sri Lanka back once again.

India didn't have an awesome start as well as Sachin Tendulkar was perceived out by lbw as left-arm seamer Thilan Thushara threw outside leg-stump and the ball grazed Tendulkar on the pads. Kumar Dharmasena stuck to his decision of lbw even when replays of the play showed the height of the ball was questionable.

Gambhir, a left-handed batsman and who batted first in place of regular Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag who was sidelined because of injury, then made up for Tendulkar's failure. Raina almost got out but was saved when Dilshan dropped the ball. It somehow gave Raina a new lease on life as he and Gambhir started to connect and amassed their total cricket scores. The pair faced Sri Lanka's awesome wicket takers in Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis. Sri Lanka finally dismissed the duo. Gambhir tried to hit over the top of Murali but was caught at long-off. Raina was run out moments later as he attempted a second run off Mendis.

It was then Dhoni's turn to shine and lead his side to victory as he produced a remarkable performance.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR