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Singer Akai Nidahas Trophy, 1998, Final,
India v Sri Lanka, R. Premadasa Stadium,
Colombo, 7 July 1998

Transcript of the Commentary - Sri Lanka Innings

Prem Panicker (Tue Jul 7 1998 7:48)

Atapattu pushes, ball four, to long on, single, SL 136/2.

ADS turn to drive to long on, running the single, 137/2 in 20.5. Last ball, Robin, to MA, big drive, off the inner edge, to fine leg, single, SL 138/2.

ADS batting 48, MA batting 25. ADS should be the man of the series by any yardstick, incredible consistency here. Bajju continues, MA forward, plying to leg, off the edge, one behiond square leg, SL 139/2. ADS sweeps, finds the sweeper at midwicekt, single, 140/2.

Bajju now to MA, flighting, on off, played defensively. Ball four, flighted again, MA pushes to cover and runs with the shot, 141/2/

ADS on strike, well fluighted, right in the block hole forcing the batsman to dig it out. NO run. Ball six, 22nd over, again flighted, the top spinner, ADS plays to point, no run.

141/2 off 22, SL.

Robin continues. MA off the first ball, drives to midwicket, single./ Ball two, ADS drives, finds the fielder at midwicket, stays on 49.

Robin, ball three, on the stumps, ADS drives to long on and that is his 50, with the single, great knock this, as have been all his knocks in this tournament. 143/2 SL, in 22.3, MA drives at the enxt ball and gets the outer edge, finds point, no run.

Ball five, cutting in, played to long on, single, 144/2.

ADS 50 coming off 39, on strike and attempting to move across and play to on, finds midwicket, no run, 144/2 at the end of 23.

Bajju continues, draws MA forward, beaten on the flight, struck on the pad, but outside lien of the stumps, no problem. Ballt wo, off the pads to midwicket, single, SL 145/2.

23.2 overs gone, and ADS down the track, cover drives a flighted ball but cant pierce the field, just the one, SL 146/2.

Harbajan to MA who stands tall and slogs at him, gets the bottom of teh bat on that one, one more to long on. 147/2. Ball five, ADS on the sweep, ball ballooning, but dropping well short of backward square, single. 148/2.

Bajju to MA, who leans forward, works it off the pads, SL 149/2 in 24, by way of comparison, India 155/0 in 25, so both teams on a dead heat here.

Robin continues, ball one on off, played back by MA, no run. Ball two, RS to MA, dwon the track, lifts up and over the bowler, lovely shot, four all the way. He was down the track in a flash, there, premeditated, but picked the right line and length to hit. 153/2.

Ball three, across the stumps, working it backward of square, single, SL 154/2.

ADS now on strike, RS the bowler, ball four, uppish shot, just wide of Azahr at cover, that was an error in shot selection but ADS went through with the drive on the up and Azhar, lunging, just failing to get to it, two more, SL 156/2. Single off the enxt ball, 157/2.

RS to MA, who moves across to off, plays to leg, one more, SL 158/2 so at the halfway mark, the hosts have made 4 runs more, and lost two wickets more. Azhar needs to rotate his bowlers a bit more rapidly here, rather than allow the batsmen to settle, call on the non-regulars to bowl an over or three in order to save overs of the mainline bowlers, at the end.

Bajju to MA, flighted on off, driven back, finds the bowler, no run. BNall two, down the track, driving, Prasad at long off fields, one run, 159/2.

ADS sweeps, ballthree, from outside off, playing it square -- that is a risky shot, but he's played it consistently tonight and middled tem well. 160/2. Bajju asking for some field changes now.

Bajju to MA, who goes down the track, tries to clear the field, Prasad the fielder, runs round, judges well adn MA is gone, well held. 160/3 here, SL.

That is part of the problem when you ahve to consistenly keep hitting, one bad shot selection and you're gone.

The problem with using regular bowlers, though, is that with Prasad and Kumble having horrible days at the office, India wont have any cover at the end, unless they squeeze in some overs from Kanitkar, Ganguly ad Sachin now.

Bajju to Ranatunga now, flights one on leg and Ranatunga paddles, Kanitkar running around, scrambles to stop at fine leg, not sure if that was a four or three, the stop was on the line. Oops, onthe replay, Kanitkar's boot just touching the ropes as he pulls that back, SL 164/3 in 25.5,

Last ball of the over, cut through point, single, 165/3 in 26 and SL now have their most experienced batsmen out there now.

ADS batting on 56 off 45. Harbajan, meanwhile, has 8 in the series, and it is Robin to continue. Ball one, Arjuna trying to run the ball down tot hird man, misses. Next ball, action replay. Both times, Mongia holds. This shot gets ARjuna a lot of runs, he also gets out nudging to the keeper. Ball three, puts bat to ball, single behind point, SL 166/3.

ADS drives, fielded on the follow through by Robin who has on the whole been very tight in his spell thus far, just doing enough to keep it wicket to wicket and not give room for strokes. Ball five, single to ADS driving to long on, 167/3. Last ball of the 27th, Arjuna cuts, well fielded at point, no run, 167/3 the score in 27.

141

141 needed off 138 and Bajju continues, ADS cuts, quick single but ADS now limping, seems to have a problem with maybe his hamstring, the way he is moving. Suspect he could ask for a runner soon. Ballt wo, flighted, Arjuna down the track but cant get under it for th4 lofted drive, pushes to midwicekt, no run. Ball three, again tossed up, the drive finds Azhar at cover, no run.

Ball four and wow, that pitches on off and spins a mile and that is given wide, and the Indians not impressed, that ball landed on off on a good length, it was huge turn that took it wide. Next ball, ARjuna putting a foot down the track and slamming it high, back over the bowler's head, six for that, taking the offie on. The last time they played, he tried a similar shot and got caught, this was a clean, effortless hit. Next ball, cut away,t wo more to backward point, SL 177/3.

28 overs gone, SL 178/3 and that six hauled the ask back just below the six an over mark. Is how this game could go, see-sawing up and down.Now needing 130 off 132.

Sl and Inia both, ironically, need a couple of good overs here. Arjuna meanwhile dabs the first ball from Robin down to backward point, single, SL 179/3.

RS to ADS, driven to long on, one more, SL 180/3.

And now Jayasuriya is out tehre as runner for ADS. Single again to ARjuna, to deep cover, SL 181/3.

ADS flicks, down to fine leg, good shot, fetches two there, SL 183/3.

Again, the flick off the pad, what ADS is doing here is negating RS wicket to wicket line by moving across the stumps and flicking to leg from off. Single, SL 184/3.

Good ball that on off, played to cover, no run, 184/3 at the end of the 29th.

ADS batting 62 off 57, here. And ADS on strike now, facing Bajju, flighted ball, played to point, mix up, bad one, but the throw is very wide, tht was a sure run out if that throw had been straight to the bowler but Ganguly throws wide. Two singles off the first two balls. 187/3.

Bajjju going round the wicket, here, Arjuna pushes to backward piont, single. Ball four, ADS, sweeps, fielded at point by Robin, diving stop but the single is on. Ball five, Arjuna tries the sweep, misses, no run. Last ball of the 30th, Arjuna drives, i the air, Azhar jumps at cover, but fails to get his hand to the ball, two down to the sweeper at cover, 191/3 in 30 SL.

Kanitkar now coming on. I am not sure Azhar isnt missing a few bets here, he is going to have a major problem at the end if he uses only the regular bowlers, he for sure cant use Sachin and Saurav at the end. ADS drives, finds long off, single, 192/3.

Arjuna on strike, to Hrishi, drives through cover from off, well run second from Arjuna, for all his bulk he can be hare-like between wickets when he needs to be, 194/3.

Good ball, spun and bounced and beat the bat outsdie off, Arjuna beaten. Next ball, pushed to long off, single, SL 195/3.

ADS sweeps, last ball of the 31st, one more, SL 196/3 and the drinks now out on the ground, taking a breather here, folks.

About to resume, post drinks.

Both fielders and batsmen taking their own time after the break and it is Agarkar back in the attack. Ball one, full length on off, ADS drives, finds short cover, no run.

Azhar of late has taken to tossin the ball to Agarkar any time he needs a wicket, like he used to do with Kumble before. ADS pushes ball two towards long on, single, SL 197/3.

Oops, Arjuna doing that little dabble to third man, gets the edge but drops just short of Mongia.

And that's it -- Agarkar doing it again -- faster ball, moving off the seam, Arjuna yet again trying to dab to third man, like we were sayng, he gets a lot of runs but also loses his wickets to that shot, gets the edge on this ball and Mongia flies through the air and pulls off what is easily teh catch of the tournament.

Sri Lanka Innings Continued