Winning Cricket in Style: Some Glimpses

The victorious Sri Lanka cricket team returned from Karachi to Colombo on 09 July to a rousing welcome with the Asia Cup after beating India by 100 runs in the final. 

The architects of the victory, ace spinner Jayantha Mendis, who bagged 6 wickets by conceding just 13 runs for India and opener Sanath Jayasuriya, who scored with

125 runs off just 114 balls (that included nine fours and five sixes) after their at the Katunayake International Airport on arrival Sri Lanka's new spin

sensation, Mendis grabbed a six wicket haul after Jayasuriya had hammered  a brilliant century as Sri Lanka clinched the Asia Cup for the fourth time

defeating India by 100 runs in the six nation tournament final worked off under lights at the National Stadium in Karachi. Mendis the "trump", played in his first Asia

 Cup final and returned career best figures.

From a possible rout,
 the Lankans rose to clinch the series. Sri Lanka's

success in the ninth edition of the Asia Cup had a great amount of significance

because this was the first time they had won the title while performing abroad.

Al though all Lankan batsmen were out in 49.5 overs scoring just a total of 273

(Sri Lanka 273-10 (49.5) | RR: 5.48), they saw to it India collapsed even in

much worse fashion. India were also all out scoring fewer 173 runs unable to

complete even 40 overs (India 173-10 (39.3) |. RR: 4.38) This was

also the best bowling figures ever in an innings in the Asia Cup tournament.

Bating

This was after veteran Jayasuriya had struck a mastery century
 Sri

Lanka could pile up 273 runs after been put into bat. Jayasuriya had the situation well 

under control as he took the fight into the Indian bowlers with a combination of power 

and science. The dashing left hander playing in his 

record 25th Asia Cup match hammered an astonishing 125 runs which was also his second in the competition and his sixth overall in 

the Asia Cup history before Sri Lanka folded up in the last over. Jayasuriya who celebrated his

 39th birthday recently also pushed Australian captain Riky Ponting into the third place in the most number of centuries in one day 

internationals while scoring his 27th hundred in his 416th match from 79

deliveries with the aid of five sixes and nine boundaries. Jayasuriya quite played the 

sheet
 anchor role after Sri Lanka had lost four wickets within the first 12 overs of the innings. 

Jayasuriya found a reliable partner in 

Tillekeratne Dilshan and the pair pulled their side from a near total collapse into a strong position while putting on 131 runs for the fifth wicket. 

Dilshan brought an end to a series of low scores by stroking his

first fifty in five innings when his team needed him most, contributing a 56

runs from 68 balls.

Indians grew more aggressive and despite Jayasuriya's hundred and Sri

Lanka was not able to get a boundary between the 22nd and 40th over. Jayasuriya's second century of the tournament also saw him finish as the

highest scorer in the tournament with a tally of 378 in five matches at an

average of 75.60. India's Suresh Raina finished a close second, with 372 runs in six matches at 74.40.Jayasuriya raced to his 66th one

 day international half century by

hoisting his second six off Ishant Sharma over the mid wicket boundary.

Jayasuriya delivered another severe blow on R. P. Singh while taking 26

runs from
 one over which included three sixes and two fours. 

 Bowling

While Sri Lanka's formidable total of 273 was possible because of Jayasuriya,

Ajantha Mendis broke India's back with a mesmerizing six-wicket haul as Sri

Lanka won the Asia Cup cricket tournament with a facile 100-run
 victory.

Chasing 274, India's much-vaunted batting attack was bamboozled by

Mendis' bag of tricks and the mystery spinner emerged as the

wrecker-in-chief to bundle out India for 173 in just 39.3 overs. The Indian

batsmen obviously could not match up to Lankans. Chaminda Vaas started the

rot by removing Gautam Gambhir (6) in the fifth over before Mendis took over.

Sri Lanka's latest spin sensation Ajantha Mendis, who claimed a mesmerizing

six-wicket in the final, emerged as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament

with 17 wickets in five matches at an average of 8.52. His senior spin partner

Muttiah Muralitharan, finished with 11 wickets in five matches.

Mendis came into bowl at a vital stage of the innings when the Indian openers

Virender Sehwag and Gautham Gambhir had given
 their side another solid start

during their run chase. Although Gambhir fell in the fifth over his partner

Sehwag continued to punish the Sri Lankan attack reaching his fifty from just

26 balls with ten fours. In his first over, Mendis foxed an onrushing Sehwag

with a 'flicker' to get him stumped and two balls later, he flicked

another through Yuvraj Singh's gates to castle him for a duck. In his third

over, Mendis disturbed Suresh Raina's (16) timbers before trapping Rohit

Sharma (3) plumb in front four runs later. In
 the 32nd over again, he scalped

Irfan Pathan and RP Singh off. Mendis came back into the attack in the 30th

over and picked up two wickets in successive deliveries to seal the game in Sri

Lanka's favor. Mendis finished his first spell with remarkable figures of four

wickets for eight runs from four overs.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa congratulated the Sri Lanka team
 for

their convincing 100-run win over India in the final to win their first Asia

Cup on foreign soil. In a special congratulatory message to Sri Lanka captain

Mahela Jayawardene, the sports-loving President President Rajapaksa commended

the fighting qualities of the Lankan team to win the title in style. 

Pakistan wins in style, but out of the  finals

In an inconsequential match in IPL between Pakistan and Bangladesh Pakistan

openers Salman Butt and Nasir Jamshed produced an unbroken century partnership

to set up a comprehensive 10-wicket win over Bangladesh in the final Asia Cup

super
 league match. Butt scored 56 and Jamshed reached 52 as the two

left-handers easily overtook the Bangladesh total of 115 in only 19.4 overs

(Pakistan 116-without losing any wickets in 19.4 overs. RR: 5.90). 

Eighteen-year-old Jamshed reached his fourth international one-day half-century

in his ninth match from 52 balls with five
 fours and two sixes in the 18th over.

Butt's fifty came from 60 balls with nine boundaries. Opening bowler Abdur

Rauf took the first three wickets to spark a Bangladesh batting collapse at the

National Stadium. Rauf captured three for 24 as Bangladesh were dismissed in

38.2 overs in overcast conditions assisting the pace bowlers. Bangladesh 115-10

(38.2) RR: 3.00.  (Indians think Bangladesh deliberately under-played)This is

Pakistan's first ever 10 wicket victory in an Asia Cup game. It was the

Bangladesh's lowest total of the tournament after Hong Kong's 118 in the

preliminary round. 

There are some amazing points to make here about the s present Pakistan team.

They seem to prefer move against the flow by electing to bowl in stead of

bating as is the practice and Indians would always prefer to bat first fearing

to lose if they bowl first. Then another point is, they are pretty to keen to

keep as many wickets as it sis possible even they could lose a couple of them,

they do so at times even ending disastrously. This myth they exploded
 by

electing to bowl first and played aggressively to improve the score ratings,

but they stuck to their pet plan, but made a wonderful inning without losing

any wicket. Perhaps this strategy might pay off well in due course. This match

reminds of the match in Calcutta by South Africans against India in 2006. (the

openers Smith and Hall did the same magic to enthuse the spectators at Eden's

Garden)

Abdur Rauf was judged the Man of the Match for his outstanding bowling figures

of 3 for 24 which rattled the Bangladeshi top order to cause the early

problems. It all went according to their plan, wonder what they would have done

after winning the toss. A good toss to lose indeed, they bowled in overcast

conditions. One can't just take credit away from the Pakistanis for holding

their nerves and pulling off a fine win here. Occasionally, Pakistanis discover ways of losing a match that is almost in
 their kitty and they do it so consistently and so well. However, they have played pretty well in Sri Lanka Tri-series as well recently. 

Pakistan defeats India

Pakistan shoved a 25-run defeat down India's throat to win the tri-series

in Dhaka on June 14 at Mirpur, Bangladesh Tri-series, while,
 despite dominating

the tournament with characteristic ruthlessness, the Indians failed when it

mattered most and choked in the final, allowing an under-pressure Pakistan to

avenge their league match defeat and claim the silverware, failed to

climb the run-mountain. After twin tons by Salman Butt (129 retired hurt) with 12 fours and 3 sixes and Younis Khan (108) with 8 fours and 

3 sixes propelled Pakistan to 315 for three, India faltered early 

in their chase and eventually folded for 290 in 48.2 overs. India scored 290-10 (48.2) | RR: 6.00, unable to reach the score set by
 Pakistan: 315-3 (50) |RR: 6.30. 

A strong start was pre-requisite for such a mammoth chase and with Virender

Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir (40 off 33 balls) in red hot form, India expected

another solid foundation from the openers. The sedate start proved the lull

before the storm and after Butt and Younis laid the perfect foundation for
 a

big score, Misbah-ul Haq threw his bat to good effect and chipped in with a

33-run came off just 21 balls as the side went past the 300-mark. But with the

first nine overs yielding just 29 runs, initially Pakistan was seen in trouble.

Younis soon notched up his fourth ODI century, which came off 92 balls and

scenario became clear for Islamabad.

Amazingly, though
 Pakistan defeated India could not reach the finals, but Indians who lost to Pakistanis were in the finals. This is illogical. 

Indians, who defeated Australia and had sufficient training in IPL with global

masters, have every reason to worry now, rather cry, over the "unscheduled" cricket

mastery of Pakistan and Sri
 Lanka. After Pakistan's victory over India, Sri Lanka has also defeated India to retain the Asia Cup. One does not know if India would be 

more annoyed if it were defeated again by Pakistan. 

Indian team is right now touring Sri Lanka trying its luck to avenge its

defeats in Bangladesh and Pakistan.