India beat Sri Lanka in 1st match of 2012 cricket series

July 21, 2012 | Filed under: Sports | Posted by:

Despite heroic performance by Sangakkara India beat Sri Lanka by 21 runs in 1st ODI match of 2012 cricket series

Hambantota: Riding high on the great performance of Sehwag and Virat Kohli, India was able to take the initiative very early in the match. To be true from the beginning of the match, India seemed to be in command.

Sri Lanka that played amazing cricket during Pakistani tour last month was not able to repeat the performance and seemed under pressure since the beginning of their innings. The asking rate continued to go up and in fact no Lankan batsman was able to accelerate it.

When it comes to bowling Irfan Pathan came out with a scintillating performance and was able to get a rare appreciation from his captain in the post match press conference. While talking in the post match press conference Indian captain said, “
“The death bowling for us needs to improve. Zak was good, one good positive was Irfan Pathan doing well. Without Jadeja or Yuvraj, it is difficult to make a side balanced in both departments so this was important. It’s a good learning experience for the younger bowlers. Gautam was unfortunate to get out in that fashion. Sehwag and Kohli batted very well, we are lacking a bit of firepower down the line. Once the batsmen who are set carry on, then me, and the likes of Raina can go and express ourselves. This was one game where I felt the toss would be crucial. In the second innings, there was variable bounce and it was a little difficult to bat on.”

Sri Lanka was unable to chase the Indian scored 315 despite Kumar Sangakkara’s heroics. He was able to score 133 runs, but as he didn’t get a good support, his inning went in vain.

India innings
G Gambhir     b Kulasekara     3
V Sehwag     run out (Perera) 96
V Kohli     c sub (SMSM Senanayake) b Perera     106
RG Sharma     b Mathews     5
SK Raina     c sub (SMSM Senanayake) b Perera     50
MS Dhoni*†     c Thirimanne b Perera     35
IK Pathan     not out     7
R Ashwin     not out     0     3     0     0     0     -
Extras     (b 1, lb 2, w 7, nb 2)     12
Total     (6 wickets; 50 overs; 225 mins)     314

Sri Lanka innings
WU Tharanga     c Sehwag b Ashwin     28
TM Dilshan     lbw b Pathan     6
KC Sangakkara†     b Yadav     133
LD Chandimal     c †Dhoni b Yadav     13
DPMD Jayawardene*     lbw b Ojha     12
AD Mathews     c Gambhir b Khan     7
HDRL Thirimanne     lbw b Ashwin     7
NLTC Perera     c Kohli b Pathan     44
HMRKB Herath     run out (Raina)     0
SL Malinga     not out     19
KMDN Kulasekara     not out     1
Extras     (b 1, lb 6, w 16)     23
Total     (9 wickets; 50 overs; 235 mins)     293

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