Oct 26, 2005

How long has it been since India performed this way?

India wrap up comprehensive win from cricinfo

"Tendulkar's opening gambit, though, was the talk of the day. Returning after a six month lay-off, Tendulkar arrived with a gambler's instinct only to hit the jackpot with whatever he tried. There was risk, frenzied spells of play and cheeky improvisation, but all this was amid magical strokeplay reminiscent of the boy genius who charmed all in the last decade. He charged down the track to Chaminda Vaas, scampered perilous single after perilous single, was occasionally beaten by seam movement and change of pace, chipped a few that just eluded fielders, and attempted some audacious shots.
In between all this were some stomach-churning moments: a thundered six over midwicket, a classical straight-drive off the front foot - with a high elbow, minimum follow through and slight nod of the head a few moments after bat struck ball - a cheeky paddle-sweep off Vaas, when he read the line and beat the fielder to perfection. Fifty off 50 balls, momentum seized, bowlers hassled, fielders guessing, captain experimenting, crowd in a frenzy ... welcome to Tendulkar territory.
He soon shifted to a lower gear, but the experiment to promote Pathan to No.3 was working spectacularly at the other end. He fed off Tendulkar's aggression and announced his arrival with a superb pulled six off Vaas. Once the spinners came on, he began to soar. Tillakaratne Dilshan was dismissed for two fours and a six, Upul Chandana for a four and two sixes. The straight boundaries were peppered with some crisp lofted drives as Pathan, who raced to a 41-ball fifty and went on to outscore Tendulkar soon after, increased the tempo.
The fall of both Pathan and Tendulkar in quick succession gave Sri Lanka a small window of hope but Dravid's silken dismantling of their attack left them gasping. Dravid is arguably the best finisher in one-dayers today and his shot selection in the slog overs was simply impeccable. He brought up his fifty off 47 balls, mainly through some judicious strike rotation, but launched into a splendid blitz at the death and ended on 85 off just 63. If you can end an innings with a sequence that reads `four, two, four, two, dot, four, four' and rattle the Sri Lankans into elementary fielding errors, you have surely done a cracking job.
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