A day which no one can forget for long time, a dominant India not only registered their third big win in test cricket by beating Sri Lanka by an inning and 144 runs but also climbed up in the ICC Test ranking to become the Number one Test team in the world.
More importantly the win was India 100th test win in the 432 games they have played so far.
Sri Lanka began their day on 57/4 and right from the word goes the two overnight not out batsman looks to attack the Indian bowling. They look more aggressive for the first time in the match. They have taken as many as 16 runs on the very first over of the day. However it was not enough to demolish the India.
They have taken the last six wickets in a matter of one and half sessions to register the second consecutive wins at Kanpur. Sri Lanka manage just 269 runs in their second inning thanks to solid knock of T.Samarweera (78*), M.Muralitharan (29 runs) and A. Mendis (27 runs).
India thus became the sixth nation to win 100 Test matches, following Australia (332), EnglandSouth Africa (120) and Pakistan (102). (310), West Indies (152),
This was also biggest win for India against the visitors Sri Lanka in terms of inning win. The last record was of winning by an inning and 119 runs.
Now India will take on Sri Lanka in the third test match at Mumbai starting on 2nd December 2009.
S.Sreesanth was declared Player of The Match.
Match Summary (India won by an inning and 144 Runs)
Who have thought that a man who was out of action since last 19 months will suddenly make a dashing comeback to the international arena? But so called bad-boy S.Sreesanth proved many wrong and produce devastating display of seam bowling to put India on the threshold of a remarkable victory in the second Test against a hapless Sri Lanka at Kanpur.
Sreesanth picked up 5 for 75 to help India to bowl out Sri Lanka for just 229 runs and then M.S.Dhoni enforced the follow-on just after tea to give his bowlers more chance to bowl out the Lankans in the second inning. However it seems that the result of this test match will be out before needing to play on fifth day. At stumps Sri Lanka were tattering at 57 for the loss of four crucial wickets.
It needs some miracle to save Sri Lanka from a heavy defeat which is unlikely to be happening. Resuming the day on 60/1, Sreesanth was the man who started a superb bowling spell to dismiss T.Paranavitana, K.Sangakra and T.Samarweera just before lunch to leave Sri Lanka in a dire state at 138/5.
Apart from few forty’s no Sri Lankan batsman able to score fifty and finally they bowled out for 229. Getting a huge lead of 413 runs, it was matter of few seconds when Indian captain M.S.Dhoni asked Sri Lanka to bat again on a wicket which started to provide ample support to the spinners.
Sri Lanka didn’t started well in their second innings and loss the opener T.Dilshan very quickly on the bowling of S.Sreesanth. An arm bowl of Sehwag them removed the other opener T.Paranavitana to reduce the Sri Lankan score to 2/37. However the decisive moment of the collapse, and something that exposed the visitors' mindset, was the run-out of Mahela, the first-innings top scorer. Once Mahela got out it seems that something has hit the Sri Lankan captain and he also lost his wicket by playing on to the stumps for the second successive time in the day.
Now it’s just matter of few sessions for Indians to wrap up the test match and take a unbeatable lead of 1-0 in three match series.
Nothing went right for Sri Lanka on day 1 of second Test match against India at GreenPark, Kanpur. First Sri Lankan captain loss the toss and then in the veryfirst over Mahela Jayawardne dropped a dolly to give life to dangerous Virendra Sehwag who later went on to score a blistering knock of 131 runs of just 122 balls.
Apart from first hour of play, the rest of the day completely belongs to the Indians. The delhi-duo taken full advantage of wicket as they played some really sparkling strokes all over the ground during their stay at the crease. Both put on 233 runs for the first wicket before Sehwag got out trying to play Muralitharan over cover.
At the close of play India scored a record 417/2 with Rahul Dravid batting on 85 runs and Sachin Tendulkar is unbeaten on 20 runs. It was the first time in the history of cricket when India manages to get pass 400 run mark in a single day of a test match.
It was the sixth instance for India when both openers scored a century in an inning.
Gautam Gambhir is really becoming a back-bone of Indian team game-by-game. In his last 9 test matches he has scored seven test century. Today’s century was his fourth consecutive century and now he became the third Indian batsman to achieve the feet after Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid. Gambhir's numbers in 2009 are staggering. He has a average of 93.81 in the last nine Tests.
Gautam Gambhir (167 runs) first put on 233 runs partnership with Virendra Sehwag for the first wicket in just 41.2 overs before forging another 137-run association with Rahul Dravid (85 not out) to put India in commanding position of second test match at Kanpur.
With the situation they are in, India will look to score in excess of 700 runs to put pressure on the Sri Lankan batting orders. On the other hand Sri Lanka will try to bowl out India as quickly as possible to give themselves an outside chance of winning this test match which seems highly impossible.
Indian team after fighting their way into the Ahmedabad test match with the help of Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir century in the second inning somehow manage to draw the game on a wicket which supported the batsman throughout the whole five day’s play. However the pitch curator has given surety that the GreenPark, Kanpur wickets will be ideally suited for the test cricket.
It will assist the fast bowlers in the morning session and after that it will help batsman to play their shots. However after two days of play the pitch will start to turn and provide ample support to the spinners.
By considering the above scenario both teams would love to bat first and put huge runs on the board to put pressure on the team batting second. Indian batting lineup also looked in good touch except the first half-an hour play in the first inning.
Gautam Gambhir seems to be becoming the responsible player game-by-game as proved that he has the temperament also and if situation merits, he can stay rooted, frustrating the rivals with his impregnable defence.
The main concerned for the Indians will be their bowling, especially Ishant Sharma who failed to bowl a single maiden over in Ahmedabad test due to wayward bowling. Except Zaheer Khan no Indian bowlers able to put pressure on the Sri Lankan batting order and if it happens again then who knows Sri Lanka may taste their first victory against India in India.
Sri Lanka on the other hand looks more settled in both departments. Their batsmen are in prime form and their bowlers Chanaka Welegedera has proved how dangerous he can be even on lifeless tracks and Dammika Prasad, provided he overcomes a hamstring injury, would also be quite a handful for the Indians.
Ajantha Mendis is likely to be included in the playing XI that means R. Hearth will have to sit out from Kanpur Test.
Likely Playing XI for both Teams (Match is Schedule to begin at 09:30 AM India Time)
India : Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (Captain/WK), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra.
Gautam Gambhir (114 runs) and Sachin Tendulkar (100* runs) hit a much needed century to help India draw the first test match against Sri Lanka at Ahmedabad. Needing eight wickets for victory Sri Lanka manage just two more wickets on day five of the fifth days play which ended the match as soon as Sachin Tendulkar reached his 43rd Test century.
Opener Gautam Gambhir once again showed his patience and class by spending more than four hour at the crease to put his team out of danger from defeat.During his knock of 114 runs he has involved in crucial partnership of 66 runs for the fourth wicket with S.Tendulkar to put India in driving seat to draw the test match.
Once he got out after playing a needless shot of R.Hearth, Sachin Tendulkar taken the responsibility of playing a cool-and-calm inning under pressure. In the process he became the first player in the wolrd to complete the 30000 runs in Intenrational cricket. In the end he has also completed his 43rd test century.
With VVS Laxman (51 not out) also chipping in with his 40th Test half-century, India batted their way out of trouble to maintain their impressive home record against the Lankans.
On the fifth day Sri Lanka needed some quick breakthrough in the first hour of play to put some kind of pressure on the Indians but Amit Mishra and Gautam Gambhir batted sensibly to play the first hour quietly to see India through without loosing any wicket, However some clever field setting done the trick for Sri Lanka to remove Amit Mishra.
Resuming with 144 runs in the arrear, the Indians finished the day at 412 for four with Gambhir, Tendulkar and Laxman scoring bulk of the runs on a shirtfront of a wicket that simply had nothing for the bowlers.
Now both teams will move to Kanpur to play second test match starting on 24th November.
M.Jayawardne was declared Man of the Match for his superb knock of 275 runs.
Sachin Tendulkar crossed 30000 runs in International Cricket
During his laborious knock of unbeaten 100 runs against Sri Lanka at Ahmedabad, Sachin Tendulkar stroked his 35th run to achieve the latest landmark. Sachin Tendulkar who recently completed his 20 years in international cricket is now became the first batsman to achieve the feet.
Now his test scores looks like 12877 runs with an average of 54.79 with 43 hundreds and 53 half centuries.
Here is the list of top 7 worlds most run getter in International cricket
Marathon innings of 275 runs by M.Jayawardne and a world record partnership between him and wicket keeper batsman P.Jayawardne of 351 runs for the sixth wicket has put Sri Lanka in a great position to create a history on slow turning Motera wicket at Ahmedabad on the last day of the 1st test match.
After taking a huge lead of 334 runs, Sri Lanka declared their inning on 760/7 just before tea to give them a great chance of winning their first test match on Indian soil. However brisk opening stand of 81 runs between Virendra Sehwag (51 runs) and Gautam Gambhir (74* runs) and then a solid partnership between Rahul Dravid and Gambhir put India into some safety at the close of fourth days play.
At stumps on day4 Gautam Gambhir and Amit Mishra were at the crease. Now as we know except for the third and fourth morning we have already witnessed how Indians batted in the first hour of the plays on day one and day two of this test match, so by considering this, the fifth day first hour will decide whether this match will heads towards draw or Sri Lanka will register there first win on Indian soil.
Now it’s all depend on 2nd wall of India Gautam Gambhir especially after the way Rahul Dravid was judged lbw by Australian umpire Daryl Harper with a ball clearly going down leg.
Earlier Sri Lanka resumes their day on 591 for five, the Sri Lankas carried on from where they had left and ensured that a number of batting records fell by the wayside. The sixth wicket partnership between the two Jayawardenes sunk the 72-year-old record set by Jack Fingleton and Donald Bradman for Australia against England in the last Ashes series held before World War II, in 1936-37, at Melbourne.
Rahul Dravid unbeaten 177 runs in Ahemdabad Test match against Sri Lanka on day 1 put India on top after reduced to 32/4 at one stage. Rahul Dravid during his knock of 177 runs also became the fifth Cricketer to get pass 11000 runs in Test cricket and only second Indian after Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar to achieve the landmark.
After electing to bat first Indians were tottering at 32/4 in the 8th over but first a century partnership of 125 runs for the fifth wicket with Yuvraj Singh (68 runs) and then a massive 224 runs stand for the sixth wicket with Indian captain M.S.Dhoni (110 runs) put India in total control of the first test match.
At stumps on day one Rahul Dravid was playing unbeaten on 177 runs with Harbhajan Singh batting on 2 runs. The Indians, despite the early jolts, scored at a brisk pace right through the day but fell just one run short of the record first day total made by India, 386 against South Africa at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai in 2007-08.
Earlier Welegedara led the Sri Lanka assault on the much-vaunted India batting line-up and dismissed the top three batsmen in a fiery opening spell to leave the hosts struggling at 31 for three. Then Dammika Prasad produced a beauty to bowled V.V.S.Laxman for duck to reduce the fame Indian batting lineup to 32/4.
Indian team after a humiliating defeat against Australia in ODI has chance to get back in the winning groove when they will take on Sri Lanka for the first test match at Ahmedabad in the three match test series.
Sri Lanka who never manage to win a single test at Indian soil is quite confidant of turning the tide in their favour. However it will be tough for them considering Laxman and Dravid the two most stylish players in the team. With the opening combination of Sehwag and Gambhir and solidity of Tendulkar, Laxman and Dravid in the middle makes India far more superior team than Sri Lanka on paper.
Both Rahul Dravid and V.V.S.Laxman, especially the former, are coming into the match on the back of some good displays in the Ranji Trophy and would be eager to hit the straps.
However since last six months India never played a single test match and it’s important for M.S.Dhoni and his team to switch quickly in the Test match mood.
The first test between India and Sri Lanka will be also remembered for Sachin who now step in into his 21st year of International cricket career. Sachin Tendulkar just needs 39 runs to complete his 30000 runs in international cricket and if he will achieve that feet then it will be icing on the cake.
In the bowling department, Sri Lanka looks more settled than the Indians, with the likes of Murali, Mendis in their ranks.
This test series will also provide opportunity for both teams to grab the number one ICC Test Ranking. India must win the series by 2-0 to grab that position. However Sri Lanka needs to lift the cup and they will grab the number one test ranking regardless of series win margin whether it’s 2-1 or 1-0.
Likely Playing XI for both Teams (Match is Schedule to begin at 09:30 AM India Time)
India : Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (Captain/WK), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra.
It was a great moment for me. If I am not mistaken, Chandu Borde, our team manager, handed me my cap. But there was no presentation ceremony like they have today.
2. My first Test hundred It came at Old Trafford in 1990. Manoj Prabhakar helped me with some determined batting at the other end. I was not at all surprised by what he did that day because I had played with him earlier and I knew that he was a terrific competitor. We prevented England from winning.
3. The counter-attacking 114 at Perth This ton is a favourite of mine. Australia had four quick bowlers (Craig McDermott, Merv Hughes, Mike Whitney and Paul Reiffel) but I thought McDermott was the most challenging to face in Perth. Throughout the series he was their main bowler.
4. Bowling the last over against SA in the 1993 Hero Cup South Africa needed six runs to win in the last over. There was no plan for me to bowl that over but I said I was very confident of bowling it successfully. I conceded just three and we won.
5. 82 (off 49 balls) against NZ as opener in 1994 I was the vice-captain then and our regular opener Navjot Singh Sidhu woke up with a stiff neck. I requested Azhar (Mohammad Azharuddin) and Ajit Wadekar (coach) to "just give me one opportunity and I am very confident of playing some big shots. And if I fail, I'll never ever come to you again".
6. Winning the Titan Cup in 1996 South Africa were playing terrific cricket right through the tournament. We adopted a different strategy. As captain I chose to have five fielders on the on side. I told Robin Singh not to bowl seam but cutters into the body and make them score everything on the on side. Maybe that came as a surprise for them.. This was one low-scoring game that I can never forget.
7. 1997 Sahara Cup win over Pakistan We were without our top three bowlers for this tournament, which I led India in. We were without Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble, but we had Abey Kuruvilla, Harvinder Singh, Debasish Mohanty and Nilesh Kulkarni as newcomers. It was a fantastic effort and we beat Pakistan 4-1. Incredible!
8. Scoring 155 against Australia in the 1998 Chennai Test I thought getting used to that angle from Shane Warne was important. Before the Test I not only practiced with Laxman Sivaramakrishnan but Nilesh Kulkarni and Sairaj Bahutule in Mumbai too. They gave me a lot of practice. I clearly remember saying to my friends after I scored a double hundred for Mumbai against Australia that Warne has not bowled a single ball round the wicket and I know that he will do it in the Test series.
9. 1998's sandstorm hundred in Sharjah against Australia The first of the two back-to-back hundreds in Sharjah, 1998. Tendulkar highlighted the similarities between his Sharjah efforts and the two special knocks in the 2008 tri-series finals in Australia in terms of how small a gap there was between the two matches of each of these series, which made it so difficult on the body.
10. Meeting Don Bradman in Adelaide Without doubt, the most riveting moment in my off-field career. The trip to Adelaide in 1998 with Shane Warne was truly special and to meet him on his 90th birthday made it even more memorable. It was great to spend 45 minutes to an hour talking cricket with him.
11. Beating England at Leeds, 2002 Sanjay Bangar played beautifully for his 68 and he put on a good partnership with Rahul Dravid, who played superbly. I remember going to bat after tea and Andrew Flintoff was bowling a lot of short-pitched stuff round the wicket. I moved pretty well the next day and I remember leaving deliveries off Matthew Hoggard, who bowled a few overs outside the off stump. I paced my innings well (193) and went past Sir Don's tally of 29 Test hundreds.
12. Match-winning 98 against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup There was that six off Shoaib (Akhtar) but there were other shots which I felt good about in that match. I was playing with a finger injury and the finger wouldn't straighten. I avoided fielding practice through the tournament because I was experiencing a lot of pain while catching. I gave fielding practice though.
13. First series win in Pakistan, 2003-04 Undoubtedly one of the top series wins in my career. Remember, Pakistan had a good side and we went there and won convincingly.
14. 35th Test hundred, v Sri Lanka in Delhi, 2005 There was this pressure which was building up to go past Sunil Gavaskar in the Test century tally. The room service and housekeeping people in my hotel only spoke about me getting century No 35. I was glad and relieved when it happened because I could then start enjoying the game again.
15. Beating England in Nottingham in 2007 We have always managed to come back well after a defeat or saving a match. This is a classic example. We escaped defeat in the opening Test at Lord's but came back to win in TrentBridge.
16. Beating Australia in Perth in 2008 We were determined to win this Test after what happened in Sydney. We shouldn't have lost in Sydney considering we were in a good position on the first day, but then the world has seen what happened (referring to the umpiring).
17. The CB Series triumph in Australia in 2008 Not only India, but all other sides found Australia too hard to beat. My hundred in the first final at Sydney was satisfying but the second match in Brisbane was tough. We went to bed at 3 am in Sydney after a day-night game. I just could not sleep and woke up at 8 am to catch a morning flight. I was trying every possible thing to be fresh for the next day's match. The next day we won the toss and batted. It was quite humid so the conditions were tough. We knew that the first half hour was crucial. I thought even if I don't get runs quickly, it's fine because if we don't lose early wickets, the big strokeplayers can always capitalise on the start and that's what happened.
18. Going past Brian Lara's Test run tally in Mohali, 2008 Becoming the highest run-getter in world cricket doesn't happen overnight. Lara is a special player and a guy who is a good friend. We respect each other immensely. To go past his tally meant that I have contributed something to cricket.
19. Second-innings Test hundred against England in Chennai, 2008 Awesome feeling to get that hundred, which I dedicated to the people of Mumbai. It was a very emotional time. It was important to stay there till the end and I remember telling my batting partner, Yuvraj Singh, that it's still not over so don't relax. I recalled that close game against Pakistan in 1999 when we lost by 12 runs.
20. 175 against Australia in Hyderabad, 2009 I know my body well and I know how much I can push so I was not surprised to score a 175 at the age of 36. Even if I had to complete those 20 runs by running them, I was absolutely fine. I was a few runs short of completing 17,000 ODI runs before the match, but that wasn't playing on my mind. However, every now and again it appeared on the scoreboard. That's not important to me. The important thing was to go out and win.
Due to heavy rain fall in Mumbai the 7th ODI between India and Australia is called off without any single ball bowled. So Australia won the series by 4-2 with one last game called-off.
Shane Watson declared Man of the Series. With the series win in India, Australia now got ahead with eight points in ICC ODI ranking from South Africa and India.
Earlier Post
With the series already in the bag of Australia, now India will look for a win to minimize the gap from 5-2 to 4-3 when they will take on Australia at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai
A loss here for India will push them to number three position in ICC ODI Ranking. India morale is already looking down with the successive losses at Mohali, Hyderabad and Guwahati. Apart from the loss at Guwahati, India lost quite of few closed games which could have won by team India.
They have only themselves to blame in a position they are. They have thrown almost three of their games which looked almost in their bag. Their lower order batsman did fantastically well but no one manage to win a game for India. But we can’t blame bowlers to bat and win a game for India if the top order unable to finish up the job.
With the full series of Tests, ODIs and Twenty20s coming up against Sri Lanka only four days after the conclusion of the rubber against the world champions, it is imperative for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men to pull out all stops and reduce the margin of defeat.
A win here at Navi Mumbai new stadium which is hosting it’s first ever one day international games will be tonic for the home side just before the major series against the Sri Lanka lions.
Watch out for
Sachin Tendulkar: A man who is just four days away from completing his 20 year international cricket career is still delightful to watch when he go out to bat. His one sizzling knock of 174 runs of 141 balls already created lots of buzz all around the world. So it will be interesting to see how he counter attacks Aussies in front of his home crowd.
D.Bollinger: His introduction in the series was not expected but due to injury of some of the keys players he drafted into the team and since then he didn’t look back. He has impressed all with his accuracy and wicket picking abilities.
Pitch & Condition
The pitch at The DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai is expected to help both spin and pace bowlers. Anything in excess of 275 runs will be winning total on this wicket. However Rain is expected to play spoilsport.
Teams
To get some rest ahead of home season M.Johnson and Shane Watson already flew away from India that means Australia are certain to give one-day debuts to Andrew McDonald and Burt Cockley. On the other hand India may give opportunity to Ishant Sharma and Amith Mishra ahead of important Sri Lanka series.
Likely Playing XI for both Teams (Match is Schedule to begin at 14:30 PM India Time)
Australia Squad: Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges, Ricky Ponting (Captain), Cameron White, Michael Hussey, Andrew McDonald, Graham Manou (WK), Clint McKay, Jon Holland, Doug Bollinger, Burt Cockley.
Stats and Trivia
Sachin Tendulkar needs another 49 runs to complete his 30,000 Runs in International Cricket.
M.S.Dhoni needs 46 runs to achieve the 5000 runs in ODI.
