By Anil - June 30, '02
June 30 2002

India wins its second successive game in the Natwest ODI series by beating Sri Lanka, if not quite as forcefully as their fans expected after a super bowling display. Some cool pace bowling

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Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first. But this Oval pitch was not quite the same as the one on which 850 runs were scored a few weeks back by English county sides. Not only was it bouncy but overcast weather offered movement too. This is supposed to be the fastest pitch in England.

Jayasuriya, in attacking mood, found Nehra very hard to get away but subjected Zaheer to severe punishment - and Ganguly wisely removed him from the attack after 3 overs and brought in Agarkar. In a fiery spell, the fast bowler took Kalu's wicket with his very first ball, caught behind. Kalu had been dropped early by Dravid but could not take advantage of the opportunity. Agarkar and Drvaid teamed up to take 3 wickets, of which the catch to remove Jayasuriya was very nice - with Dravid jumping high to grab a nick off an Agarkar bouncer.

Once Agarkar had taken apart the top order, Ganguly decided to bring himself and Kumble in. Ganguly's medium pace was extremely effective - he bowled 10 overs on the trot, took 1 wicket, and bowled the most economical spell of the tournament to date. Kumble was average, giving away 4 runs an over without taking a wicket. Nehra continued to impress, and Zaheer improved upon his first spell greatly when he came back. Undoubtedly, it is the seamers who are doing the job for India in England this tour. Kaif took the catch of the match at short extra cover, sending back Chandana with a spectacular running, diving take off Nehra.

Batting starts and stops

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Everybody expected India to knock off the runs in half the required overs, taking a bonus point in the process. But when Ganguly was given out LBW, and Sehwag caught at midoff trying to hit out at Vaas, the innings slowed down. Mongia took his time to settle down, and Tendulkar coming in to tumultous applause, looked in great nick. The highlight of the day was after a short ball from Lanka paceman Dilhara Fernando to Sachin, he sent in another bouncer to which Sachin responded in absolutely vicious style - hooking him clean out of the park as if to tell him, how dare you bowl short at me you bloody average medium pacer! That 6 was magnificent to see, the ball was lost for a while but they managed to find it. Holding's comment: if someone had ever hit me like that I would start bowling medium pace.

Sachin left at 49 and Mongia couldn't quite take off either perishing at 33. Thereafter the new young brigade of Yuvraj and Kaif took India home, and although Yuvraj was out trying to complete the last 8 runs through boundaries, Agarkar came in and helped Kaif finish the job. Agarkar got a well-deserved Man of the Match award, having caused a Lankan collapse while Jaya was in full flow, and also was called "the India allrounder" by the award presenter in the ceremony!

Crowd support

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A huge majority of the packed stadium looked like people of Indian origin. They were having a ball, giving massive support to India, and generally making a lot of noise. I even saw the Bharat Barmy Army along with their incredibly gigantic flag. The Indian team, and especially Sachin, must have felt completely at home here. But, I wish the fans would tone down their racket at least while Indian batsmen are facing a delivery. Horns and trumpets were being blown continuously and people raising flags everywhere must have been disturbing to the Indian batsmen. That's what they should be doing when the OPPOSITION is batting! A couple guys were even stupid enough to wave an Indian flag in front of the sightscreen while one of the batsmen was facing a delivery. In any case, there was fantastic atmosphere in the stadium. And no bottles or anything of the sort ever found its way to the ground from this cheerful and sporting crowd.

Soapbox

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• Ganguly was given out LBW by Peter Willey, the England umpire, off a ball which moved into him. Yesterday, Tendulkar was given out LBW by the Eng umpire off a moving ball also. The question is not that these LBWs were unfair, so much as similar LBW appeals, and even straightforward plumb LBW appeals, by the Indian team have been negated by the same umpires. Why? The rulings have to be consistent. The Eng commentators don't bother to make these comparisons but will repeatedly play over and over when one of their team's LBW appeals is denied. In this case, two major Indian batsmen are given out in two matches. Consistency is needed.
• There were no bowling speeds displayed for this match.. why?
• Lanka bowlers repeatedly bowled short, often bowling two bouncers an over without being no-balled, and often a bouncer going well above the batsman's head without being declared a no-ball. Fernando was a frequent culprit. Why can't Willey and Orchard conform to the rules and call these no-balls? It almost feel like these umps relax because they know the Indians won't cause the same kind of ruckus Eng would if the same thing happened to them.
• Botham and Gavaskar in a conversation - Botham says for the umpteenth time in a contemptuous tone (as most of the Eng commentators do) "Cricket is a real religion in India and Sachin is a god there isn't he.. even the government gets involved when it comes to cricketing matters, doesn't it..", and Gavaskar responds "And the same thing happened here when England played Brazil last week, didn't it".. Botham with a lame "hahaha yes".

Next match hopes

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• Swap out Kumble for Bhajij
• Bring Ratra in and rest Dravid.