Jadeja, Ashwin steer India home

Perth: India has registered their 2nd win Down Under as they defeated Sri Lanka by 4 wickets in the 2nd match of the Common Wealth Bank Series. It was incredible performance by the bowlers who set the match for India against Sri Lanka.

Indians found it easy than Sri Lankans to play in Perth as they have already familiar with bouncy tracks. Lankans found it difficult to handle short balls and they did not play the Indian spinners well in the middle part which led to the defeat. Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin bowled exceptionally well in the slog overs. However Dhoni said at the presentation, “Ashwin deserved the man-of-the-match award since the period he had bowled was critical from the batting side as that was power-play period and slog overs, he was able to chip-in with wickets”.

Initially, the toss went in favour of Lankans as they wanted to make full utilise of the wicket in the sun. The track was little bit on bouncy side. Lanka started badly as they lost Tharanga in the 2nd over edging Zaheer to Tendulkar at slip. It was Dilshan who showed some commitment and handled the Indian pace attack and his knock of 47 was crucial as he lost Sangakkara in the 16th over giving Zaheer his 2nd wicket. Later the innings was progressed by Jayewardane and Chandimal. However, Lanka lost wickets during the 25-40th over which turned around for India. Finally Sri Lanka managed 233 runs on the board which looked reasonable but not impossible to defend.

Indians felt hiccups in the middle as they had lost three quick wickets (Sehwag, Raina, and R. Sharma). It was Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, who steadied the run chase which gave some hope for India. However Sachin was dismissed by Kulasekara for 48 and disappointed his fans. Then there were some contributions from RG Sharma (14), Raina (10) and Dhoni was out for 4. Later it was Jadeja and Ashwin’s job to stay at the crease for India in the final 10 overs. They finished the game for India with 3.4 overs remaining. Asked about his thoughts when went out to bat, Ashwin said; “My thought was to bat for the full last 10 overs. We were saying each other that run-rate is in control, need not take too much risks, just looking for one’s and two’s and wait for the loose ball to arrive”.

Dhoni said at the presentation “The part time spinners and Ashwin really bowled well though some overs went for runs”. He was also proud of his side as he has the best fielding side. When asked about it he said; “Iam proud of the side that I had got. The commitment in the field was really good. I feel the fielding will get better and not down as we saved 20-30 runs which we don’t want to chase under lights. We would like to carry this momentum to Adelaide” where they play Australia and Sri Lanka next week.

Ashwin was awarded the man-of-the-match as he made his team comeback from a difficult situation. Dhoni also praised Ashwin for his efforts. He said; “Ashwin did a good job. He deserved this award since the period later he bowled was tough. He bowled in batting power-play and in slog overs which is difficult for a spinner”.