Sri Lanka D(hon)isheartened; India advance

India made a couple of changes to their playing (Pat)eleven – Virender Sehwag and Sreesanth made way for Praveen Kumar – the player of the match – and Munaf. Sri Lanka made one change to the eleven that last played the Indians – Farveez Maharoof made way for Dilruwan Perera.

On winning the toss, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s skipper, inserted the Sri Lankans. Perera, whose 13-ball innings included a boundary, scored eight. Twenty balls into the (Shar)match, Ishant broke the 15-run stand.

The second Powerplay of Sri Lanka’s innings was between the 11^th and the 15^th over. They scored 50 off 10.1 overs (63 balls). India made a couple of extras at that point.

Sri Lanka’s second-wicket pair put on 50 off 54 balls. While Sanath Jayasuriya’s contribution to the partnership was 20, Kumar Sangakkara’s contribution to it was 30. Extras didn’t contribution to the partnership.

Sangakkara, whose 42-ball innings included four boundaries, eventually scored 33. Sixty-five balls after Perera’s dismissal, he was caught by Dhoni. Irfan Pathan broke the 57-run partnership.

The third Powerplay of Sri Lanka’s innings was between the 15^th and the 20^th over. Mahela Jayawardene, who faced 11 balls, scored just three. Sixteen balls after Sangakkara’s dismissal, he was caught by Rohit Sharma. Kumar broke the five-run stand.

A hundred and one balls into the match, the first drinks break was taken. Sri Lanka had scored 77 for the loss of three wickets at that point. Jayasuriya was batting on 30. Chamara Silva, who faced four balls, didn’t get off the mark. Ten balls after Jayawardene’s dismissal, he was caught by Dhoni. Kumar broke the four-run stand.

The fifth-wicket pair D(hon)idn’t get off the mark. Jayasuriya, whose 44-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and a six, scored 34. Half-a-dozen balls later, he was caught behind off the bowling of Pathan.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, whose 12-ball innings included a boundary, scored eight. Twenty-four balls later, he was trapped leg before wicket by Ishant, who broke the 12-run stand.

The seventh-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Chaminda Vaasn’t in seventh heaven, because he didn’t open his account. Thirteen balls later, he was caught by Gautam Gambhir off the bowling of Ishant.

Sri Lanka scored 100 off 28.5 overs (177 balls). India made four extras at that point. Thirty-one overs into the match, the second drinks break was taken. Sri Lanka had scored 106 for the loss of seven wickets at that point. While Chamara Kapugedera was batting on 10, Lasith Malinga was batting on six.

Malinga, who faced 36 balls, eventually scored a dozen. Seventy-eight balls later, he was caught by Robin Uthappa. Ishant broke the 46-run stand.

Sri Lanka scored 150 off 42 overs (258 balls). India made 11 extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of the extras they eventually conceded.

Kapugedera’s half-century – which included three boundaries – came off 81 balls. Muttiah Muralitharan, whose 27-ball innings included a boundary, scored 13. Forty-nine balls later, Kumar broke the 4o-run stand.

The last-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Kapugedera, whose 86-ball innings included four boundaries, eventually scored 57. A couple of balls later, he was caught by Harbhajan Singh off his own bowling. Ishara Amerasinghe, who faced a ball, didn’t get off the mark. He was unbeaten.

Sri Lanka were dismissed for 179 off 47.1 overs. Yuvraj Singh, who bowled four overs, conceded 11. He was wicketless, as was Patel, who bowled nine overs, conceded 51.

Harbhajan, who bowled 4.1 overs, conceded 17. He picked up a wicket, as did Pathan, who bowled 10 overs, including a couple of maidens. He conceded 23. Ishant and Kumar – whose spell included a couple of maidens – bowled 10 overs each, picking up four scalps apiece. While the former conceded 41, the latter conceded 31.

Uthappa, whose nine-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 11. Eleven balls into the chase, he was caught by Amerasinghe. Malinga broke the 18-run stand.

India scored 50 off 9.3 overs (60 balls). Sri Lanka made three extras at that point. The second-wicket pair put on 50 off 63 balls. While Sachin Tendulkar’s contribution to the partnership was 34, Gambhir’s contribution to it was 16. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was a couple.

Sixteen overs into the chase, the first drinks break was taken. India had scored 93 for the loss of a wicket at that point. While Tendulkar was batting on 47, Gambhir was batting on 32. Tendulkar’s half-century – which included nine boundaries – came off 44 balls.

India scored 100 off 16.4 overs (103 balls). Sri Lanka made three extras at that point. The second-wicket pair put on 100 off 108 balls. While Tendulkar’s contribution to the partnership was 56, Gambhir’s contribution to it was 41. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was three.

Tendulkar, whose 54-ball innings included 10 boundaries, eventually scored 63. A hundred and ten balls later, he was caught by Silva. Muralitharan broke the 102-run partnership. Gambhir’s half-century – which included four boundaries – came off 72 balls.

India scored 150 off 25.5 overs (199 balls). Sri Lanka made four extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded. The third-wicket pair put on 50 off 54 balls. While Gambhir’s contribution to the partnership was 14, Yuvraj’s contribution to it was 36. Extras didn’t contribute to the partnership.

Gambhir, whose 89-ball innings included five boundaries, eventually scored 63. He was unbeaten. Yuvraj, whose 35-ball innings included four boundaries and the only six of the innings, didn’t add to the aforementioned score. Fifty-seven balls after Tendulkar’s dismissal, he was caught by Dilshan. Perera broke the 51-run partnership.

Rohit, who scored three, was in seventh heaven, because he was unbeaten. India scored 180 for the loss of three wickets off 32.2 overs, winning by seven wickets with 106 balls to spare.

Jayasuriya, who bowled a wicketless over, conceded four. Vaas, who bowled half-a-dozen wicketless overs, conceded 29. Amerasinghe, who bowled seven wicketless overs, conceded 40.

Perera, who bowled four overs, conceded 17. He picked up a wicket. Malinga, who bowled half-a-dozen overs, conceded 36. He picked up a wicket. Muralitharan, who bowled 8.2 overs, conceded 54. He picked up a wicket.

While India advanced to the best-of-three finals, Sri Lanka were eliminated.