da wazamba： The match against Sri Lanka before the final was important on two countsfor the Indians
da dobrowin： Woorkheri Raman28-Oct-2000The match against Sri Lanka before the final was important on two countsfor the Indians. One was to establish a psychological dominance and otherwas to try and sort out Muralitharan. Unfortunately they failed on boththose counts and the Sri Lankans demolished them with panache. Thedifference between the sides was the mental strength and also the commonsense displayed by Marvin Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene. The broke therecord for the third wicket partnership and in the process they exposed thelimitations of the Indian attack.It is sort of strange that Anil Kumble has been under scrutiny when oneconsiders that his absence yesterday showed what a big difference he makesto the side especially in the middle overs. Ajit Agarkar dismissedJayasurya and Kaluwitharana in successive overs after Zaheer Khan kept thempinned to the back foot with an aggressive opening spell. Agarkar looked abit like himself and he has to pick up wickets to make up for his ordinaryeconomy rate. The double strike by Agarkar brought Attapattu andJayawardene together and the way they controlled the major part of theinnings was as smooth as silk.They had to play themselves in initially almost like in a Test match andafter having done that they gradually took the game away from the Indiansin a clever and stealthy manner. The remarkable aspect of theAtapattu-Jayawardene partnership was that they orthodox cricket shots andmade batting look so easy. The pitch was firm to start off with but sloweddown considerably as the game progressed. Atapattu, the more experienced ofthe two, took on the role of a sheet anchor and he allowed Jayawardene toadopt his methods. Not that the youngster went berserk but he showed greatpoise and played some delectable shots all round the park. A couple of latecuts he played off Robin Singh were reminiscent of Gundappa Visvanath, theformer Indian legend.By the time the game reached the halfway stage, the Sri Lankans wereadroitly manipulating the Indians and the Indian skipper tried all thetricks up his sleeves but in vain. The left arm spinners Joshi, Sriram andYuvraj Singh were dealt with ease and even Joshi lost his way in the laterstages of the innings. Robin Singh looked rusty and the Sri Lankan pairworked him around comfortably for runs. Ganguly tried his hand as well butthe dominant third wicket pair helped themselves to runs at will.Jayawardene played what must go down as one of the best innings ever to beplayed at Sharjah. Arnold rubbed salt into the wounds of the Indians withsome quickfire batting and Atapattu reached his hundred just in time. TheLankans should be given the credit as they showed what batting out theopponents is all about.The Indian reply started off in the most unwanted fashion with Gangulydeparting early and Sriram following suit. The youngster might well rue hismode of dismissals as he may be dropped at least temporarily. It would be abit harsh if he were to be dropped as he has the talent to come good giventhe confidence. Tendulkar looked in good touch and it was a pleasure to seestrike the ball with the authority one expects of him. His rash shot to becaught off Muralitharan was brought about by his over enthusiasm to try andtake charge of the proceedings. If it took a pair to take away the gamefrom the Indians in the first half, Muralitharan drove the nails in thecoffin on his own when the Indians batted. It was almost that he had thebatsmen mesmerised as he ran through the side with an incredible spell. Theresistance from Dahiya and Badani was not enough for the side but it hasdone their reputation no harm at all.The Indians will start as underdogs in the final and it is good in a waythat there will no undue pressures on them. Moreover things may go wrongfor the Lankans on the day that matters. Still the Indians have to play outof their skins to put it across the Sri Lankans.
