Talk about a revenge effort! The Sri Lankan captain was perhaps playing the role of the angry young man because his batting simply crippled the Indian bowling into submission.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to field first so that his bowlers could bowl before dew played its part. But there was another hurdle in the way of a facile win = the Sri Lankan captain.
The fireworks began with the forty year old Sanath Jayasuriya, taking guard for the first time on this tour and smacking Ashish Nehra with audacious batting. Jayasuriya also enjoyed the benefit of slippery fingers from the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Ishant Sharma who missed a caught and bowled chance of his own bowling. Giving Jayasuriya company was Tillekeratne Dilshan and together they put up a forty-three run partnership in 6.2 overs.
It was a relief then for India that debutant Ashoke Dinda got the breakthrough in his first over by dismissing Jayasuriya for twenty-six. Rohit Sharma, playing the role of the part time bowler along with Yusuf Pathan, picked up Dilshan for thirty-four runs and India would have felt they had a foot in the door.
But even they would not have prepared for the blaze from Kumar Sangakkara who was simply unstoppable in the first Twenty20 match between the two teams in Nagpur. He exposed the barrenness of ideas from the Indian bowlers as he took the assault and the offensive with a destructive streak.
Boundaries came off successive deliveries, the run rate started to gallop and the Indians beginning to wear thin under the pressure. It is interesting to note that former Sri Lankan captain, Marvan Atapattu, had stated on air that Mahendra Singh Dhoni, had not really mastered the art of Twenty20. And his words rang louder in the face of such a brutal assault on the Indian senses.
Sangakkara’s partnership with Chamara Kapugedera flourished in a half century stand. And even when Kapugedera was dismissed close to the finishing line, Angelo Matthews provided the flourish with two thumping sixes as Sri Lanka ended their innings on 215/5.
None of the bowlers, apart from Ishant Sharma drafted in for Sreesanth, will like to look back on their bowling figures for the match. Was this an innings played in anger by Sangakkara?
This will be an interesting chase, made hard or easy depending on how India begin. Time for Virender Sehwag to turn it on!
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