Shocking decision ends Yuvraj's knock

[Guest srikanth51]

INDIA INNINGS

Colombo: Yuvraj Singh’s positive knock of 66 runs was ended thanks to a shocking decision during the second one-day international of the Wealthsurance Cup against Sri Lanka on Saturday.

The southpaw, who looked in ominous touch, was given out by local umpire Gamini Silva. Kulasekara’s delivery struck Yuvraj low on the pads but the batsman got a thick inside edge. The fielded side appealed in unision and Umpire Silva raised the finger. It left Yuvraj and the whole of India stunned.

elevision replays confirmed that there was a massive inside edge. All-rounder Yusuf Pathan came out to join his captain.

A soft dismissal ended Suresh Raina’s 29 runs when part-time spinner Tillakaratne Dilshan extracted some extra bounce off the pitch and it foxed Raina into playing a false stroke. It stopped at Raina who dabbed at it hard off the back foot, scooping the ball to short-cover where Kapugedera took an easy catch.

Meanwhile Yuvraj Singh brought up his 38th ODI half-century and consolidated the Indian innings after the loss of Sehwag and Gambhir. Yuvraj and Raina added 85 runs for the fourth-wicket until Raina fell off Dilshan’s bowling.

Yuvraj and Raina got together after Virender Sehwag’s 42-run blitzkrieg ended earlier in the innings. Having cracked a boundary off Thushara’s bowling, Sehwag creamed the ball through the mid-wicket region and set off for a few runs. He called Yuvraj back for the third and Jayasuriya, who was at the boundary, threw the ball to the non-striker’s end to end Sehwag’s knock. It was a suicidal run-out and put India under immense pressure.

Sehwag and Yuvraj added 21 runs for the third-wicket.

Gautam Gambhir, who slammed 27 runs off 28 balls and looked set for a big score, tried to guide the ball down the third man but edged a Maharoof delivery to Lanka keeper Sangakkara. It ended the 49-run stand between Gambhir and Sehwag for the second-wicket.

India lost senior pro Sachin Tendulkar (6) early on Saturday as Nuwan Kulasekara trapped the master leg-before.

Tendulkar fiddled around with a few deliveries outside the off-stump and survived a close shout exactly a delivery before Brian Jerling raised his finger and the Sri Lankans began their celebrations amidst a fantastic crowd in Colombo..

Earlier India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first as Virender Sehwag, who missed the first one-day international at Dambulla on Wedensday due to a back injury, was declared fit on Friday and returns to the playing XI. The hard-hitting opener replaces middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma, who scored an unbeaten 25 in his team's six-wicket win in Dambulla. Sehwag's return will also give his captain more bowling options as he has bagged 84 wickets with his part-time off-spin.

Sri Lanka retained the same XI that played at Dambulla.

Sri Lanka's off-spinner Muttiah Muralidaran is just two wickets short of surpassing former Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram's world record of 502. Murali will get the opportunity of doing so in front of a jam-packed Saturday afternoon Colombo audience.

Lanky India pacer Munaf Patel was left out due to an injury. Uttar Pradesh all-rounder Praveen Kumar replaced Munaf in the XI.

Teams:-

Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (wicketkeeper), Mahela Jayawardena (captain), Chamara Kapugedera, Thilina Kandamby, Farveez Maharoof, Thilan Thushara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Muttiah Muralidaran, Ajantha Mendis.

India: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (captain & wicketkeeper), Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma.

Umpires: Brian Jerling (RSA) and Gamini Silva (SL)

Third Umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SL)

Referee: Chris Broad (ENG)