India won their first ODI tournament on Sri Lankan soil in 11 years. Sachin Tendulkar's masterly 138 and Harbhajan Singh's 5-56 helped them beat Sri Lanka by 46 runs in the final of the Compaq Cup on Monday night. Sri Lanka didn't surrender without a spirited chase. They were also helped by India's atrocious fielding and pedestrian fast bowling at Colombo's Premadasa Stadium.
But Tendulkar first: 138 flawless runs from 133 balls, 10 fours, one six. It was his 44th ODI hundred, his eighth against Sri Lanka, fourth at the Premadasa, and sixth in a final - and India's won all six. He collected his 59th man of the match and 14th man of the series awards for it. The hundred, and fifties from MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid's 39 as an opener, boosted India to 319-5.
Sri Lanka responded with 273. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya blitzed away to 60 in seven overs, thanks mainly to Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma who bowled short and wide - and then followed it up with some short and wide bowling. RP Singh was no different. The lessons from the last game - when Angelo Matthews scored six wickets with gentle in-cutters - were not learnt. There was little variation and the trio kept banging it in, perhaps happily imagining they were in Durban.
Gripping final
The introduction of spin bore fruits for India. Harbhajan got Dilshan second ball with a straighter one that'd do Saqlain Mushtaq proud. The ball pitched around middle, held its line, and knocked over the stumps as Dilshan went back for a cut. Mahela Jayawardene also misread Harbhajan, played across and popped a simple return catch. Yusuf Pathan, too, did his bit by sending back Jayasuriya in his first over.
The match took a decisive turn in the 28th over when RP slipped Sangakkara a full-toss. The Sri Lankan captain swung, and in the follow through, his bat slipped through his sweaty palms and dislodged the bails, rendering him out hit wicket. Sangakkara fumed and checked if it was a height no ball. It wasn't. India had one hand on the trophy.
Miserable fielding
Thilana Kandamby, however, was in no mood to relent. Making use of Yusuf Pathan's gift - a sitter missed at mid-off - and several other fielding lapses, Kandamby reached a slow-paced fifty. He had banked on letting loose in the batting Power Play which Sri Lanka saved for the end. He and Chamara Kapugedera added 70 runs and made the Indian side nervous.
Pathan's drop was the second of the day after Virat Kohli had floored another simple one at backward point. Luckily for Kohli, Jayasuriya didn't make India pay. Then, there were twos offered easily by outfielders, and several run-outs missed, even if one discounts the missed direct hits.
Harbhajan aside, the bowler of the day was perhaps Suresh Raina (8 overs, 1-26), whose miserly spell was topped with the crucial wicket of Kapugedera. He bowled well in tandem with Yuvraj (6 overs, 1-24) to bring Sri Lanka's asking rate under check. Harbhajan then quickly wrapped up the game with three wickets in his final spell.
Toss the boss again
The toss has been crucial to results at the Premadasa. Dhoni won it and put India in. Tendulkar opened with Dravid and laid the bedrock - an opening stand of 95. The stand-out feature of Tendulkar's flawless innings was his cover-driving, against both pace and spin. He gently tapped his first ball of the match past mid-off and it raced away for three. It set the tone for the match.
Only Nuwan Kulasekara, and to some extent, Jayasuriya, could be proud of their bowling figures today. The rest - Lasith Malinga in particular - were punished. Malinga took 1-81, Thilan Thushara 2-71 and Ajantha Mendis 1-70.
Dhoni produced a typically Dhoni-like fifty - with lots of hard running, sensible gap-finding and some brute drives. He added 110 with Tendulkar. The master batsman then added 71 with Yuvraj Singh, who provided the late boost with his power-packed 56 not out. Tendulkar cramped up towards the end of his innings and had Dravid running for him.
From 173/1 in 30 overs, India had the chance to score well over 330. But sides batting second at the venue are disadvantaged and even 319 was a mighty big ask. The highest chase at the Premadasa in an ODI is 270 - by India themselves, against England in the 2002 Champions Trophy.
Sri Lanka's highest successful chase here is 265 in 2004, the only other time a 250+ target was achieved here in a total of 95 matches. These facts meant India had done the most to not asphyxiate in yet another final.
Resolute batting
After the 139-run loss to Sri Lanka, India wore a resolved look today. Dravid cut the second ball of the match for four, a sign he wasn't going to be bogged down. Dropped twice on his way to 39, he and Tendulkar built on their cautious start. They boosted India's run rate to nearly six by the time Dravid popped a simple catch to cover.
Tendulkar carried on regardless, his knock built around those exquisite cover drives - off the front-foot against Kulasekara and Thushara, off the back-foot against Malinga, and stepping out to Mendis.
His fifty was raised in 45 balls and the hundred in 92. He was cramping up when he lofted Mendis over cover for six and reverse-swept him for consecutive fours. He was out LBW trying his third straight reverse sweep. With the run rate stalling a little, Yuvraj struck a 39-ball fifty to take India past 300.
The previous five instances of Tendulkar's hundreds in final are 134 against Australia (Sharjah, 1998), 100 not out against Kenya (Kolkata, 1998), 128 against Sri Lanka (Colombo, 1998), 124 not out against Zimbabwe (Sharjah, 1998) and 117 not out against Australia (Sydney, 2008).
What's next?
A tournament win 18 months after the CB Series win over Australia would no doubt boost the Indian team's morale. However, they need to work on a few things before they head for the Champions Trophy.
The catching in recent times has been alarmingly bad. India's fielders have not pulled off any spectacular catches off late, but worryingly they've been putting down a lot of easy ones. Ishant Sharma's form also concerns. He's not been among the wickets, and has continued to bleed runs.
Then, there's the opening slot. In Virender Sehwag's absence - and possibly, Gautam Gambhir's - India must quickly make up their mind about who should partner Tendulkar. Gambhir was replaced by Kohli, who according to Dhoni is not an opener. Dinesh Karthik was dropped after two games. Heading into the CT, India should look to settle this problem, and not be found grappling with it midway through the tournament.
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