Analytical review of the first ODI between India and Sri Lanka at Dambulla on August 18, 2008.

The Indian team never ceases to amaze its fans. They are consistent in their own way of non-performance losing match after match. The first ODI in Dambulla between India and Sri Lanka seemed like an extension of the test series between the neighbors which concluded earlier this month. The Indians were bulldozed in the same shameful manner by the same spin duo of Murali-Mendis. The morally defeated Indians didn’t have winning the match even in the back of their minds which became explicit when Gambhir returned the pavilion at the total score of 1.

The nemesis of the great Men In Blue began with the toppling of the top order. The age-old myth we as Indian fans held that Sachin’s ouster leads to the whole card-house crashing is passé. in the recent past, there have hardly been any instances when the team went on to clinch a match after losing the top order for an under-hundred total. In this match, Nuwan Kulasekara and Chaminda Vaas did the initial damage conceding just 29 runs in the first ten overs. After being reduced at 36-3 by the Sri Lankan pacemen, the spin attack ground the Indian batsmen leaving them high and dry of runs. Murali and Mendis bundled up the Indian team at 146 with Yuvraj Singh (23) as the highest run-scorer.

Sri Lanka, riding high on the test series victory strode bravely into the game. The target was perfectly impotent to put any pressure on the hosts. Despite of losing Jayasuriya early in the innings, Sri Lanka danced its way to an 8-wicket victory on India. Mahela Jayawardene (61*) and Chamara Kapugedera (45*) steered their team to a comfortable victory.

The Indian team was on ebb before the match started. The tried and tested opening duo of Sachin-Sehwag was ruled out thanks to injuries for the whole series. Sehwag had been the only Indian batsman who could tackle Sri Lanka’s spinners and his absence in the series was a big setback.

Debutante Virat Kohli got his chance to show his mettle today which he couldn’t put to his advantage. Call it first-time nervousness, huge expectations from the team or Gambhir’s early dismissal, Virat stuttered and stumbled and who knows if there will be a “next try” for him. Looking at the way the test series concluded and after this match, the series looks lost for India already.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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