IndiaPost.com - India thump Lanka by 6 wickets

KARACHI: India exhibited their batting prowess to perfection with their top order firing in unison to score an easy 6-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their must-win Asia Cup Super Four match.

India chased down the target of 309 with 19 balls to spare and after losing four wickets, thanks to a half century each by Gautam Gambhir (68), captain M S Dhoni (67) and Suresh Raina (54) and a valuable 42 from Virender Sehwag after Sri Lanka, electing to bat, had made 308 for 8.

Yuvraj Singh (36 not out) and Rohit Sharma (22 not out) romped him with an unfinished 57-run stand for the 5th wicket. India made a blazing start with the opening duo of Sehwag and Gambhir carrying their solid batting form from their match against Pakistan, putting on 92 runs from 70 balls.

The duo drove, pulled and cut the Lankan opening bowlers without taking much risks, hitting boundaries in regular intervals and keeping the asking rate always lower than the required rate of 6.18 per over. Sehwag played second fiddle to his junior partner but did not shy away from hitting odd balls for boundaries including a huge six off Nuwan Kulasekara early in the innings.

The 'Nawab of Najafgarh' fell to a soft dismissal in 12th over being deceived by a Kulasekara slow ball holing out to Dilhara Fernando at fine leg after scoring 42 off 34 balls, studded with six fours and a six.

Gambhir raised his 11th ODI fifty by hitting a four off Thilan Thushara after facing 45 balls in the 15th over with the help of nine fours. Gambhir, however, failed to read a Muttiah Muralitharan 'doosra' and fell LBW in the 21st over at team total of 135 for 2 for a well-made 68 compiled with the help of 11 fours from 61 balls, to allow Sri Lanka come back into the match.

Suresh Raina, who got a life when he was on 11 when Lankan 12th man Jehan Mubarak failing to hold on to an easy chance, made the most of the reprieve to hit his fifth ODI fifty and did the consolidation work along with his captain Dhoni, who also struck his 22nd ODI half century. Run rate dipped a bit after the return of the opening pair to the hut but Dhoni, who promoted himself up the order, and Raina survived the middle overs while keeping the scoreboard ticking.

The duo scored ones, twos and occasional boundaries including Dhoni's six off Sanath Jayasuriya and frustrated the Lankan bowlers before Raina was run out in the 36th over after facing 66 balls for his 54 (3x4), at team total of 234 for 3. Just as it seemed Dhoni would open up to end the run chase in quick time, the Indian captain fell to Muralitharan cleaned bowled for 67 (62 balls; 5x4; 1x6) in the 38th over.

Needing just 47 runs from the last 10 overs, Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma romped home with the Punjab southpaw hitting the winning runs, a four off Kulasekara, to reach 310 for four in 46.5 overs. For Sri Lanka, Muralitharan was the most successful bowler returning figures of 10-0-44-2. Earlier, Sri Lanka made 308 for eight with half centuries from Chamara Kapugedera (75), captain Mahela Jayawardene (50) and Chamara Silva (50).

Playing before a sparse crowd, Sri Lanka was in control for most part of the innings but lost wickets at regular intervals after reaching 217 for three. In the final 10 overs, they lost four wickets for 74 runs. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni praised his opening batsmen Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag for giving the team a flying start to lay the foundation for their win.

"They have given us some great starts in the competition and it has made the job of chasing big totals easier for us," Dhoni said at the post match press conference. "Even though the wickets in this tournament have been very flat, and that is why we have seen totals of 300, still you need good starts to take the pressure off the middle order batsmen," he said.

Dhoni said normally if a team had to chase 300 runs there was nervousness and confusion at the interval. "But in this tournament due to the pitches everyone is relaxed and knows it is possible (to chase down)."

The Indian captain insisted that the performance of the bowlers in the tournament should not be a criteria to assess their worth. "Let us be clear that we have a bunch of very talented and exciting players.

But the pitches have nothing in it for the bowlers even the spinners have got little turn so it has been hard on them and put more responsibility on the batsmen," Dhoni added. Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene said he was more comfortable playing India in the final.