India SLump to another (Az)ha(a)r

India made just one change to their playing eleven – Venkatapathy Raju made way for Salil Ankola. Sri Lanka made a couple of changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Ruwan Kalpage and Champaka Ramanayake made way for Kumar Dharmasena and Ravindra Pushpakumara.

Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka’s skipper, won the toss, inserting the hosts. Although his innings included a boundary, Manoj, who faced 36 balls, wasn’t in seventh heaven, because he was caught by Asanka Gurusinha. Pushpakumara broke the 27-run P(rabhak)artnership.

Sanjay Manjrekar faced 46 balls, scoring 32. His innings included a couple of boundaries and a six. He was caught by Romesh Kaluwitharana. Dharmasena broke the 66-run stand. The third-wicket pair put on 175. Tendulkar scored 137. His run-a-ball inningS(ach)included eight boundaries and five sixes. He was run out.

Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s skipper, scored 72, dispatching four of the 80 balls he faced to the boundary. He was unbeaten, as was Vinod Kambli, who faced a ball and scored a run. Sri Lanka conceded 22 extras. India scored 271 for the loss of three wickets off 50 overs. Ranatunga bowled four wicketless overs, conceding 23.

Sanath Jayasuriya, the player of the match, bowled 10 wicketless overs, conceding 52. Muttiah Muralitharan bowled 10 wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 42. Chaminda bowled nine overs, including three maidens. He conceded 37 and Vaas wicketless. Pushpakumara, who bowled eight overs, and Dharmasena, who bowled nine overs, conceded 53 each. They picked up a wicket apiece.

Kaluwitharana faced 16 balls, scoring 26. His innings included six boundaries. He was caught by Anil Kumble. Venkatesh Prasad broke the 53-run stand. The second-wicket pair put on 76. Gurusinha, who faced 27 balls, scored 25. His innings included a couple of fours and a six. He was run out.

Jayasuriya, who faced 76 balls, scored 79. His innings included nine boundaries and a couple of sixes. He was caught by Prabhakar. Kumble broke the third-wicket stand, which was worth eight. Aravinda de Silva, who faced 14 balls, scored eight. His innings included eight. He was stumped by Nayan Mongia. The (Kumb)leggie broke the four-run stand.

Ranatunga, who faced 63 balls, scored 46. His innings included a couple of boundaries. He was unbeaten, as was Hashan Tillakaratne, who faced 98 balls, scoring 70. His innings included six boundaries.

India conceded 18 extras. Sri Lanka, who scored 272 for the loss of four wickets off 48.4 overs, won by six wickets with eight balls to spare. Prabhakar, who never represented India in any form of cricket again, bowled four overs, conceding 47. He was wicketless, as was Ankola, whose five overs yielded 28.

Javagal Srinath, who bowled 9.4 overs, conceded 51. He was wicketless, as was Tendulkar, who bowled 10 overs, conceding 41. Prasad bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 53 and picked up a wicket. Kumble bowled 10 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 39 and picked up a couple of scalps.