Live With Cricket

n what could be the ultimate embarrassment for the DDCA, the fifth and the final ODI between India and Sri Lanka at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium here was abandoned due to dangerous playing conditions.

Right from the start, occasional deliveries alarmingly reared up and one such hit Tillakaratne Dilshan on his forearm, leaving him in pain and needing on-field treatment. The Lankan opener has now been rushed to hospital for the doctors to take a further look at it.

The issue with the pitch was first raised by Sri Lankan batsman Thilan Kandamby, who first had a word with Dhoni before he approached the umpires. Umpires Marais Erasmus and Shavir Tarapore soon conferred and Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara was seen gesturing to his teammates from the dressing room.

Subsequently, Match Referee Alan Hurst also walked in and they were joined by Kotla curator Vijay Bahadur Mishra and BCCI Pitch and Grounds Committee chairman Daljit Singh.

Sangakkara also joined them, along with India coach Gary Kirsten and his Sri Lanka counterpart Trevor Bayliss also walked out.

Delhi and District Cricket Association officials, including vice president Chetan Chauhan, offered another pitch to Hurst but a final decision was yet to be taken.

The Sri Lankan innings now hangs at 83/5 as trouble and more trouble sought their way earlier. Losing early wickets doomed their procession of setting a powerful target.

Zaheer Khan, Sudeep Tyagi and Harbhajan Singh contributed completely to blow apart the top-order of the visitors. India’s campaign started early as after winning the toss, skipper MS Dhoni elected to field first.

The decision hit the bull’s eye as Zaheer grabbed two important wickets very early in the day. First, he dismissed Upul Tharanga for a duck on the very first ball of the match itself, thus giving a perfect start to India. Then later, he send Tillakaratne Dilshan packing for 20 runs, leaving the visitors’ scorecard looking a bit rickety at 39/2.

Then came debutant Sudeep Tyagi into action, who couldn’t have asked for a beter start to his international ODI career as as he dismissed Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara, to leave the opponents three down for 58 runs.

Sri Lanka surely looked in trouble as the skipper added just one run to the team’s score. However, it was indeed a moment to cherish as Tyagi grabbed his maiden ODI wicket and Suresh Raina, after repeated errors on the fielding ground, finally managed to take Sangakkara’s catch.

Raina’s prompt and intelligent fielding also led to the dismissal of Thilan Samaraweera (2). More credit should be given to terrible running between the wickets by the Lankan batsmen, Samaraweera and Thilina Kandamby.

Prior to that, Bhajji dismised Sanath Jayasuriya for 31 runs. Harbhajan cleverly fired in the quicker delivery and caught Jayasuriya plumb in front of the wickets. This was Bhajji 100th ODI wicket in India.

As the national capital woke up to a foggy morning earlier today, the final ODI at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium got delayed by fifteen minutes on Sunday due to wet out-field.

Having already sealed the series 3-1, Team India got the most of the Lankan tour as they first won the Test series comprehensively, and now, have also clinched the ODI series with a game to spare.

India went into the match without Sachin Tendulkar as Dhoni returns to the team after serving a two-match ban. Sri Lanka made two changes. Mahela Jayawardene and Lasith Malinga were replaced by M Pushpakumara and Chanaka Welegedara.

With both the team’s playing their last matches of the year, the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch curator promised a sporting wicket.