Related Links : Sri Lanka Vs India, T20I Scorecard | India in Sri Lanka 2008/09 Wealthsurance Cup
It was a perfect advertisement for Twenty20 Cricket with the side chasing finding itself down the barrel but coming out of it stunningly for victory! That was the story of the World Champs – India, who were in a tight spot at 115 for 7 chasing 172 but a couple of heroes in the Pathan Brothers took them to an unbelievable victory with four balls to spare thanks to their fearless hitting. It was the first ever T20I being played in Sri Lanka and thousands of fans of the homeside were left shell shocked by the heart breaking show from Yusuf Pathan and his younger brother Irfan Pathan.
Skipper Dilshan takes SL to 171
Dilshan won the toss and decided to bat first; he led the side from the front by stroking a lovely 61 from 47 balls with the help of 7 fours and a six. His opening partner Sanath Jayasuriya smashed 33 from 17 with 3 fours and 2 sixes to power Lanka to 59 for 1 in the 6th over. The Indian bowlers started well but a sitter dropped by Irfan Pathan at mid off helped Dilshan break free. It needed an unbelievable catch from the Qutub Minar of Indian Cricket – Ishant Sharma to leap in the air and take a one handed catch to get rid of Sanath.
India came back in the match through its two spinners – Yusuf Pathan and Debutant Ravindra Jadeja. More than any spin, these two kept on firing the ball into the batsmen without giving them the room and the length to get underneath for the biggies. Yusuf ended up with 2 for 23 and Jadeja with 0 for 29 in their respective 4 overs. Ishant Sharma bowled a magnificent last over which went for just three runs to have SL restricted to 171 for 4. Ishant had also got rid of the settled Dilshan in the 17th over after which SL could get only 20 runs in the last three overs.
Pathans star in an unbelievable chase
India was rocked back by the early loss of Sehwag (run out by a direct throw) and Gambhir (caught playing an ambitious pull) which left them at 14 for 2 in 1.1 overs. The chasing side made a good recovery through Yuvraj Singh in the company of Suresh Raina until the former got out to part timer Mubarak in an attempted cut shot. Yuvraj sizzled with a deadly 32 from 21 with 3 fours and 2 memorable sixes. In the very next over, Raina (35 from 27 with 5 fours and a six) played a needless slog to throw away his wicket and open the floodgates. India slipped to a precarious 99 for 4 in 10 overs but it had enough batting firepower left.
Sri Lanka bounced back strongly once the ball started to turn sharply and the Indian batsmen were not able to get even the singles freely. Leg spinner Malinga Bandara along with veteran Sanath Jayasuriya successfully strangled the Indians from the 11th over to the 15th where they gave away just the 16 runs! They also got the wickets of MS Dhoni (bowled by a full delivery from Bandara for 13 in 17 balls), Rohit Sharma (caught holing out in the deep) and Jadeja (yorking himself to give Bandara his third wicket).
India was in a hopeless position at 115 for 7 in 15.1 overs when the Pathan brothers got together. Yusuf, the older brother took the initiative by clobbering Sri Lanka’s best bowler Bandara for a couple of sixes and a four to reduce the equation to 40 runs from 24 balls. That was Bandara’s final over and he ended up with 4-0-32-3. Instead of bowling Sanath for his final over, Dilshan threw the ball to Dilhara Fernano who messed it up by giving away 5 wides in the 17th over! By the end of the 17th over, India needed 28 from 18. Malinga returned back after a sorry first spell and he did make amends until Irfan Pathan finally started to get hold of his big shots.
The last two overs needed just the 18 to win and Irfan took on Dilhara in the penultimate over by striking him for a 6 (with a pull shot) and a four (over covers) to seal the fate of the match reducing the equation to just 5 to win from 6 balls. Irfan finished the game in the 2nd ball of the final over by flicking Malinga in the mid wicket stands for a six. He remained unbeaten on 33 from 16 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes and his brother Yusuf with 22 from 10 balls with a four and two sixes. Dilshan did a blunder by not bowling Sanath for his 4th over despite the left arm spinner having figures of 3-0-10-1! The Man of the Match went to Yusuf Pathan for changing the equation completely in the 16th over.