***Official*** India in Sri Lanka

[Precambrian]

Well done Jayawardene for dropping/resting Murali and Vaas.

 

[Precambrian]

Murali is not preventing Mendis from playing. How will Sri Lankas attack be stronger with just Mendis than Mendis PLUS Murali ?

Sri Lanka seem to have made a strategic decision to use Murali closer to the end to check runs. This has reduced Murali's efectiveness. Sri Lanka need to bring Murali in as first change and definitely as an attacking wiicket taking bowler to make further inroads after the pacers have got a wicket or two.

Mahela is making a great error by using Murali to stop the flow of runs in the last twenty overs. This is no good for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's woes lie in batting than bowling. So they need to fortify that. That means probably bringing another batsman in. Which means a bowler sitting out. Going by present form I'd reckon either Murali or Vaas. It might look really preposterous on the outside to even suggest dropping Murali, but see a bit inside and you can see Murali's not been really himself this year.

I agree that Mahela is making error by using Murali to stop flow of runs in last twenty overs, but where else can be used? Given that now Mendis is also there and his 10 overs have to be bowled out? Clearly in Jayawardene's mind, Mendis has become the strike bowler while Murali's been relegated to be the run-checker, which is unfortunate for Murali and his fans, but good for Sri Lanka's future cricket, in the sense that it will aid in the gradual phasing out of Murali.

 

[sanga1337]

Wow its nice to see Sri Lanka getting a good start for a change. Good partnership here

 

[Perm]

Wow its nice to see Sri Lanka getting a good start for a change. Good partnership here

Irfan Pathan soon puts a stop to that with two wickets in an over to remove Warnapura and Udawatte. Good partnership though, has definitely given Sri Lanka something to build on.

 

[Precambrian]

Have we seen the last of Badrinath?

 

[sanga1337]

Irfan Pathan soon puts a stop to that with two wickets in an over to remove Warnapura and Udawatte. Good partnership though, has definitely given Sri Lanka something to build on.

Spoke too soon didn't I? Should've known something like this would happen...

 

[duffer]

What the hell. Switch over to the England game for 10 minutes and we take three wickets. Back in this one.

 

[Precambrian]

37 runs in 5 matches @ 7.4!

Sanga should retire from ODI cricket!!

 

[Precambrian]

Captain bites the dust, splendid stuff from Ojha, loop and turn. Sri Lanka looking forward to another cameo from Mirando Thushara

Ojha so far - 4 - 3 - 4 - 1. Wow!

 

[Perm]

Have we seen the last of Badrinath?

I certainly hope not, but it was a very poor decision to replace him, even if Irfan Pathan has bowled exceptionally well. This would've been the perfect chance to bat him at #3 without having to face Murali and Vaas.

 

[Precambrian]

Good comeback from SL. Though still nt convinced they've runs on board.

 

[sanga1337]

Thushara is almost worth his place in the team as a batsman. Another good cameo

 

[Precambrian]

Brilliant batting from Thushara. He's leading wickets charts and has a good chance of pipping Jayawardene to lead the runs chart as well!

 

[Manee]

I'm glad that Munaf Patel, who I have backed throughout his career has finally come good in ODI cricket with some unnerving accuracy.

 

[Perm]

Impressive stuff from Thushara, I'll be honest and say I'd never heard of him before this latest stint in the national side.

 

[Raghav]

I dont know how come Thushara is able to score so quickly when other batsman are really struggling.....

 

[Precambrian]

A lot of his shots were slogs at the end thru empty third man etc. But still credit to him for trying. A man can't be consistently lucky as that without trying.

 

[Perm]

Gambhir gone, should've been out in the second over. Sangakkara pretty happy to get his man. Would be good if Yuvraj got some time in the middle and some runs under his belt.

 

[ret]

Ind 46/2 .... this is a nice opportunity for Yuvi to play a meaningful knock and take India home .... let's hope he makes a good use of this

 

[duffer]

Horrendous umpiring for the last 2 lbw's. Ah well thankfully this is a dead rubber.