Cricket

India fall for 249, Sri Lanka lose 1 on Day 1

Day one of the final Test match of the Idea Cup between India and Sri Lanka went to the 2 new bowlers of Sri Lanka. Mendis and Prasad outsmarted India on all occassions to send the Indians back in the pavilion for just 249 runs. The top and middle order failed yet again with the only major contribution coming from Gambhir. Several batsmen got a start which included Sehwag, Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman but they failed to manetize these. Zaheer made a useful contribution of 35 towards the end. Parthiv Patel failed to capitalize on his inclusion in the team for this final match.

Scorecard

Dammika Prasad, who’s debut cound not be better, took the top order by storm to take the first three wickets of Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dravid. While Murali took Ganguly, Mendis did most of the remaining damage by securing the wickets of the settled Gambhir followed by Laxman, Parthiv, Kumble and Zaheer Khan.  Prasad added 3 wickets to his kitty while Mendis added 5 wickets.#

The Indians were sent packing for 249/10 and quickly put the Lankans to bat. Ishant Sharma did the magic for India by securing the wicket of Warnapurna before stumps. Sri Lanka were 14/1 of 8 overs with Vandort and Vaas on crease.

It is a tough day ahead as India need to get their act together to take quick wickets as the Lanks will definately try to take advantage of the good pitch and home support.

Just one point to consider - should the golden trio retire amicably or should they be asked to leave like their seniors ? Let’s leave it at that and wish India all the best for tomorrow’s play.

Tags: anil kumble, gautam gambhir, harbhajan singh, Idea Cup 2008, india vs sri lanka, ishant sharma, live coverage, parthiv patel, Rahul Dravid, sachin tendulkar, scorecard, sourav ganguly, Vaas, Vandort, virender sehwag, VVS Laxman, Warnapurna, Zaheer Khan