LONDON:In the three matches India had played prior to the Sri Lanka fixture, including two warm-ups, their bowling had been almost unstoppable. The maximum they spent on the field was 38.4 overs, with pacers being in the forefront. Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews even called it one of the best attacks in the world right now, with balance between pace and spin. Overcoming this in-form unit was always going to be a challenge for the inexperienced Sri Lanka batsmen.
Perhaps with that in mind, Mathews inserted India in cloudy conditions after winning the toss. Maybe he thought the best way to beat India was to expose them on a pitch which had some moisture in it, thanks to rain over the last couple of days. And with more of it forecast, possibly he also thought of Duckworth-Lewis.
But sadly for Mathews, he was taking on a mighty batting line-up with an attack that hardly seemed to have any plans. In Lasith Malinga, he has one whose best years are behind him, who tries to hide his paunch on the field. For someone who made a name for firing yorkers at will, he bowled only three of those on Thursday.
He served the perfect start for Rohit Sharma, who sent it to the point boundary. On the other end, Suranga Lakmal was happy keeping Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan quiet, when he was supposed to be looking for wickets. Like against Pakistan in Edgbaston, the Indian openers were hardly troubled. In fact not at all, as they went about their business, putting on 138 for the first wicket.
In the power play, fuller balls were as rare as the London sun. Malinga bowled a few, but other than helping India’s run rate, Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep gave their captain plenty of worries over over rate as well.
After taking four hours to complete their quota against South Africa, Mathews watched his bowlers take three hours and 45 minutes for 50 overs against India. They already have Upul Tharanga, who captained against the Proteas in Mathews’ absence, suspended for two matches. Mathews might be headed for the same.
The back-to-back wickets of Rohit and Virat Kohli gave Sri Lanka a window to come back, but thanks to the over rate, Mathews turned to Asela Gunaratne, who at his best, mostly lobbed the ball. With a settled batsman in Dhawan and with MS Dhoni in the mood, the end overs were always going to be a challenge for Sri Lanka and they ensured it.
Length balls to Dhawan and Dhoni, with hardly any variations other than a few slower ones — to go with fielders who had their hands mostly inside their pockets — meant India motored on to a 300-plus total without taking undue risks.
It didn’t matter in the end as Indian bowlers too went for plenty. But perhaps there lies food for thought.
venkatakrishna@newindianexpress.com