After a four-and-a-half hour rain interruption, Sri Lanka had ten
wickets available over a truncated 26 overs to chase 178. India needed
to restrict Sri Lanka to 167 or below to make the final ahead of West
Indies. In an ideal Twenty20 world, this was a situation loaded in
favour of the chasing side. The Queen's Park Oval pitch, with patches of
green spiced up by all the rain, was an ideal Test bowler's paradise,
though. And Bhuvneshwar Kumar used it to perfection, ending the chase
early and taking India to the final with a spell of 6-1-8-4, his best
international figures.
Bhuvneshwar got the ball to do so much, even survival became a lottery,
leave alone a chase that began at an asking rate of close to seven an
over. Some moved in, some moved away, some hit a green patch and bounced
extra, with Bhuvneshwar's impeccable control forcing the batsmen to
play at almost everything. It was only his 16th ODI, but Bhuvneshwar has
already built up a reputation for striking early in his spell. Again,
he did not disappoint.
Upul Tharanga flashed to the slips in Bhuvneshwar's second over, Kumar
Sangakkara got a first-ball shocker of a leg-before decision, Mahela
Jayawardene could not keep a cut down, and Lahiru Thirimanne hit an airy
drive. In no time, Sri Lanka were 31 for 4, and India already had the
final within their sights. Of course, it was the asking rate that made
the batsmen play all those strokes, but against the combination of
Bhuvneshwar and the pitch, the attempts were doomed to fail. The
spinners found generous help from the pitch as well, and made sure there
was no fightback from the Sri Lanka lower middle order. The margin of
the win showed just how futile a T20-style chase can be on a difficult
pitch.
This pitch was so difficult it forced even the usually flashy Rohit
Sharma to play the survival game. A battered and struggling Rohit fought
the conditions, his own lack of touch, and a disciplined Sri Lanka
attack but still hung in to build a base for India. But we will never
know what could have been in this Rohit knock as the rain terminated
India's innings at 119 for 3 in 29 overs.
Though the normally free-flowing Rohit's grind wasn't easy on the eye,
it was far more refreshing to see him unwilling to fall to a soft
dismissal, though he benefited from a dropped catch off Lasith Malinga
when on 11.
Despite West Indies losing both their games on the same ground after
choosing to bowl, Angelo Mathews had no hesitation in doing the same.
And his attack bowled far better than West Indies had, which was highly
commendable, considering they had sent down 41 overs a day ago against
the hosts. There was swing, seam, sharp lift, and the occasional low
bounce.
Rohit was beaten several times by the movement initially, but to his
credit, he played the original line close to his body. For some time,
Virat Kohli looked even more uncomfortable than Rohit had and even
played out a maiden to Malinga for the first time.
Kohli slowly started to come to terms against the fast bowlers and put
away the rare wide delivery. Perhaps the pitch made Kohli hesitant to
get forward against spin as well, and led to his downfall, when he went
back and was caught in front by a flighted Rangana Herath slider,
cutting short a second-wicket stand of 49 in 14.1 overs.
Rohit, meanwhile, continued to find it hard, inside-edging onto the box,
and taking blows on the glove. He did slog-sweep Herath for six but the
left-arm spinner hit back in his next over, when another India batsman
played back to him. This time, Dinesh Karthik got a turner that spun
away to hit his off stump. India were three down now, making it even
more important for Rohit to not give it away. As it turned out, though,
he had already done enough, after which Bhuvneshwar took over.
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