India Retains Asia Cup
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Kapil Dev performs hat-trick India retains Asia Cup From R. Mohan nerve of Ranatunga. The moment he was dismissed, possibly unjustly, the late order caved in to Kapil's CALCUTTA, Jan. 4. persistence and intelligence. The flowering genius of Sachin Tendulkar and the Bad stark India was also under pressure after an irrefutable logic of Sanjay Manjrekar's classical unsound start in which Shastri perished to a vague batsmanship were needed to put order back in In- shot beyond off stump and Sidhu was caught by the dian batting. The chase of a modest target set by bowler Ranatunga off another slice of indecision. Sri Sri Lanka might have proved hazardous if not for Lanka was always likely to miss a full-time fifth the felicity with which the lad and the young man bowler whom India had retained because the match batted in the face of an increasing asking rate which was to start at the agreed time and was to be play- was finally shrunk to nothingness by skipper Azhar- ed over the longer than anticipated course of 45 uddin's blitz. overs. A keen contest developed from the way The Videocon Asia Cup final could not have been Ramanayake and Labrooy began the attack. played in a more magnificent atmosphere, what with Tendulkar was the first to assess the situation a near sellout crowd turning up at Eden Gardens clearly. He drove the ball in the V along the ground which had recovered almost miraculously from the and did so actively even as Manjrekar built his drenching of the past few days. The 75.000 who anchoring effort. Any panic at this sensitive stage of turned up may not have created any world attend- the match may have swung the scales Lanka's way. the score moving. The cut and the paddle sweep ance records but they certainly had their money's The stand of 91 (in 19.2 overs) was built run by run were well used as much as the nip and the tuck. The worth in a match of exciting action in which Kapil and the bowlers' grip made to slacken by good pity is all the more that he should end up a run short Dev performed the hat-trick and in which three In- sense, not pointless heroics. There were to be only of his half century, and in controversial circum- dians scored half centuries that were, in their very two boundaries in Tendulkar's 53 (70 balls) as he stances at that. nature, completely different from one another. cut Warnaweera and glanced Gurusinghe. The rest of the Lankan innings was all about Kapil Long before the gloaming descended on this vast Dev's hat-trick. It began with the classic away concrete bowl on a winter day of mild sunshine, In- Most runs of the stand were made through safe placements or through brilliant even if risky, running seamer that Mahanama seems unable to resist. dia had ensured itself of the crown, for the third Twice he had perished to the outgoing ball in the time in four Asia Cups. For Sri Lankan cricket it was between the wickets. The Lankans did not hit the stumps even once and they also fielded in a slack Test at Chandigarh and today too he found himself another chapter of unrealised ambitions although drawn to that ball, the last of Kapil's sixth over, the team did extremely well to put up the fight manner to give away many twos when there was only one to be had. which More snapped up without ado which Tendulkar first settled by means of his clear The second leg of the hat-trick, off the first ball of thinking and clean striking. Manjrekar's unbeaten 75 off 95 balls had a five, from an overthrow by Gurusinghe who took a Kapil's seventh over, came about through Manj- What the situation called for was a batsman to rekar's alacrity in the deep. Running back from deep perform without any preconceived notions on a chance from cover, and a square cut for four that brought India abreast of Lanka. The contest was square leg, Manjrekar positioned himself admirably pitch that was not too far away from the perfect. to take the left-handed Jayasurya's flick. Ratnayake The principles of orderly play without needless risks certainly wide open when Azharuddin walked in. Eighty-five were needed off 79 balls after Tendulkar was a hapless third victim as he got his legs well were best served by Tendulkar who made a run off behind the line of the ball of yorker length bowled nearly every second ball that he faced, each run had gone too far across his stumps to glide Ratnayake and was adjudged in front in what was into the blockhole with strategic acumen. flowing from a crispness of thought and ease of ex- If there were no celebratory jigs of delight at what ecution with the body behind and the head well one of the day's few good umpiring decisions since the batsmen had instantly set off for a possible leg is only the second occasion on which an Indian is down. achieving this feat, it was because those in the Tendulkar's performance was the first in the day bye. Azharuddin excels: Through the sheer force of his middle were unaware of the split hat-trick having to steer clear of the stereotyped innings of immense been performed. There was another slice of success promise that were nipped in the bud by excessive aggression, Azharuddin, adjudged 'man of the match' by Pankaj Roy, brought the game to its con- for the indefatigable Indian allrounder who is fast ambition. The Lankans, on being put in, had been on approaching the 200-wicket mark in limited-overs the threshold of great things many a time. But on clusion. There were forcing square drives which even the offside sweeper could not get to. He also cricket. With the haul of four today, he has taken each occasion they were brought down by the extra The batting was poised to take off once again 197 wickets in 163 one-day internationals and con- chance the batsmen took in running overzealously stepped out once to on-drive Warnaweera for a six in a stroke that Azhar does not normally play even when Aravinda did the unforgivable in trying to be tinues to be the clear world leader. between the wickets or in committing hara-kiri as innovative in good batting conditions. He stepped Aravinda de Silva did just when things were really in the demanding world of instant cricket. But by then the sense of urgency had seized him. away in an effort to upset the constant line Mukher- rosy for the visitors after three sixes had been jee was bowling to and then went right across to SCOREBOARD struck in the space of two overs. Azharuddin's unbeaten 54 (39 balls, four 4's and a six) saw the fourth wicket stand spurt to 81 off a play a crude shot which virtually lobbed into the The Indian spinners restored the balance after mere 62 balls. Innovation was the theme now as bowler's hands. Having made 26 off 28 balls, Ara- SRI LANKA vinda threw away a golden opportunity to play a Kapil Dev's early enthusiasm had proved unproduc- power and wristiness took over from the delicate C. Senanayeke (run out) 25 tive. They bowled to their field and the line was chipping and driving. The Lankans had no alterna- long innings. His fall also vested in the spinners the H. TiHekaratne c More b Wanan 15 steady enough to make the batsmen went to charge tive but to throw in the towel in the face of this on- confidence that they could bowl to a tight line with P. Gurusinghe (run out) 39 reasonable economy Aravinda de Silva c and b Mukherjea 26 the bowlers With the fielders being able to hit the slaught though only in the 36th over did the asking A. Ranatunga (run out) 49 stumps accurately the pressures were built up rate come below six an over. India's batting had The lefthanders, Gurusinghe and Ranatunga, had to rebuild the innings without taking too many risks. R. Mahanama c Mora b Kapil Dm 5 steadily. What the other Lankans lacked was the S. Jayacurya c S. Manjrekar b Kapil Dav managed to assert itself in the nick of time but only They were: doing a very competent job of it. Having 5 R. Ratyanayaka low b Kapil Dev 0 added 58 off 70 balls, they were poised to launch G. Labrooy c Prabhakar b Kapil Dav 10 the big offensive in the slog overs when another C. Ramanayake (not out) 9 piece of bad cricket undid all the good. Wamavean (not out) 0 As runner, Gurusinghe seemed to be playing pos- Extras (b-1,lb-13, w-7) 21 sum as Ranatunga worked Raju into the onside and set off on a legitimate quest for the single. Only on Total (for nine wkt*. in 45 oven) 204 seeing his;skipper almost upon him did Gurusinghe Fall of wicketr 1-48, 2-50, 3-92, 4-150, 5-175, 6-176, (55 balls, two fours and a six) set off and when he 7-181,8-181,9-202. did so he was actually sacrificing his wicket to INDIA BOWLING Shastri's return to Kiran More. O M R W Kapil Dev Controversial decision: The batsmen were more 0 31 4 Manoj Prabhakar 9 1 36 0 to blame for the four wickets that fell in the first 34 Saradindu Mukherjae 9 0 39 1 overs.