MSD’s men scale summit

Mumbai

Dec. 6: India just took 36 minutes to wrap up an innings and 24 run-victory over Sri Lanka and a 2-0 win in the three-match series at the historic Brabourne Stadium here on Sunday morning.
With the win, the hosts sealed the number one spot in the ICC Test rankings. India leapfrogged previous leaders South Africa and number two Sri Lanka to move to the top.
The tourists, trailing by 333 in the first innings, began their fifth day’s proceedings from their overnight score of 274/6 only to be shot out for 309.
Keeping in mind that the team required just four wickets for a famous win and capture the number on spot in the Test rankings, left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan made sure that Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara did not prolong their wait by producing an edge off an outswinging delivery taken behind the stumps by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the very first over of the day, thereby giving a jolt to hopes of survival nurtured by the visitors.
The Lankan left-hander could add only four more runs to his overnight total of 133. His 261-ball innings was studded with 20 boundaries and a solitary six.
Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana has stitched together a valiant 70-run partnership for the seventh wicket, that had kept the hosts in bay on the fourth day.
Zaheer went to claim three crucial wickets on the day to finish with innings figures of 5/72. Rangana Herath was Zaheer’s second victim. A superb catch by Deccan Chargers’ Pragyan Ojha at short mid-wicket sent him packing after having scored only three.
Muttiah Muralitharan tried to minimise the gap by hitting three boundaries in an over but it was not enough for the Lankans needed much more than that to save the match.
Overnight batsman Nuwan Kulasekara too tried his level best by hitting two boundaries including one off Zaheer before he was dismissed, caught at second slip by V.V.S. Laxman. He scored 19.
Harbhajan Singh then managed to drive the last nail into the Sri Lankan coffin, claiming the wicket of Muralitharan (14). The scintillating performance by the Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men was lauded by the crowd, who gave a standing ovation to the team.