India v Sri Lanka, Asia Cup Final, Karachi, 6th July

How will Mendis do in test cricket?

india's title depending on their handling of the spinners, as expected. an absolute match-winning spell from mendis when india (read sehwag) was running away with the match. rush of blood for sehwag again, was there any need to go down the pitch to his second ball when its well know he's hard to pick?

Just checked the scorecard out of curiosity to know if India was on it's way to choke yet another final. Doing freelance work on Sunday and getting stuck without a break all week can be boring especially when one has not slept the night before working as well.

Anyways looks like India has yet again turned a nobody out of nowhere into another superstar. List of raw newcomers who surprise India in crunch matches and especially a spinner is not too short [Oh the irony].

Still my gut feeling is that India should win this one. A little nerve wrecking finish is on cards, but we will make it. So the bubble called Robin Uthappa has been pricked once again. Ah well. Another final, another possible defeat shouldn't be too difficult to digest. So best bet is to think it will be a win for a change.

Will check after the match is over late night over dinner to see if I got it right. Just what I didn't need right now, another night without sleep before a full office day tomorrow.

Great bowling performance by Mendis.

He ain't a nobody no mo'.

6/9 and almost took a hat-trick, and a strong suggestion that he should've done. I'm scared.

6-9

was very unlucky not to get a hat trick!

So much for misplaced optimism. Is it my imagination or are most of the die hard Indian 'optimists' here today are sounding like good ol' cynical me.

If this match exposes anything it is India is no good in pressure and most of our 'young' FTBs are no good when a little challenge is thrown up at them. Yuvraj has been exposed by a spinner early on yet again. Sachin hitting us out of trouble in Aus finals was the only thing that helped avoid another great choke. The likes of Gambhir, Raina, Uthappa, Sharma etc are only so good as long as there is no pressure. sadly a whole decade was lost the same way when even blokes like Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly etc. were in peak form.

Ah well, another final, another choke. So I didn't really miss anything in the end at all after the whole tournament is over......

6-9, incredible figures against the much vaunted Indian batting line-up, looking forward to seeing this boy bowl.

Taufel just denied Mendis a well deserved Hatrick!! Go Mendis! There'll be plenty of Menis arrack for him! Another Mendis!

its kind of exciting to see a new bowling style happen right before your eyes. not seen it since the doosra, and a whole new bowling style like this has probably not happened since the very early days of cricket

F_U_C_K you India. Seriously, f_uck you.

SG : my thoughts are with you at this predictably terrible time!

PlanetPakistan wrote:My bold prediction

If SL win the toss and bat first then IND will lose.
If MS Dhoni wins the toss he will let SL bat first and SL will win.

the only way IND can win is if they bat 1st.

there you go

PlanetPakistan wrote:

PlanetPakistan wrote:My bold prediction

If SL win the toss and bat first then IND will lose.
If MS Dhoni wins the toss he will let SL bat first and SL will win.

the only way IND can win is if they bat 1st.

there you go

Well done, few had foreseen that India would choke, in a final.

Congrats to the Boys!! I seriously though Sehwag's gonna ruin all of Jaya's efforts and enter Mendis and it's party time!! Well Done Srilanka and commiserations India.

Gary 111 wrote:

PlanetPakistan wrote:

PlanetPakistan wrote:My bold prediction

If SL win the toss and bat first then IND will lose.
If MS Dhoni wins the toss he will let SL bat first and SL will win.

the only way IND can win is if they bat 1st.

there you go

Well done, few had foreseen that India would choke, in a final.

i also said that if Dhoni wins the toss he would field first

India were basically beaten by a combination of Sehwag playing a poor shot to get out, and Mendis running through them with his bag of tricks.

Why does it nearly always seem to be Sri Lanka who produces these mysterious, unorthodox players? Murali, Malinga, and now Mendis. Is it due to the huge amount of beach cricket they play over there?

Henry wrote:Why does it nearly always seem to be Sri Lanka who produces these mysterious, unorthodox players? Murali, Malinga, and now Mendis. Is it due to the huge amount of beach cricket they play over there?

Because they are officially the craziest nation on Earth!

Henry wrote:India were basically beaten by a combination of Sehwag playing a poor shot to get out, and Mendis running through them with his bag of tricks.

Is that like blaming Tendulkar for all of India's losses in finals/crunch matches? Nice ...

Just saw the scorecard. Holy shite is all I can say.

PlanetPakistan wrote:My bold prediction

If SL win the toss and bat first then IND will lose.
If MS Dhoni wins the toss he will let SL bat first and SL will win.

the only way IND can win is if they bat 1st.

nice. india do seem to struggle to chase against the lankans

Did cricinfo have to remind us of this?

Gary 111 wrote:What a terrific cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya is. 39 years old and still churning out the centuries.

Perhaps he's making up for a wasted start, at the start of the 1996 World Cup, just a few months shy of 27 years old he had played 99 ODI's with just 1 century and an average of just 19.73, at a strike rate of 74.

In the 12 years since he's played a further 317 matches, scoring an incredible 26 centuries, 10,912 runs at 36.86 at a strike rate of 94.7.

Incredible stats, even Tendulkar who has scored at a better average than Jayasuriya can't match that strike rate. Gilchrist's stats over that period were very similar, but he falls shy of Jayasuriya's average and centuries tally during that time.

Not to forget he's been a more than useful left arm bowler too.

to play like he is at 39 yrs age...incredible! he's always had a soft spot for india, even so it'll be a sad day when he retires

The One wrote:india's title depending on their handling of the spinners, as expected. an absolute match-winning spell from mendis when india (read sehwag) was running away with the match. rush of blood for sehwag again, was there any need to go down the pitch to his second ball when its well know he's hard to pick?

i agree but its the way sehwag plays, its what got him his 50 off 25 balls....he was trying to unsettle what lanka had down as their trump card. who knows, if sehwag had got 2-3 boundaries off that over, it may have knocked ajanthas confidence