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India vs Sri Lanka
1st Twenty20, Nagpur, 9 Dec 2009
Kumar Sangakkara starred with his highest Twenty20 score, a serenely-destructive 37-ball 78, as
Gambhir tried valiantly with a counter-attacking fifty but it was Sangakkara who stole the show. He played only one dot ball till reached his fifty - from 21 deliveries, the quickest for
Sangakkara's innings sparked off in the ninth over against Pragyan Ojha's left-arm spin. He chipped the first delivery he faced from Ojha over mid-on, swept the next to the boundary and lifted the third for a six over long-on. There were more classy strikes, the highlight being a chipped shot over mid-on to a length delivery from the debutant Ashok Dinda. Sangakkara's predetermined shots also came off perfectly: when he shuffled to the off side, the ball was invariably so full that it was easily lapped around the corner; when he moved outside leg, he flat-batted short-of-length deliveries over mid-on or mid-off.
It wasn't a solo show from him, though. Sangakkara found support from his partners at various points in the innings - Tillakaratne Dilshan at the start, unfurling a couple of on-the-up hits, Chamara Kapugedera in the middle and Angelo Mathews at the very end. Kapugedera was fluent against everyone but he reserved his best for Ashish Nehra, looting 18 runs from the 19th over with four boundaries to all parts of the ground - a punch over cover, a pull, a slice and a cut over point - which reflected the bowler's poor lines.
The run-glut came after
After the let-off, Jayasuriya went berserk in the fifth over, bowled by Nehra, taking him for 22 runs with five boundaries, including two lap-shots past the short fine-leg fielder. Dilshan was dropped too, with Ishant missing a straightforward return chance, and he too took full toll. Though the openers didn't go on to make big scores, they had broken the shackles and set the platform for Sangakkara to play a gem.
Despite Virender Sehwag's fall in the third over, Gambhir helped
Sriram Veera is a staff writer at Cricinfo
Source: http://www.cricinfo.com
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