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February 17, 2007 (Link to Scorecard)

India have clinched the Hero Honda Cup Series against Sri Lanka with an emphatic seven-wicket win on a beautiful batting track at Vizag. Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh returned back to form in grand fashion, while Sourav Ganguly was a steady factor at one end. But it was the unexpected fireworks from young sensation Robin Uthappa that had dramatically shifted the match in India's favour. On a pitch that was full of runs, Sri Lanka gave a target of 260 from 47 overs with Chamara Silva scoring his maiden ton which had gone in vain.

It was Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag opening the batting and after the third ball was bowled, the former was down on the ground. Ganguly retired hurt due to cramps to get Robin Uthappa in the middle. Defending a competitive total of 259, SL started off in an erratic manner with Maharoof spraying the ball in both directions. But he and Lasith Malinga got their act together to trouble Robin Uthappa. Sehwag was soon finding the middle of the bat and had provided the tempo with some sweetly timed boundaries. After a loose start, Uthappa decided to taken on the bowling and with that the Sri Lankan fast bowlers were rattled. The youngster smacked boundaries on the up with ease as the pitch became a belter in the second half. A bouncer from Lasith Malinga was hooked into the stands at fine leg for a six. Uthappa had got his third ODI fifty in just 33 balls with 9 fours and that six. His inexperience came to light when he went for one shot too many for his miscued hit to be caught off Maharoof's bowling. Robin Uthappa had bludgeoned the bowling attack for 52 from 37 balls to take India to 92 for 1 in just 12 overs! Dinesh Karthik was sent in at no.3, but he was soon bounced out by Dilhara Fernando before making any significant contribution.

The match was back in a balance with India reduced to 106 for 2 in the 15th over. Ganguly resumed his innings having taken a quick break. It was earlier tough for Ganguly and Sehwag to open the innings after just a 12-minute long lunch break! India soon became 118 for 3 when Sangakkara had pulled off a magical run out. Virender Sehwag, having played a cut shot to third man was casually walking towards the non striker's end and even before he had reached the crease was shadow practicing the shot. Meanwhile Sangakkara collected the throw from the deep and seeing that Sehwag was in his dreamland, fired a direct throw that shockingly saw Sehwag a foot short of the safety! Before that silly act, Virender Sehwag looked extremely good for his 46 that came in 44 balls with 7 fours. That was the only wicket that Sri Lanka were going to get as Yuvraj Singh smashed his way back into reckoning with an unbeaten 95 from 83 balls with 11 fours and three sixes. Sourav Ganguly too remained unbeaten, he scored 58 from 74 with three fours and three sixes. He got the Man of the Series award for his consistent run in the series.

The partnership between Ganguly and Yuvraj was 145 runs worth coming in just under 24 overs. It was a sheer delight to watch these two left handers time the ball with so much of grace. Yuvraj had actually got off the mark with a six, a clean pick up shot off Dilhara behind square. Today, Malinga Bandara was roughly treated by Ganguly and Yuvraj. Ganguly had started the attack by jumping down the track and lofting him straight down the ground. Yuvraj was not going to take any backseat as he played some thunderous straight drives. India won the match with six overs to spare. Maharoof, Sri Lanka's better bowler on this tour had figures of none for 60 in 6 overs while Malinga Bandara was taken for 37 in 4.

Rahul Dravid had won the toss to put Sri Lanka to bat first. It was a delayed start of an hour at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatman because of the early morning dew. The match was reduced to 47 overs per side with the third powerplay cut short to 4 overs. The hosts made two changes with Tendulkar and Munaf making way for Uthappa and Sreesanth. The visiting side had brought in Chamara Silva and Lasith Malinga for Tharanga and Malinga. The new opening combination of Jayasuriya and Atapattu gave a great start of 42 for no wicket in over 7 overs. Jayasuriya was playing his trademark clip shots over square leg with ease to put the bowlers under pressure. But Ajit Agarkar got him to drive him on the up to covers to end his damage at the cost of 22 runs. Three quick wickets fell soon after this and the visitors were on the backfoot on a good batting track at 56 for 4. They had lost Jayawardene, Sangakkara and Atapattu in the space of three overs! Jayawardene and Sangakkara were caught at covers playing ambitious shots without getting settled in, while Atappatu played onto his stumps to Sreesanth's first delivery of the match. The pair of Chamara Silva and Tillakaratne Dilshan had repaired the damage with an excellent partnership of 69 which was broken by Ganguly.

Chamara Silva got Sri Lanka to a fighting 259 for 7 through a couple of useful partnerships with Arnold and Maharoof, who had scored in the 20s. Chamara got his maiden century in the final over, he had struck 12 fours and a six off Harbhajan in his innings of 107 in as many balls. He was awarded the Man of the Match for his supreme innings that had ensured that the Indian batsmen had enough runs to show their strokeplay to the 29,000 crowd.
 

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