A fulfilling 7-wkt victory for Dravid

India’s seven-wicket victory at the ACA-VDCA Stadium, chasing 259 on a good batting wicket, can be described in separate storylines of four batsmen, and how they all fit neatly into a happy ending.

If Yuvraj Singh’s unbeaten 95, following his gradual return from injury, and big front-foot straight bat shots reiterated his stature in the batting line-up, Robin Uthappa played the happy-go-lucky character, looking for his place in the order with a short and entertaining knock.

Ganguly’s story went beyond his steely comeback. He is the Man of the Series, freshly buttered with consistency and shots that define him, while Virender Sehwag was trying to come back to form, suppressing his natural free-style.

Ganguly, who opened the innings only to cramp up and walk out after four deliveries in the Indian innings, returned at the fall of the second wicket, timed his shots well, and played the aerial shots better. Ganguly’s unbeaten 58 came from 78 balls with three majestic sixes — one to the ground off Bandara, a flick over mid-wicket off Jayasuriya and finally the pick of the lot, a pull towards square-leg in a short ball from pacer Fernando.

Along with Yuvraj, he put on 145 runs for the unfinished fourth-wicket stand to finish things in India’s favour with six overs remaining (the match was reduced to 47 overs-a-side after heavy morning dew delayed start by an hour).

Yuvraj largely complimented Ganguly by playing shots along the ground — five exquisite boundaries and a six in his 54-ball 50 — before cutting loose with two more sixes and flurry of six boundaries that showed his natural arrogance. It also reflected the growing helplessness of the Lankan bowlers. Maharoof’s sixth over (the last of the match) went thus: 4 4 . 6 4 4 Maharoof ended with 60 runs in his six overs.

Then there was Robin Uthappa, walking in at number three as Ganguly suspended his innings — and when most were expecting a Mahendra Singh Dhoni blast-off.

Uthappa didn’t disappoint, showing a mini repertoire of outrageous shots, hitting everything outside the off or anything short. Of course, he thanked God for the little ‘reprieve’ from Arnold at short cover.

If Uthappa’s 37-ball 52 was the most entertaining story, the most successful was of Virender Sehwag. It was more of a statement of belief, when Sehwag walked in to open along with Ganguly. When Uthappa was there with him at the crease, he wasn’t trying to match up to him. At his best he could have, possibly, done better. Today, Sehwag just patted Uthappa, encouraged him, but even with the adrenaline pumping, he resisted flashing at anything hanging outside. He got inside the line of ball and ran it down towards fine-leg to deliveries aimed at his body. A 46 off 44 balls may sound good, but his innings wasn’t as cavalier as the statistics suggest.

Call it tragic or callous on Sehwag’s part, or smartness of Sangakkara, the departure was a contrast. The crowd backed him, demoted down in the batting order that he was, and Dravid must have been heavily pleased.

Lost in an avalanche of blazing shots and Indian victory, sits Chamara Silva. His maiden ton came with a lot of hard work, application and no dare-devil frills. But he can draw consolation that his unbeaten 107 earned him the Man of the Match award.

India started with a flourish. The fast bowling trio of Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and Sreesanth doing a good job early on, getting movement off Dravid’s initiative to bowl first. The Lankan top order, for the fourth time in four matches in this series, promised a lot, and delivered little.

Chamara Silva came in to justify his first appearance in the series’ crucial match, and moved his feet slowly and steadily in the crunch situation at 56/4. The Lankan middle order came to the fore once again as Silva stitched up 68 runs for the fifth wicket partnership with Tillekaratne Dilshan and another crucial 41 runs with Russel Arnold.

But the clinching partnership came with Ferveez Maharoof, who smashed a run-a-ball 28 as Lankans plundered 91 runs in the last ten overs.

In the end, though, it proved to be drastically short, as their bowlers bowled everywhere and allowed Indians to make a challenging total look modest.

Everything seemed just perfect for India; if only Irfan Pathan would have been playing, the World Cup puzzle would have been sorted out here itself.