Field day for hosts despite dodgy surface

Both newly-crowned Asian Cup champions Sri Lanka and losing finalists India put together top quality fielding and bowling displays in the fi...

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Both newly-crowned Asian Cup champions Sri Lanka and losing finalists India put together top quality fielding and bowling displays in the final at the Premadasa Stadium tonight. The fielding of both sides, especially that of Sri Lanka when India batted on a dodgy surface under lights, was tight, crisp and committed as well as brilliant when offered tough catches.

Mahela Jayawardena (Ganguly’s) and Tillekaratne Dilshan (Dravid’s) caught stunners and put the brakes on India’s progress.

As Sri Lanka are on the eve of a Test series against South Africa, a quality fielding side, it should be interesting to see how the two will compare when the first Test is played in Galle from Wednesday.

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Sri Lanka have maintained their edge since they played Australia and brought their competitive edge into this Asia Cup tournament, winning the final by 25 runs with their fielding playing a major role in restricting India to 203 for nine.

Ganguly summed up India’s disappointment by saying that what cost his side the final was the batting. ‘‘Our batting was deep. We had Irfan Pathan, who is a pretty decent batter, coming in at number eight. But it was disappointing.

“There is very little we did right. We need to get our thought process sorted out from now on. We cannot lose so many finals. The wicket was on the slower side but that can’t explain away our loss,’’ he said.

Ganguly also admitted that the big problem, though ‘‘three of our spinners did well which is actually what you expect from your slow bowlers on a wicket like this one’’, the problem was with the batting and the lack of partnerships.

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Ganguly went on to add: ‘‘It is a jolt for us to get back into groove. There was not much positive (from this tournament). Our batting was not up to standards. The fielding is getting better but its not enough.’’

India will also be going into a series in three weeks against Australia, who like South Africa are noted for their fielding qualities. The trick will lie in improving ‘‘all departments of the game’’. Otherwise a repeat of 2001 might be totally impossible.