da dobrowin： Plays of the day from game four of the Asia Cup, between India and Pakistan
da casino： Siddarth Ravindran in Dambulla19-Jun-2010Some familiar refrains
There aren’t too many Indian or Pakistani expats in central Sri Lanka, andthe agricultural town of Dambulla doesn’t have the drawing power to pullin too many tourists, which meant the stadium was only half-full even forSaturday’s much-anticipated contest. Still, a smattering of Hindi could beheard in the stands and there were plenty of Indian flags about. Thechants of ‘India, India’ and , which are crowdfavourites during matches in India, were frequently shouted and a SriLankan band even belted out a boisterous rendition of a popularTamil song from 2002.The Gambhir and Akmal debating society
It had been a mostly good-tempered match, without much of the animosity of old, till the last ball of the 34th over during the chase. That was when Kamran Akmal pleaded insistently for a catch off Gautam Gambhir’s bat, an appeal which was rightly turned down. Soon, the pair wereexchanging words and MS Dhoni had to drag Gambhir away. The drinks break followed, and there was another round of getting in each others’ faces before the umpires broke off the tussle.Shot of the day
A no-contest this – Harbhajan Singh’s heave over midwicket to clinch thenailbiter off the penultimate delivery. It was the end of a mixed inningsfrom Harbhajan; two crucial sixes but six dot balls towards the end withno deliveries to waste. A few moments earlier, a crestfallen Suresh Rainahad walked off the field, run out by inches, and he was the first one outto hug an enthusiastically celebrating Harbhajan.Afridi starts in a jiffy
One of the biggest cheers during the Pakistan innings was for the entry oftheir captain Shahid Afridi. The fans with the ‘Boom, boom’ posters didn’thave to wait long to see their hero doing what they had come to see. Thefourth ball he faced was lashed down the ground for four, and the next waspummelled to the sightscreen to bring up the first six of the match.No slip-ups in the cordon
There was a general improvement in India’s fielding, no where more so thanin the slips. First, Virender Sehwag plucked a sharp one-handed catch tohis right to end Imran Farhat’s struggle. But that was outdone by a blinderfrom Virat Kohli at first slip – newcomer Umar Amin chopped HarbhajanSingh towards first slip, where Kohli threw himself to his left andlatched onto to another one-handed catch.Running wild
India’s smart fielding accounted for two other wickets as well. SalmanButt was marching towards yet another century against one of his favouriteopponents, when he punched the ball towards mid-off. He set off for a singlebut the bowler, Ravindra Jadeja, dived to his right to field and threw the ball to the keeper to end Butt’s stay at 74. Later, a rare Indian direct hit got rid of Mohammad Aamer.The wicketkeeper delivers
Kamran Akmal had already shown his value as batsman with a hard-hitting half-century. His wicketkeeping skills were under the scanner yet again, though, when he fluffed an outside edge from Rohit Sharma off Shoaib Akhtar. He redeemed himself in the final over when he was on target with an underarm throw that caught Suresh Raina short when the batsman was trying to nick a bye.