Sport | Cricket
It's odd to go into the next round without India
After a positive group stage, during which we played some very solid cricket, we have reached Guyana - a country that appears to be blessed with copious quantities of rain.
- By Mahela Jayawardene, Gameplan
- Published: 23:37 May 3, 2009
After a positive group stage, during which we played some very solid cricket, we have reached Guyana - a country that appears to be blessed with copious quantities of rain.
It's been pouring cats and dogs. We are all hoping that the weather forecasters' prediction of an improvement by today does prove accurate because we can't wait to start the Super Eights.
We handled the pressure well during the past two weeks and executed our game plan precisely. We maintained our intensity levels throughout and played some smart cricket. We are naturally very happy. We always realised that the "Group of Death" would be tough and we were delighted to leave Trinidad with those two extra points. However, that was just the start.
Ruthless streak
It feels odd to be going into the next round without India, the financial powerhouse of the modern game. But we have to have a ruthless streak and we were determined to claim those extra points. We prepared well and were completely focused. India were under enormous pressure and we were not shy of reminding them of that.
India are a side full of brilliant individual stars. Everywhere you look there seem to be match-winners. We knew that we could not just let them go out there and play their natural game. We had to keep them on the back foot. Our game plan was to exploit the peculiar situation created by the huge expectation weighing down on their team. We wanted to slowly apply pressure and restrict their game.
Crucially, having been put in, our batsmen did not gift them some early confidence-boosting momentum. We applied ourselves really well and kept wickets in hand. The conditions were not easy for batting, especially early-on, but we muscled our way to a reasonable total.
Even so, the pitch was a belter for batting by the time the Indian batsmen came out. We knew that they could breeze past the total if we bowled poorly. However, Chaminda (Vaas) and Lasith (Malinga) made a disciplined start.
The clear turning point for me was the fall of Sachin, bowled by a beauty from Dilhara (Fernando). Sachin's departure always deflates India.
Great delivery
It was a great delivery from Dilhara in an excellent spell. We knew he'd been bowling with genuine sharpness in the nets and we'd been toying with the idea of using him for a while.
During the past few months he has worked really hard on the re-modelling of his run-up and the improved rhythm has given him some extra gas. Maharoof's injury was the opportunity he needed.
Having got Sachin, I was always confident of finishing off the game. Murali did the rest.
That game is history now. We have to move on because two points are not enough to get us to the semifinals. We are planning to take one game at a time. But we also want to win all six, starting with South Africa - the No 1 ranked team in the world.
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