Dravid settles in at India's home from home

NatWest Series: Edgbaston becomes Calcutta for the day as Sri Lanka feel the heat and head wearily for home

Amid an atmosphere of perpetual noise allied to rapt attention India went in pursuit of their third victory in the NatWest Series yesterday. It must have been as close to playing a home match as it is possible to be 5,000 miles away from home.

Eventually, they responded as they were being willed to do throughout the match. Thanks to the magnificent efforts of Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh, they overcame an early spot of bother and set course for the series final next Saturday.

It was by any definition a poor pitch for one-day cricket. Too much in it for the bowlers early on, too much like hard work for the batsmen all day. Not that this remotely diminished the raw enthusiasm of a crowd which was pushing the capacity of 21,000.

Largely but not exclusively Asian, the match could have been played on top of a rubbish dump and it would not have mattered as long as they had been able to gain entry and sneak a glimpse of their heroes. Or rather, as is the case with India wherever they appear, their hero.

Sachin Tendulkar, obviously, was he. Each touch of the ball elicited worshipful uproar. It was like being at Eden Gardens, except that there they do not make so much noise.

The surface apart, there were the matters of the toss and Sri Lanka's state of mind. With a hint of moisture in the air and on the ground the toss was a good one to win and insert. Sri Lanka duly lost it and were inserted. Having lost all three matches in the tournament so far – at least one of which they ought to have won after creating a far superior position – this must have tested their resolve further.

The second ball of the day briefly put paid to that theory. It was wide and shortish and Sanath Jayasuriya stepped back and clouted it high over point for what is known on the sub-continent as a sixer. There was a suspicion that the shot was not quite timed.

Not long after, the pitch showed its colours. Jayasuriya was caught in the crease as one from Ashish Nehra nipped back sharply from outside off stump. It looked a prime candidate for leg before and the Indians in the team and in the stands went up. Steve Bucknor, the independent umpire for the day, turned them both down.

Technology proved the veteran Jamaican wrong but the naked eye also told you that if an umpire was not going to give that he was probably not going to give anything. In his refusal to extract his digit for leg befores, especially in one-dayers, Bucknor is increasingly reminiscent of that other enduring man in a white coat, Dickie Bird, who became a life member of the give 'em nowt brigade.

Perhaps Jayasuriya reckoned he should ride his luck, probably he was right but he continued to attack when he could. The suspicion was that to acquire total above par he needed to stay for a couple of hours. But the score was only 33 in the ninth over when he chopped on from a bottom-edged to cut.

There was no real momentum in Sri Lanka's innings afterwards. Any that might have accrued during a third-wicket partnership of 84 in 19 overs was checked upon by Anil Kumble. In consecutive overs he removed Mahela Jayawardene, who under-clubbed his lofted drive to long off, and Marvan Atapattu, who was deceived in flight and bowled.

If that was not quite that for the Sri Lankans, it prompted a relentless stream of wickets. The Indians bowled well (both Nehra and Ajit Agarkar merit a mention in dispatches, their opposition batted poorly and by the end were running woefully as well.

A total of 187 seemed utterly inadequate. This was another supposition that pretty soon itself rendered inadequate, in this case after precisely one ball. Virender Sehwag managed only an inside edge to Chaminda Vaas and was bowled. After a poor Test series Vaas has come back well with the white ball and had taken six wickets at 22 before this game.

He might have had a second wicket almost straight away but Bucknor rejected the appeal for a catch behind off the final ball of the first over when it appeared that Sourav Ganguly must have nicked it. Before long Ganguly was put down at backward point. Had it been grasped even Bucknor would have given it.

Time for circumspection by India. For the next 12 overs Ganguly and Dinesh Mongia epitomised caution. A low target demanded no risks so they eschewed them. This had advantages and disadvantages, for it meant that when they tried to attack they were not in the zone. Mongia got a leading edge but nobody cared much because it brought in Tendulkar. How they roared.

Three runs later Ganguly slashed to slip from whom it rebounded to the keeper, Romesh Kaluwitharana. Still, nobody minded much. Sachin was still in. For a little while he promised great riches and he was certainly not to be shackled.

They breathed a sigh of relief when he was put down by Dilhara Fernando at backward point and surely now he would go on. But in the next over Fernando achieved redemption, fooling the great man with his magnificent slower ball, which ended up with short extra cover. India were 59 for 4 and in trouble for the second successive Saturday.

For the second successive Saturday, Dravid and Yuvraj repaired their wounds. They did it with panache too. What a fearless striker of the ball is Yuvraj. How upright he stands and picks his spot. Dravid was the rock again but they kept a mutually even pace.

There was one scare early when Dravid was caught at short-midwicket with the score at 76. The Sri Lankans were about to start a party when Neil Mallender's signal of no-ball seeped into their consciences. He was right as well.

The day drifted away from Sri Lanka. They have been the worst team in the tournament but they have been unlucky. India have been the best team.