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Indians whipped in Abu Dhabi

Reckless batting by India saw them crash to a humiliating 108-run defeat against Sri Lanka in the opening encounter of the first-ever one-day international cricket tournament in Abu Dhabi last night.

The Lankans dominated the Indians in every department of the game and emerged deserving winners.

The Islanders, who survived a middle order collapse, put on 202 runs in 49.2 overs after electing to bat first and then bowled out the Indians for a paltry 94 in 38.3 overs.

Vinod Kambli was the only Indian batsman who put up resistance. He compiled 32 runs before he was bowled by Kalpage.Other Indian batsmen failed to tackle the disciplined Lankan bowling which gave little away.

Set an asking rate of just over four, India appeared quite confident at the start of their innings as Shivasunder Das and Nikhil Haldipur stroked the ball hard but failed to find gaps.

The rot set in soon with wickets falling at regular intervals. The top order perished as India were reduced to 64 for 5 at the half-way mark.

Besides Kambli, Rohan Gavaskar was the only other Indian batsman who looked confident. He was out to a fine catch by Jayantha off Boteju for 16. Skipper Nayan Mongia made 9.

Earlier, the Lankans made a cautious start, losing opener Chaminda Mendis and Bradmon Edirawera with 59 runs on the board in 20 overs.

Saman Jayantha and skipper Chandika Hathurasinghe combined well in a brief but useful partnership of 31 till Jayantha, trying to find a sharp single, was found short of his crease. His knock of 39 in 60 balls included three sixes.

Hathurasinghe, joined by Rohan Kalpage, continued to play the anchor role to take his side to safety. Kalpage, in trying to accelerate the score, holed out to Nikhil Haldipur wth just 10 overs remaining and 143 runs on the board.

The Lankans then found themselves in trouble losing two quick wickets for just one more run. But a breezy knock of 28 in just 16 balls by Eric Upashantha saw the Islanders reach 202.

Among the Indian bowlers, S Bangar took three wickets for 15 runs in his ten overs.

Sri Lanka take on Pakistan tonight while the last match will be played tomorrow night, between India and Pakistan.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 202 all out in 49.2. overs (S Jayantha 39, C Hathurasinghe 48, Upashantha 28, S Bangar 3-51, S Singh 2-37); India 94 all out in 38.3 over (V Kambli 32, R Gavaskar 16, R Kalpage 3-20, D Hettiarachchi 2-6).

UNI