India beat Lankan colts in warm-up

Colombo: Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh came good with the bat but India had to rely on the lower order to pull off a win in their first warm-up match against Sri Lanka A at the Colts Ground on Saturday.

Ajit Agarkar and Ramesh Powar shared an unbeaten 54-run partnership for the eighth wicket to help India avoid an embarrassing defeat ahead of the Unitech Cup tri-series, which also features South Africa, starting Monday.

After restricting the side to 202 for nine in 50 overs, the Indians were looking down the barrel when reduced to 153 for seven before the Mumbai pair came to their rescue and saw them home in 44.3 overs.

Agarkar and Powar batted for nearly an hour in compiling unbeaten 32 and 13, and while the former hit a six and a four, the latter, known for his bold hitting, scored no boundaries.

There were signs of things to come with Dravid opening the batting and Virender Sehwag coming at No 4 after Irfan Pathan.

Sachin Tendulkar, returning to the team after a more than four-month layoff, got a start before perishing to Nuwan Zoysa. The right-hander, pairing with Dravid at the top, made 19 from 27 balls with three fours.

It must be worrying for Dravid that the team did not handle well the middle overs, one area he had mentioned as key to India's success in Sri Lanka.

Between them, Virender Sehwag (1), Mohammad Kaif (0) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (9) used only 18 balls.

But the Indians had plenty to cheer about with the skipper and Yuvraj striking rich form.

Dravid was fluent during his 70-ball 47 that contained five fours while Yuvraj top scored with 61 aided by eight fours.

Besides, the bowling performance too was something to take heart from.

Pathan, at the centre of a raging debate since being dropped for Tests on the Caribbean tour, returned with a tidy 10-3-33-1.

But it was the slow bowlers who controlled the match, which is something that should please the Indian think-tank, considering that spinners generally call the shots on the slow wickets.

Sehwag was the wrecker-in-chief with three for 16. Harbhajan Singh (0-33) and Ramesh Powar (0-29), though wicket-less, were equally effective.

Dravid said nothing should be read into the changes in the batting line-up.

"We are trying a few things. It was good to see the batsmen getting starts and it was also important that the bowlers came good," said the skipper at the official captains' press conference, which was scheduled while the match was interestingly poised in the Indian innings.