Robin makes merry at Taunton

The Taunton match is best remembered for the humongous 318-run second-wicket stand between Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly that singlehandedly paved the way for India rustling up an imposing score of 373 for six. But there was one man - Robin Singh whose five-wicket haul got largely unnoticed under the mountain of runs India piled up.

Singh came into bowl as the sixth bowler and enjoyed the English conditions after the Indian bowlers caused early damage, snaring dashing openers – Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana inside the first five overs.

He initiated his bowling spell after the Lankans were beginning to weave a recovery partnership through two of the most experienced pros in their side – Aravinda De Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga. The De Silva-Ranatunga partnership was a crucial one as they had lost Marvan Attapattu and Mahela Jayawardene after the latter got a partnership going after the exit of their openers. The 68 runs they raised for the fifth wicket came at a fair clip and was exuding promise of throwing a serious fight to the Indians.

But all hopes soon evaporated when Singh breached the partnership, trapping De Silva in front for 56. He delivered perhaps the most decisive blow when he castled Ranatunga to leave Sri Lanka tottering at 181 for 6. Six runs later, he drove Sri Lanka within sniffing distance of a defeat, dislodging Chaminda Vaas.

Vaas’ departure literally signaled the end of any hopes of the Lankan tail wagging. The likes of Eric Upashantha and Muttiah Muralitharan weren’t expected to mount a turnaround at the death simply because the target of 374 was well beyond them.

The Indian cheers in the stands just got going louder when Singh snaffled Eric Upashantha caught by Azharuddin. The right-arm medium-pacer captured the Kodak moment when he lapped up Muralitharan gobbled by Sachin Tendulkar to set off wild celebrations at Taunton.

Singh’s figures (9.3-0-31-5) made an impressive reading but even he wouldn’t be cribbing that his five-wicket feat got buried under the massive batting show from the top-order. All it mattered after all was an Indian victory, and it came in a handsome manner.