Series Level; Dhoni-led India triumph

India (Shar)made three changes to their playing eleven – Rohit, Ashok Dinda and Pragyan Ojha made way for Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja and Twenty20 International debutant Sudeep Tyagi.

Sri Lanka made one change to the eleven that last played the Indians – Muthumudalige Pushpakumara made way for Kaushalya Weeraratne.

On winning the toss, Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka’s skipper and the player of the series, chose to bat.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, who faced three balls, scored a run. Eight balls into the (Shar)match, Ishant broke the 10-run stand.

Sri Lanka scored 50 off 4.3 overs (31 balls). India had conceded four extras at that point.

The second-wicket pair put on 50 off 24 balls. While Sanath Jayasuriya’s contribution to the partnership was 21, Sangakkara’s contribution to it was 27. Extras’ contribution to it was three.

Jayasuriya, whose 21-ball innings included five boundaries and a six, eventually scored 31. He was trapped leg before wicket by Irfan Pathan, who broke the 81-run partnership.

Sri Lanka scored 100 off 9.2 overs (65 balls). India had conceded 16 extras at that point.

Sangakkara’s half-century – which included seven boundaries and a couple of sixes – came off 29 balls.

He eventually scored 59 off 31 balls, which included eight boundaries and a couple of sixes. Nineteen balls after Jayasuriya’s dismissal, he was caught by Ashish Nehra. Yuvraj Singh, who was celebrating his 28^th birthday at his home ground and was the player of the match, broke the 30-run stand.

Mahela Jayawardene, whose six-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 12. Eleven balls after Sangakkara’s dismissal, he was caught by Tyagi. Sharma broke the 20-run stand.

Sri Lanka scored 150 off 13.5 overs (93 balls). India had conceded 20 extras at that point.

Chamara Kapugedera, who faced four balls, scored a couple. Ten balls after Jayawardene’s dismissal, he was caught by Karthik. Sharma broke the 14-run stand.

Chinthaka Jayasinghe, whose 28-ball innings included three boundaries and a six, eventually scored 38. Ten balls later, he was caught by Jadeja. Yuvraj broke the 12-run stand.

The seventh-wicket pair didn’t get off the mark. Weeraratne, who faced four balls, scored three. The next ball, Virender Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India’s skipper, ran him out.

Angelo Mathews, whose 13-ball innings included a boundaries and a couple of sixes, scored 26. Nuwan Kulasekara, who scored 10, was unbea‘ten’.

India eventually conceded 24 extras. Sri Lanka scored 206 for the loss of seven wickets off 50 overs. Suresh Raina, who bowled a wicketless over, conceded 10. Tyagi, who bowled a couple of wicketless overs, conceded 21. Nehra, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 44. Jadeja, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded 30.

Pathan, who bowled three overs, conceded 29. He picked up a wicket. Sharma, who bowled four overs, conceded 42. He picked up a couple of wickets. Yuvraj, who bowled three overs, conceded 23. He picked up three scalps.

India’s openers put on 50 off 5.1 overs (34 balls). Sri Lanka had conceded three extras at that point. While Gautam Gambhir’s contribution to the partnership was 15, Sehwag’s contribution to it was 33.

The openers eventually put on 58. Gambhir, whose 18-ball innings included a boundary, scored 21. Half-a-dozen overs into the chase, Jayasinghe, Kulasekara and Sangakkara ran him out.

Sehwag’s half-century – which included half-a-dozen boundaries and a couple of sixes – came off 27 balls.

India scored 100 off 9.4 overs (61 balls). Sri Lanka had conceded four extras at that point.

The second-wicket pair put on 50 off 29 balls. While Sehwag’s contribution to the partnership was 30, Dhoni’s contribution to it was 18. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was a couple.

Sehwag, whose 36-ball innings included seven boundaries and three sixes, eventually scored 64. Five overs after Gambhir’s dismissal, he was caught by Weeraratne. Lasith Malinga broke the half-century partnership.

India scored 150 off 13.4 overs (86 balls). Sri Lanka had conceded half-a-dozen extras at that point.

The second-wicket pair put on 50 off 24 balls. While Dhoni’s contribution to the partnership was 24, Yuvraj’s contribution to it was 25. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was a run.

Dhoni, whose 28-ball innings included three boundaries and a couple of sixes, scored 46. Half-a-dozen balls after Sehwag’s dismissal, Dilhara Fernando broke the 80-run partnership.

Yuvraj’s half-century – which included three boundaries and four sixes – came off 20 balls. He eventually scored 60 off 25 balls, which included the aforementioned number of boundaries and five sixes. He was unbeaten.

India scored 200 off 18.2 overs (115 balls). The number of extras they had conceded at that point gave Sri Lanka no reason to be in seventh heaven. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

The fourth-wicket pair put on a dozen. Raina, whose seven-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored nine. Ten balls after Dhoni’s dismissal, Kulasekara ran him out.

Karthik, who scored a boundary off the only ball he faced, was unbeaten.

India, who scored 211 for the loss of four wickets off 19.1 overs, won by seven wickets with five balls to spare.

Dilshan bowled a wicketless over, conceding 10. Weeraratne bowled three wicketless overs, conceding 43. Mathews bowled 3.1 wicketless overs, conceding 49. Kulasekara bowled four wicketless overs, conceding 50.

Fernando and Malinga bowled four overs each, picking up a wicket apiece. While the former conceded 29, the latter conceded 28. 

India levelled the two-match series 1-1.